Pahrump Valley Water Resources LLC received an endorsement from Nye County commissioners on a plan to drill a deep well over 2,000 feet into the carbonate aquifer below the valley.

The commissioners, however, will vote Tuesday on whether to rescind their endorsement.

Dave Richards, a member of the corporation and a consultant for Civilwise Services, told commissioners Aug. 22 the well would be drilled 2,300 to 2,500 feet deep.

By comparison, most wells in the Pahrump Valley have been drilled to 140 feet, but hydrologist Tom Buqo told attendees at the Devil's Hole workshop recently that water level may drop by 2020.

The request was for Nye County to support the company's deep well project in order to create a municipal water district. Pahrump Valley Water Resources would work with existing utilities to facilitate the growth and extension of those systems, managing the withdrawal of water from the lower aquifer, the proposal states.

"The carbonate (aquifer) is a viable and alternate source of water. We'd like to put this to proof. It's going to be very expensive," Richards told commissioners.

An application filed by Pahrump Valley Water Resources to appropriate 36 cubic feet per second, not to exceed 18,000 acre feet annually, of underground water from the Pahrump Valley hydrographic basin was turned down by the state engineer's office Aug. 1.

Commissioner Gary Hollis said the company pulled that site, near Carpenter Canyon and the Bureau of Land Management fire station.

The large-diameter well would be completed in a manner to minimize the risk of affecting the shallower water level, the previous application stated.

"The carbonate rock aquifer has the potential to provide a great deal of additional water to alleviate the overdraft on the upper aquifer due to growth in Pahrump Valley," the proposal states.

The connection between the deep aquifer and the basin-filled aquifer used by everyday water users in Pahrump, is unclear, the proposal states. The company says the carbonate aquifer could be developed gradually.

The appropriation of sufficient water rights by the Division of Water Resources is one of the two greatest risk factors identified with the project; the other is the cost to complete the wells to produce a significant quantity of water.

The company expects the cost of the well could be $1.2 million to $1.3 million. The Pahrump basin is already over-appropriated on water rights, with about 60,000 acre feet of water rights held in the valley, which has a recharge of only 22,000 to 26,000 acre feet of water.

An acre foot equals 326,000 gallons, or enough to supply two families of five for a year.

The Nevada Division of Water Resources estimated there were already 10,477 domestic wells in Pahrump Valley at the end of 2005, with 600 to 700 new wells drilled every year.

"We have a long way to go in engineering studies once we get approval. There's economic feasibilities involved," Richards told commissioners. "It is not our intent to affect any of the existing water supplies, and if there is any change of this happening in the future, if it proves to actually affect the existing supplies, then it would have to be stopped and plugged."

Commissioner Butch Borasky said he had a copy of the state engineer's denial of the company's previous application for water rights. But he still had questions and said he'd talk with the state engineer more about the proposal.

"Is that actually part of the allocated acre feet of water for this valley that's already over-appropriated? In his mind, is this a separate source of water?" Borasky asked.

"I do not believe that is part of the system that we're using today," Hollis replied. "I believe that if there's water in that aquifer, it's new water."

Commissioner Peter Liakopoulos said it's important for Nye County to develop a new water source.

Tim Hafen, a long time resident and developer, said he'd like more information on the location of the proposed well, just up-gradient of wells Utilities Inc. of Central Nevada is using for the Mountain Falls residential project.

The proposed well location would be northeast of the intersection of Highway 160 and Manse Road, near where the Focus Property Group plans to develop up to 5,800 homes and Hafen Investments has plans for a casino-hotel project.

"The reason this was picked is how shallow the carbonate actually comes to the surface. We'd actually be hitting it 1,200 to 1,300 feet. We'd actually be drilling it to 2,000 feet to get tests in the carbonate aquifer," Richards said

Hafen said, "If there's water there, some day we may have to go deeper to try to find water, and that would be part of the Pahrump basin's allocation."

The report states recharge of the carbonate aquifer is either 10,000 acre feet per year or 18,000 acre feet, depending on which study is used. That would approach the recharge level of the water basin in use today.

"Under current conditions this water flows out of the valley unused, flowing beneath the Nopah and Resting Spring ranges into California," the proposal states.

The company's report points out risks: finding a contractor to complete the well to the specifications, poor water production, poor water quality, water distribution problems and rising power costs which could make well operation unfeasible or create political opposition.

Once the water rights are in place for production, the completion of the well could take several months, the report states. The entire process however could take six to 10 years or more.

"It is well established that in order for Pahrump Valley to continue its rapid growth it needs more water resources than can be continually withdrawn from the basin fill aquifer," the report states.

Hollis said county deep water drills have attempted to prove whether the water in Death Valley National Park and Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge comes from the Spring Mountains.

"I think there is a very, very big water source down there in the deep aquifer," Hollis said.

Richards wouldn't disclose all of the partners in Pahrump Valley Water Resources. A search of the corporate officers with the Nevada Secretary of State showed one of the partners is Araway Ltd., a company that promotes a 40-acre site called Ohio Ranch, suitable for retreats, with a helicopter landing pad, grapevines, skeet shooting range and a 1,000-foot well powered by a propane generator.

As part of the Nye County early warning drilling program a deep well was sunk over 3,000 feet near Lathrop Wells in 2000 to gauge whether there was any movement in radioactivity in the water table from the Nevada Test Site and the proposed Yucca Mountain site toward Amargosa Valley.