Nye County plans to appeal the recent denial of five applications for county water rights in the Amargosa Desert.

The applications were filed Feb. 16, 2000, to appropriate about 18,600 acre-feet of water annually. An acre foot is 326,000 gallons, or enough to serve two families for a year.

State Engineer Tracy Taylor, in his ruling dated July 16, concluded, in denying the five applications, "There is no unappropriated water in the Amargosa Desert hydrographic basin, approval of the applications would conflict with existing rights and approval of the applications would threaten to prove detrimental to the public interest."

The water rights applications were protested by the National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Department of Energy.

The National Park Service claimed it had senior water rights and the application would diminish the resources of Death Valley National Park. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service expressed concerns over Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge and habitat for endangered species.

The DOE urged the application not be granted until litigation is concluded regarding Yucca Mountain water permit applications, for which the agency claimed it had senior water rights.

Nye County hydrologist Tom Buqo differed with the U.S. Geological Survey over the perennial yield in that basin, which includes Amargosa Valley. The state engineer noted his office typically relies on information provided by the U.S. Geological Survey, which in this case estimated a perennial yield of 24,000 acre feet annually in the basin, 17,000 acre feet discharged by springs in Ash Meadows and 7,000 acre feet from underground water in the Amargosa Desert.

Buqo said the groundwater yield in the basin could be as high as 40,000 to 47,000 acre feet.

Buqo said the past estimates of recharge over the source of water were highly uncertain, and some estimates significantly underestimated recharge from the Spring Mountains and the Sheep Range. Recharge over the Panamint Range has also been ignored or discounted, the county hydrologist stated.

The USGS countered by saying Buqo's calculations overestimated the groundwater "evapo-transpiration" rate in the gravel and pebble soil. The maps were also biased on the high side in terms of the area where the water table is less than 50 feet, according to testimony of the hearing.

"Although numerous new studies have been conducted, none of the cited studies offer a new and convincing value for perennial yield in the Amargosa Desert Hydrographic Basin," the state engineer's ruling states.

In the Nye County Water Resource Plan, released in 2004, Buqo wrote the existing groundwater would be adequate to provide for anticipated needs in Amargosa Valley for the next 50 years if the higher perennial yield of over 40,000 acre feet were accepted by the Nevada Division of Water Resources.

Jim Marble, director of the Nye County Department of Natural Resources, said a two-year study is currently under way to determine groundwater recharge and evapotranspiration in Amargosa Valley.

"We believe that data may support the issuance of additional water rights out there," Marble said. "I wouldn't say it's a dead effort, we can appeal it; we've got more data coming."

The county had hoped to obtain the water rights for future municipal use, Marble said.

The state engineer found evidence indicated the committed water resources for all water rights in the Amargosa Desert Hydrographic Basin were over 62,000 acre feet annually. Committed resources include 24,078 acre feet, not counting 476 domestic wells and the potential for future wells, the state engineer stated.

But the state engineer was more concerned about future growth in Amargosa Valley. Taylor mentioned 27,904 acres of land were available for disposal by the BLM in the hydrographic basin.

The state engineer added, "Nye County is working on an omnibus lands bill to set aside additional land for both community purposes and commercial purposes. With the amount of land that is and will be available for development, the potential for a dramatic increase in the number of domestic wells appears certain."

Buqo is quoted as testifying during the hearing a parceling ordinance, requiring the purchase and dedication of water rights to offset the impact of additional domestic wells created due to parceling, exists in Pahrump Valley.

But the state engineer notes, "The ordinance does not apply to Amargosa Valley, where parceling can occur in a manner that bypasses the subdivision requirements of the Nevada Division of Water Resources."

The state engineer also denied water rights applications filed in October 1993 and October 1996 by Frederick C. and Sandra J. Fellwock and David Mulkey, trustees of the David A. Mulkey Living Trust.

The first was second in priority to applications filed by Amargosa Resources Inc. for 25,000 acre feet of groundwater. The ARI application was to serve 400 homes on 320 acres, which would result in the basin being fully appropriated, the state engineer's ruling stated.

The state engineer noted previous applications to appropriate water for irrigation in the Amargosa Desert were denied. A state engineer's order issued May 14, 1979, designated the Amargosa Desert Hydrographic Basin as a groundwater basin in need of additional administration. All water rights applications on file in the state engineer's office are subject to an analysis.

The state engineer must determine whether there is unappropriated water before granting a request for a new appropriation of underground water. An analysis of the basin's recharge and discharge is used to determine that. The perennial yield is central to that equation, the maximum amount of ground water that can be salvaged each year over the long term without depleting the groundwater reservoir.

In 1996 the forfeiture of water rights in the Amargosa Desert reduced the permitted water rights from 41,400 acre feet to 26,600 acre feet.

Marble said a prior ruling by the state engineer's office denied a Nye County application for water rights on the Nevada Test Site because the county didn't have access to the water. That decision is also being appealed, he said.

In February 2000 Nye County filed a total of 10 applications for water rights totalling 33,000 acre feet in the basins of the Nevada Test Site including Yucca Flat, Mercury Valley, Rock Valley, Jackass Flats and Crater Flats.

Buqo couldn't be reached for comment by press time.