Lease It -- Don’t Dry Up Lyon County Agriculture
By: Doug Busselman, Executive Vice President
As the count-down continues to the release of the Bureau of Reclamation’s draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the $56 million water rights buy-out for Walker Lake we will continue to shout for fair consideration to the idea that leasing water rights, from willing water right owners is much better than destroying Lyon County agriculture.
Following their marching orders from U.S. Senator Harry Reid, the University of Nevada (now in the water acquisition business) is and has been seeking willing sellers to buy water rights to allow for the transfer of the water to Walker Lake. As we reported in an earlier post, this project is fraught with questionable purposes and less than the best we could hope for from our state’s “Land Grant” institution.
The Walker River does much more than flow through the heart of Lyon County, irrigation water nurtures crops and agricultural production that have made this county’s farmers and ranchers some of the most productive and successful in the state.
Earlier generations of Lyon County pioneers understood the importance of investing in natural resources and they spent their money to create the irrigation system which provides water to today’s agricultural operations. Their legacy of innovation and hard work has continued to the present with a number of agricultural ventures employing new methods of production and trying new higher-value crops.
Without appropriate consideration and sound decisions, this progress is what the University of Nevada’s Walker River Project could easily destroy. Granted, the University of Nevada System is only doing what Senator Reid through his $70 Million in funding is telling them to do, but alternative approaches can be used to provide water to Walker Lake, while not destroying the agricultural production of the area.
In spite of the purpose of their website existing to tell us how wonderful their work is, the information provided does help understand the nature of the “world class” research that is being done, using the portion of the appropriations not intended to wipe out agricultural production. You should bookmark this url address and make a point of visiting it from time to time… http://www.nevada.edu/walker/research/index.html
Nevada Farm Bureau policy advocates leasing as a solution.
Leasing Of Water: 276
We believe that agricultural entities should be allowed to temporarily lease their water for other uses without jeopardizing ownership of their water rights.
Farm Bureau supports the comprehensive Lease and Management Plan of the Walker River Irrigation District. The plan is currently being fashioned for inclusion to proposed federal legislation being advanced by the entire Nevada delegation
We also support the current and historic effective management of Walker River system as applied and directed by Walker River Irrigation District and the Walker River Water Master.
Involving willing participants and management of water resources, water can be delivered to Walker Lake and agricultural production can be maintained.
Is Win-Win Really The Goal?
The strength of irrigation systems in Nevada is the ability for many farmers to share the burden of holding the system together and financing the maintenance of the system. As individual pieces of that system are extracted the weight of the whole becomes more concentrated on those remaining. After a certain point, if you “buy-out” enough the entire system collapses and the rest of the water is yours for the taking.
Isn’t this what the University of Nevada’s Walker River Project is really all about?
As the count-down continues to the release of the Bureau of Reclamation’s draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the $56 million water rights buy-out for Walker Lake we will continue to shout for fair consideration to the idea that leasing water rights, from willing water right owners is much better than destroying Lyon County agriculture.
Following their marching orders from U.S. Senator Harry Reid, the University of Nevada (now in the water acquisition business) is and has been seeking willing sellers to buy water rights to allow for the transfer of the water to Walker Lake. As we reported in an earlier post, this project is fraught with questionable purposes and less than the best we could hope for from our state’s “Land Grant” institution.
The Walker River does much more than flow through the heart of Lyon County, irrigation water nurtures crops and agricultural production that have made this county’s farmers and ranchers some of the most productive and successful in the state.
Earlier generations of Lyon County pioneers understood the importance of investing in natural resources and they spent their money to create the irrigation system which provides water to today’s agricultural operations. Their legacy of innovation and hard work has continued to the present with a number of agricultural ventures employing new methods of production and trying new higher-value crops.
Without appropriate consideration and sound decisions, this progress is what the University of Nevada’s Walker River Project could easily destroy. Granted, the University of Nevada System is only doing what Senator Reid through his $70 Million in funding is telling them to do, but alternative approaches can be used to provide water to Walker Lake, while not destroying the agricultural production of the area.
In spite of the purpose of their website existing to tell us how wonderful their work is, the information provided does help understand the nature of the “world class” research that is being done, using the portion of the appropriations not intended to wipe out agricultural production. You should bookmark this url address and make a point of visiting it from time to time… http://www.nevada.edu/walker/research/index.html
Nevada Farm Bureau policy advocates leasing as a solution.
Leasing Of Water: 276
We believe that agricultural entities should be allowed to temporarily lease their water for other uses without jeopardizing ownership of their water rights.
Farm Bureau supports the comprehensive Lease and Management Plan of the Walker River Irrigation District. The plan is currently being fashioned for inclusion to proposed federal legislation being advanced by the entire Nevada delegation
We also support the current and historic effective management of Walker River system as applied and directed by Walker River Irrigation District and the Walker River Water Master.
Involving willing participants and management of water resources, water can be delivered to Walker Lake and agricultural production can be maintained.
Is Win-Win Really The Goal?
The strength of irrigation systems in Nevada is the ability for many farmers to share the burden of holding the system together and financing the maintenance of the system. As individual pieces of that system are extracted the weight of the whole becomes more concentrated on those remaining. After a certain point, if you “buy-out” enough the entire system collapses and the rest of the water is yours for the taking.
Isn’t this what the University of Nevada’s Walker River Project is really all about?
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