2023 Nevada Revised Statutes › Chapter 534 - Underground Water and Wells › NRS 534.037 - Groundwater management plan for basin designated as critical management area: Petition; hearing; approval or disapproval; judicial review; amendment; certain persons not required to comply; duties of State Engineer if perennial yield modified; review of results.

1. In a basin that has been designated as a critical management area by the State Engineer pursuant to subsection 7 of NRS 534.110, a petition for the approval of a groundwater management plan for the basin may be submitted to the State Engineer. The petition must:
(a) Be signed by the holders of permits or certificates to appropriate water in the basin that are on file in the Office of the State Engineer who represent a majority of the total groundwater permitted or certificated for use in the basin; and
(b) Be accompanied by a groundwater management plan which must set forth the necessary steps for removal of the basin’s designation as a critical management area.
2. In determining whether to approve a groundwater management plan submitted pursuant to subsection 1, the State Engineer shall consider, without limitation:
(a) The hydrology of the basin;
(b) The physical characteristics of the basin;
(c) The geographic spacing and location of the withdrawals of groundwater in the basin;
(d) The quality of the water in the basin;
(e) The wells located in the basin, including, without limitation, domestic wells;
(f) Whether a groundwater management plan already exists for the basin; and
(g) Any other factor deemed relevant by the State Engineer.
3. Before approving or disapproving a groundwater management plan submitted pursuant to subsection 1, the State Engineer shall hold a public hearing to take testimony on the plan in the county where the basin lies or, if the basin lies in more than one county, within the county where the major portion of the basin lies. The State Engineer shall cause notice of the hearing to be:
(a) Given once each week for 2 consecutive weeks before the hearing in a newspaper of general circulation in the county or counties in which the basin lies.
(b) Posted on the Internet website of the State Engineer for at least 2 consecutive weeks immediately preceding the date of the hearing.
4. The decision of the State Engineer on a groundwater management plan may be reviewed by the district court of the county pursuant to NRS 533.450.
5. An amendment to a groundwater management plan must be proposed and approved in the same manner as an original groundwater management plan is proposed and approved pursuant to this section.
6. The State Engineer shall not require the holder of a permit or certificate in the basin with a date of priority that is before the date on which permits or certificates for withdrawals of groundwater in the basin were equal to the perennial yield of the basin who does not sign the petition submitted pursuant to subsection 1 to comply with the provisions of a groundwater management plan that is approved pursuant to this section, but the holder of such a permit or certificate may notify the State Engineer in writing that he or she intends to comply with the approved groundwater management plan at any time after the groundwater management plan has been approved.
7. If the State Engineer modifies the perennial yield of a basin pursuant to subsection 2 of NRS 534.039 after a groundwater management plan is submitted pursuant to subsection 1, the State Engineer shall, as applicable:
(a) If the perennial yield is decreased, require all holders of permits or certificates in the basin with a date of priority that is after the date on which permits or certificates for withdrawals of groundwater in the basin were equal to the perennial yield of the basin to comply with the provisions of the approved groundwater management plan; and
(b) If the perennial yield is increased, provide all holders of permits or certificates in the basin with a date of priority that is before the date on which permits or certificates for withdrawals of groundwater in the basin were equal to the perennial yield of the basin the opportunity to opt out of complying with the approved groundwater management plan by notifying the State Engineer in writing that he or she does not intend to comply with the approved groundwater management plan.
8. If a groundwater management plan approved pursuant to this section has been in effect for 10 consecutive years, the State Engineer shall review the results of the groundwater management plan to determine whether there has been significant progress towards stabilizing the water level of the basin, as determined by the State Engineer. If the State Engineer determines there has not been significant progress, the State Engineer shall, except as otherwise provided in subsection 9 of NRS 534.110, order:
(a) The groundwater management plan dissolved; and
(b) That withdrawals, including, without limitation, withdrawals from domestic wells, be restricted in that basin to conform to priority rights until the water level of the basin is stabilized.
(Added to NRS by 2011, 1383; A 2023, 842)