Lompa Ranch seeks to sell water to Douglas County for retail use

Douglas County has purchased groundwater from the Lompa Ranch in Carson City to serve in its north county retail district, a concern to some city officials.

The deal to transfer water from the Eagle Valley Basin beneath the city to a county well nearby has to be approved by the state and undergo public scrutiny before it is allowed.

The county offered the Lompa family $110,500 for 30 acre-feet of water, beating Carson City's offer.

Carson City engineer Larry Werner said the transfer creates a concern about future water rights across county lines.

"It's coming off land that's well within Carson City," Werner said. "As we get closer and closer to buildout, we have to secure additional sources of water. So, although it's not a big amount, it does create a concern about future water rights and movement."

Douglas County Engineering Manager Carl Ruschmeyer said the purchase would almost double the amount of water the county could supply to the new Wal-Mart shopping center, as well as other current and future residential and retail development in the north county area.

The county currently doesn't have enough water to supply the new retail development of the past two years.

"It will allow for future growth as well, but it's needed for existing customers," Ruschmeyer said. "Currently, we're short in that well."

The late Eva Lompa purchased the water rights in 1992. Carson City started negotiating with the Lompa family in January, reportedly offering $2,500 and other tradeoffs. But the deal fell through, Werner said. Douglas County's offer works out to $3,683 per acre-foot.

"We couldn't quite come together on the price," Werner said. "In the meantime, they had a better offer than what we were offering. It truly makes sense from their standpoint."

Carson City will hold a public meeting at 9 a.m. June 17 to allow testimony about the water transfer. City supervisors are expected to take action during the meeting to either recommend the transfer, recommend it with conditions or deny it.

The comments will be forwarded to the state engineer, who will make a final determination on the transfer.

Contact Jill Lufrano at jlufrano@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1217.