Despite drought, some water supplies remain in good shape

The general manager of the Carson Water Subconservancy District told Churchill County Commissioners at their Thursday meeting the Carson River has experienced new record lows for insufficient water flow but water supplies for certain areas remain in good shape.

Ed James said some records for low flows have been broken on both the east fork of the Carson River and at Fort Churchill. He said the rate of flow or the cubic feet per second has set new records there.

First, James said central and western Nevada equaled or had higher temperatures than normal but did not reach into the real cold temperatures during the winter and early spring months. Despite the warmer weather and lack of precipitation from the snow pack, he said water supplies for the Carson Valley, Carson City and Churchill County appear to be in good shape.

“Lyon County meets its water needs, but new water sources are needed to meet new water demands,” he added.

For landowners who depend on wells, he said resident in the Stagecoach, Silver Springs and Churchill County must drill deeper, a fact that prompted a response from County Manager Eleanor Lockwood.

“In June, 75 wells were going dry,” she said, adding this is a sign of the number of wells associated with irrigation.

James also revealed some results from a watershed survey that contacted people from Alpine County, Calif., to Churchill County. For the people taking the survey, James said the most important issue is water-related, 62 percent; drought and water, 30 percent; and quantity, 27 percent.

Although the Carson River watershed has had better years, James said the Humboldt River and Walker River watersheds are experiencing more problems. The Humboldt watershed, for example, said James, could not allocate water to its growers this year.

“We’re probably better off than the other watersheds,” he said.

One indicator that the Carson River watershed may be in better shape for the winter is the El Nino weather pattern. James said normal precipitation has been called for the weather although there’s a 40 percent chance Northern Nevada may have warmer weather. January, he added, could have more precipitation.

“We’re not in a crisis mode,” he stressed.

Commissioners also decided at their meeting not to pursuit Community Block Development Grants for the upcoming year. Shannon Ernst, Social Services director, said her office has not received comments on priorities.

Instead, commissioners decided to support downtown projects such as the proposed food hub.

Lockwood, though, said if the county is going to leverage other projects, she would like to see Rachel Dahl, Churchill Economic Development Authority’s executive director, appear before the commission and explain the authority’s projects.

Jim Falk spoke during the comment period and said grant money earmarked for the food hub or restoration of the downtown theater is not being spent wisely. Falk, a concerned citizen who also spoke before the Fallon City Council on the same topic, said the idea to establish a rail park to help the economy has merit.

Commissioner Bus Scharmann disagreed, saying the food hub and theater restoration are eliminating urban blight.

During their meeting, commissioners also transferred $250,000 from two funds to the Churchill County Road Department for various fiscal year 2016 road and bridge projects; looked at revisions to the county’s investment policy; amend approved an agreement for purchase of a conservation/restrictive use easement consisting of 208 acres, 166 of them water righted for $325,000. Lockwood said the Navy will pay 90 percent.