Compromise would set up water panel

CARSON CITY -- Nevada Senate and Assembly lawmakers reached a compromise Sunday on a proposal to create a water planning commission in Northern Nevada.

The new SB487 would create the Western Regional Water Commission, which will not have authority to acquire water, raise rates or incur debt. The agency will have the ability to create regionwide plans for the use, management and conservation of water.

Sen. Mark Amodei, R-Carson City, during a conference committee discussion of the changes to SB487, said the compromise didn't produce as much as he wanted, but it was a good start.

"Our intent was to remove all the stuff about this entity having the ability to acquire water, to wholesale water, have anything to do with rates, to set rates or anything else like that," Amodei said.

The compromise now must be approved by the full Senate and Assembly, which usually adopt plans approved in such conference committees.

Assemblyman David Bobzien, D-Reno, said there was a lot of concern about the original bill, which would have created a Northern Nevada Water Authority. Critics said it would be too powerful and would start importing water, as is planned by the Southern Nevada Water Authority in Las Vegas.

"There was a lot of concern about the original bill, that it was too much too soon, but there was a lot of support in the Legislature for the vision of regionalization, recognizing that water knows no boundaries, and that sooner or later we have to deal with planning for our water resources on a more regional basis, on a more cooperative basis, so I think this gets us there," Bobzien said.