The 2021 water season is fast approaching for the Truckee-Carson Irrigation District. Typically, the TCID Board of Directors sets the annual allocation (water supply) for all Newlands Federal Reclamation Project water right holders during the March meeting. Absent a “miracle March,” we anticipate having less than a full allocation (the amount of water necessary to meet the full water righted entitlement to a given parcel of land). In view of a lesser supply, it is imperative that each water right holder obtain all the available water to which he or she is lawfully entitled. The temptation in a short supply year is for people to take water from canals, laterals, and drains to which they have no legal right. All the water we convey in Newlands Project facilities has both a lawfully determined destination and a beneficial use ascribed to it. Water theft, in any season, and most especially in a season of shortage, reduces the available supply resulting in harm to our water right holders. Moreover, water taken without authority is never a beneficial use of our state’s most precious natural resource.
Nevada law prohibits the unauthorized use of water to which another person is entitled (NRS 533.460). It is also unlawful to willfully waste water to the detriment of another. No person may open, close, change or interfere with another person’s lawfully established head gate or water box (NRS 533.465). Violations of these laws are punishable as misdemeanors. Federal law further prohibits acts of vandalism or destruction to federal facilities (43 C.F.R. § 423.25).
Examples of water theft include placement of pumps and suction lines in Project facilities and then drawing water without authority. The authorized use of a pump, at any site in the Newlands Project, requires a pump permit issued by the District. Another common example of unauthorized use is the opening of a head gate by anyone, either on public or privately held lands, for the purpose of watering non-water righted grounds. If area residents witness these practices, or destruction made to Project facilities, please let us know.
We also remind all area residents to avoid entry (trespass) upon Project facilities. Changes to water settings must be made only by District personnel. Moving water, fast or slow, shallow or deep, is a most powerful, unforgiving force – the strength of which must never be challenged.
Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at the District
(775) 423-2141.
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