Revises provisions relating to water. (BDR 48-386)

A.B. 485

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ASSEMBLY BILL NO. 485–COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES

(ON BEHALF OF THE JOINT INTERIM STANDING
COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES)

MARCH 24, 2025
____________

Referred to Committee on Natural Resources

SUMMARY—Revises provisions relating to water. (BDR 48-386)

FISCAL NOTE: Effect on Local Government: No.
Effect on the State: Contains Appropriation not included
in Executive Budget.

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EXPLANATION – Matter in bolded italics is new; matter between brackets [omitted material] is material to be omitted.

AN ACT relating to water; revising provisions governing certain
assessments on water users; making an appropriation to
the Division of Water Resources of the State Department
of Conservation and Natural Resources for various
projects relating to the management of water resources in
this State and for the digitization of records and data of
the Division; and providing other matters properly
relating thereto.
Legislative Counsel’s Digest:
Existing law requires the board of county commissioners of a county to levy a 1
special assessment in an amount necessary to pay the salaries and expenses of well 2
supervisors, assistants of well supervisors and the Well Drillers’ Advisory Board, i f 3
fees collected for certain licenses are not sufficient to pay such salaries and 4
expenses. Existing law authorizes the board of county commissioners of a county to 5
pay those salaries and expenses by appropriating money from the general fund of 6
the county, if the amount of a special assessment combined with all other taxes and 7
assessments levied upon a property owner is less than the cost of collecting the 8
special assessment. Existing law further provides that well supervisors and 9
assistants of well supervi sors employed by the State Engineer are exempt from 10
certain provisions of existing law governing public officers and employees. (NRS 11
534.040) Sections 1 and 3 of this bill prohibit the use of the money levied from 12
such a special assessment or money appropriated from the general fund of a county 13
to pay the salaries and expenses of a person employed by the State Engineer who is 14
subject to certain provisions of existing law governing public officers and 15
employees. 16

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Existing law requires such special assessments to be deposited with the State 17
Treasurer for credit to the Water District Account to be accounted for in basin well 18
accounts. (NRS 534.040) Section 3 requires the State Engineer to provide, not 19
more than o nce each year and upon the written request of a board of county 20
commissioners that levies a special assessment or appropriates money from the 21
general fund of the county, a report on the expenditures and activities from the 22
Water District Account for the pa rticular basin well account of that groundwater 23
basin. Section 2 of this bill makes a conforming change to account for the 24
renumbering of provisions in section 3. 25
Existing law further establishes, subject to certain exceptions, a minimum 26
charge of $1 for a special assessment upon certain areas in which the use of 27
groundwater is predominantly for agricultural purposes. (NRS 534.040) Section 3: 28
(1) removes the minimum charge; and (2) establishes a maximum charge tha t is 29
equal to the existing charge as of June 30, 2025, plus the annual percentage 30
increase in the Consumer Price Index for the immediately preceding year for such 31
assessments. Section 3 further authorizes the State Engineer to increase the amount 32
of the maximum charge with the approval of the board of county commissioners. 33
Section 4 of this bill makes an appropriation to the Division of Water 34
Resources of the State Department of Conservation and Natural Resources for: (1) 35
costs associated with updates to the water budgets of the groundwater basins in this 36
State; (2) the collection of data and the monitoring of water resources and 37
ecosystems in this State; (3) the digitization of records and data of the Division; and 38
(4) hiring staff for the adjudication of vested water rights in the groundwater basins 39
in this State. 40

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN
SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

Section 1. NRS 532.210 is hereby amended to read as follows: 1
532.210 1. The fund created pursuant to the provisions of 2
chapter 232, Statutes of Nevada 1931, and chapter 23, Statutes of 3
Nevada 1943, is hereby continued as a revolving account within the 4
State General Fund, for the purposes set forth in NRS 533.270 to 5
533.295, inclusive, and for the purposes set forth in the provisions 6
of chapters 534, 535 and 536 of NRS pertaining to the conservation 7
and distribution of waters. 8
2. [The] Except as otherwise provided in subsection 2 of NRS 9
534.040, the money in the Water Distribution Revolving Account 10
may be used for: 11
(a) The payment of state water commissioners’ and assistant 12
state water commissioners’ salaries and expenses. 13
(b) The payment of salaries and ex penses of other employees 14
engaged in the work of the distribution of waters or streams that are 15
directly under the supervision of the State Engineer. 16
(c) The payment of expenses necessarily incurred by the state 17
water commissioners in the distribution of water. 18
3. The money in the Water Distribution Revolving Account, or 19
so much thereof as is necessary, may be used by the State Engineer 20
for the uses and purposes of, and in the administration of the 21

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provisions of, chapter 534 of NRS pertaining to the cons ervation 1
and distribution of underground waters. 2
Sec. 2. NRS 534.035 is hereby amended to read as follows: 3
534.035 1. In each area designated as a groundwater basin by 4
the State Engineer pursuant to the provisions of NRS 534.030, the 5
board of county commissioners may recommend to the State 6
Engineer that the State Engineer establish a groundwater board. The 7
State Engineer shall determine whether or not a groundwater board 8
is to be established and may direct its establishment by order. 9
2. If a groundwater board is established, the governing bodies 10
of all the cities and towns within the designated area, the board of 11
county commissioners of each county in which the area is located, 12
and the governing body of any water distric t in which the area is 13
included, or partly included, shall each submit a list of names of 14
residents of the area to the Governor, who shall appoint seven 15
members of the board. At least one member must be appointed from 16
each list. 17
3. After the initial terms, the term of office of each member of 18
the board is 4 years. The board shall elect one member as chair and 19
one member as secretary to serve as such at the pleasure of the 20
board. 21
4. The board shall maintain its headquarters at the county seat 22
of the coun ty in which the designated area is located, or if the area 23
lies in more than one county, in the county seat of one of the 24
counties in which the area is located. The board shall hold meetings 25
at such times and places as it may determine. Special meetings ma y 26
be called at any time by the secretary at the request of any four 27
members, or by the chair, upon notice specifying the matters to be 28
acted upon at the meeting. No matters other than those specified in 29
the notice may be acted upon at that meeting unless a ll members are 30
present and consent thereto. 31
5. A majority of the board constitutes a quorum, and the board 32
shall act only by a majority of those present. 33
6. For each day’s attendance at each meeting of the 34
groundwater board, or for each day when servic es are actually 35
performed for the groundwater board, the members are entitled to 36
receive per diem and travel allowances provided by law. Claims for 37
those expenses must be paid as provided in subsection [7] 8 of 38
NRS 534.040. 39
7. The State Engineer shall n ot approve any application or 40
issue any permit to drill a well, appropriate groundwater, change the 41
place or manner of use or the point of diversion of water within the 42
designated area, adopt any related regulations or enter any related 43
orders until the St ate Engineer has conferred with the board and 44
obtained its written advice and recommendations. 45

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8. It is the intention of the Legislature that the State Engineer 1
and the board be in agreement whenever possible, but, for the 2
purpose of fixing responsibilit y to the Governor, if there is any 3
disagreement between the State Engineer and the board, the views 4
of the State Engineer prevail. A written report of any such 5
disagreement must be made immediately to the Governor by the 6
State Engineer and the board. 7
9. Any groundwater board may request from the State Engineer 8
or any other state, county, city or district agency such technical 9
information, data and advice as it may require to perform its 10
functions, and the State Engineer and such other agencies shall, 11
within the resources available to them, furnish such assistance as 12
may be requested. 13
10. The Governor may dissolve the groundwater board by 14
order if the Governor determines that the future activities of the 15
board are likely to be insubstantial. 16
Sec. 3. NRS 534.040 is hereby amended to read as follows: 17
534.040 1. Upon the initiation of the administration of this 18
chapter in any particular basin, and where the investigations of the 19
State Engineer have shown the necessity for the supervision over the 20
waters of that basin, the State Engineer may employ a well 21
supervisor and other necessary assistants, who shall execute the 22
duties as provided in this chapter under the direction of the State 23
Engineer. The salaries of the well supe rvisor and the assistants of 24
the well supervisor must be fixed by the State Engineer. The well 25
supervisor and assistants are exempt from the provisions of chapter 26
284 of NRS. 27
2. If the money available from the license fees provided for in 28
NRS 534.140 is not sufficient to pay those salaries, together with 29
necessary expenses, including the compensation and other expenses 30
of the Well Drillers’ Advisory Board, the board of county 31
commissioners shall, except as otherwise provided in this 32
subsection, levy a special assessment annually, or at such time as the 33
assessment is needed, upon all taxable property situated within the 34
confines of the area designated by the State Engineer to come under 35
the provisions of this chapter in an amount as is necessary to pay 36
such salaries and expenses. If the board of county commissioners 37
determines that the amount of a special assessment levied upon a 38
property owner pursuant to this section when combined with the 39
amount of all other taxes and assessments levied upon the property 40
owner is less than the cost of collecting the special assessment 41
levied pursuant to this subsection, the board of county 42
commissioners may exempt the property owner from the assessment 43
and appropriate money from the general fund of the county to pay 44
the cost of the assessment. Money levied from a special assessment 45

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or appropriated from the general fund of a county pursuant to this 1
section must not be used to pay the salaries and expenses of an 2
employee subject to the provisions of chapter 284 of NRS. 3
3. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 2, in designated 4
areas within which the use of groundwater is predominantly for 5
agricultural purposes, any special assessment levied pursuant to this 6
section must be charged against each water user who has a permit to 7
appropriate water or a perfected water right, and the charge against 8
each water user must be based upon the proportion which his or her 9
water right bears to the aggregate water rights in the designated 10
area. [The minimum charge is $1.] Except as otherwise provided in 11
this subsection, the maximum charge is equal to the existing 12
charge as of June 30, 2025, plus the annual percentage increase 13
in the Consumer Price Index (All Items) published by the United 14
States Department of Labor for the immediately preceding year. 15
The State Engineer may, with the approval of the board of county 16
commissioners, increase the charge beyond the maximum set forth 17
in this subsection. 18
4. The salaries and expenses may be paid by the State Engineer 19
from the Water Distribution R evolving Account pending the levy 20
and collection of an assessment levied pursuant to this section. 21
5. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 2, if a special 22
assessment is levied pursuant to this section, the proper officers of 23
the county shall levy a nd collect the special assessment as other 24
special assessments are levied and collected, and the assessment is a 25
lien upon the property. 26
6. Any special assessment collected pursuant to this section 27
must be deposited with the State Treasurer for credit to the Water 28
District Account to be accounted for in basin well accounts. 29
7. Not more than once each year, t he State Engineer shall 30
provide to a board of county commissioners in this State which 31
levies a special assessment or appropriates money from the 32
general fund of the county pursuant to this section, upon written 33
request from the board of county commissione rs, a report on the 34
expenditures and activities from the Water District Account for the 35
particular basin well account of that groundwater basin. 36
8. Upon determination and certification by the State Engineer 37
of the amount to be budgeted for the current or ensuing fiscal year 38
for the purpose of paying the per diem and travel allowances of the 39
groundwater board and employing consultants or other help needed 40
to fulfill its responsibilities, the State Controller shall transfer that 41
amount to a separate operati ng account for that fiscal year for the 42
groundwater basin. Claims against the account must be approved by 43
the groundwater board and paid as other claims against the State are 44
paid. The State Engineer may use money in a particular basin well 45

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account to support an activity outside the basin in which the money 1
is collected if the activity bears a direct relationship to the 2
responsibilities or activities of the State Engineer regarding the 3
particular groundwater basin. 4
Sec. 4. 1. There is hereby appropriated from the State 5
General Fund to the Division of Water Resources of the State 6
Department of Conservation and Natural Resources the sum of 7
$1,000,000 for: 8
(a) Costs associated with updates to the water budgets of the 9
groundwater basins in this State; 10
(b) The collection of data and the monitoring of water resources 11
and ecosystems in this State; 12
(c) The digitization of records and data of the Division; and 13
(d) Hiring staff for the adjudication of vested water rights in the 14
groundwater basins in this State. 15
2. Any remaining balance of the appropriation made by 16
subsection 1 must not be committed for expenditure after June 30, 17
2027, by the entity to which the appropriation is made or any entity 18
to which money f rom the appropriation is granted or otherwise 19
transferred in any manner, and any portion of the appropriated 20
money remaining must not be spent for any purpose after 21
September 17, 2027, by either the entity to which the money was 22
appropriated or the entity to which the money was subsequently 23
granted or transferred, and must be reverted to the State General 24
Fund on or before September 17, 2027. 25
Sec. 5. This act becomes effective on July 1, 2025. 26

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