Clark County - File #: 21-1618

• File #: 21-1618
• Status: Agenda Ready
• File created: 11/2/2021
• In control: Clark County Board of Commissioners
• On agenda: 11/16/2021
• Title: Conduct a public hearing to hear any objections to the proposed conveyance of water rights to the State of Nevada and approve the Interlocal Agreement titled Conveyance Agreement Clark County Water Rights (Agreement) between Clark County and the State of Nevada, acting through the Division of State Lands, and the State Land Registrar for and on behalf of the Department of Wildlife (hereinafter referred to as State of Nevada); approve and authorize the Chair to sign the Agreement and authorize the Director of Environment and Sustainability or Real Property Management or their designees to execute the deed and any related ministerial documents required to complete the conveyance process. (For possible action)

Date	Action By	Action	Result
11/16/2021	Clark County Board of Commissioners	Approved; Agenda note: DISCUSSION: Following introduction of the item, the Board was addressed by Marci Henson, Director of the Clark County Department of Environment and Sustainability, who advised that the request was for the proposed conveyance of water rights that the County acquired between the mid-1990s and the mid-2000s as a condition of the endangered species permit for the purpose of removing cattle ranching from range lands in Southern Nevada that overlapped with desert tortoise habitat; during the acquisition of the grazing permits the County acquired water rights associated with livestock watering; worked with the State to change the use of the water rights to wildlife habitat and wildlife conservation; many administrative responsibilities were needed to maintain the water rights and comply with State regulations; the Nevada Division of Wildlife already holds water rights and does management for water rights for wildlife conservation; and in order to make operations more efficient, and to consolidate the State and local government’s administration of the water rights, requested to convey the water rights on the public lands for the purpose of wildlife conservation. In response to Commissioner Gibson, Marci Henson advised that the subject property was approximately 154-acre feet between the surface water rights and the ground water rights. Chair Kirkpatrick opened the public hearing and asked if there were any persons present in the audience wishing to be heard on the matter. SPEAKER(S): None There being no persons present in the audience wishing to be heard on the matter, Chair Kirkpatrick closed the public hearing.	Pass

CLARK COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

AGENDA ITEM

Petitioner:

Marci Henson, Director of Environment and Sustainability  Lisa Kremer, Director of Real Property Management

Recommendation: 

title

Conduct a public hearing to hear any objections to the proposed conveyance of water rights to the State of Nevada and approve the Interlocal Agreement titled Conveyance Agreement Clark County Water Rights (Agreement) between Clark County and the State of Nevada, acting through the Division of State Lands, and the State Land Registrar for and on behalf of the Department of Wildlife (hereinafter referred to as State of Nevada); approve and authorize the Chair to sign the Agreement and authorize the Director of Environment and Sustainability or Real Property Management or their designees to execute the deed and any related ministerial documents required to complete the conveyance process. (For possible action)

body

FISCAL IMPACT:

Fund #:	2360.000	Fund Name:	Desert Conservation Program
Fund Center:	1300215070	Funded PGM/Grant:	1910-RIPMGMT
Amount:	$2,000
Description:	N/A
Additional Comments:	N/A

BACKGROUND: 

The Clark County Desert Conservation Program (DCP) holds title to surface and groundwater rights which have been acquired over the years to comply with the Clark County Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan (Plan) and associated Section 10(a)(1)(B) Incidental Take Permit (Permit) issued pursuant to the federal Endangered Species Act.  The DCP has examined its inventory of water rights and determined that fifty-eight (58) surface water rights equal to 98.157 acre-feet and twelve (12) groundwater rights equal to 55.71 acre-feet totaling ±153.867 acre-feet are no longer necessary for Plan and Permit compliance. The State of Nevada is interested in acquiring the water rights for the public purpose of restoring, managing, and maintaining water resources for fish and wildlife in southern Nevada.

This item was presented to the County Long Range Planning Committee on February 15, 2019.