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Trying to jostle booming growth with limited water, Fernley city officials are looking to make drastic changes in how they manage development and water - changes that could at once alienate towns where growth is outpacing resources and serve as a model for them.
Out of water
With a population that has doubled in the last eight years, just about all of Fernley's municipal water supply is already spoken for. The city 28 miles west of Fallon will have to put a complete halt on development if it doesn't adapt now, Fernley officials told the Truckee-Carson Irrigation District.
Potential changes include making developers supply their own water rights, switching the city's main municipal water source from groundwater to agricultural water from the Truckee Canal, and harnessing non-drinkable water for landscaping.
Next week, Fernley's city council will discuss forcing developers to buy enough water rights to support the homes they plan to build, rather than paying the city a fee to hook onto its water system as is done now.
If developers don't bring in water, they won't get to build in Fernley.
"That's how we're going to handle growth," Fernley Mayor Dave Stix told the TCID board of directors at a recent meeting.
Fernley will also make developers build two water lines into new subdivisions, one for in-house drinking water and one for outdoor landscaping, so that untreated water and treated effluent can be used for non-consumption purposes. They call it "the purple pipe."
"Summer versus winter usage appears to show that most of the water is used for landscaping," said Fernley City Manager Gary Bacock.
Fernley officials also told the TCID board that the city's primary source of drinking water by mid-2006 will be the Truckee Canal rather than the wells from which all of Fernley's water is currently drawn.
Out of water
With a population that has doubled in the last eight years, just about all of Fernley's municipal water supply is already spoken for. The city 28 miles west of Fallon will have to put a complete halt on development if it doesn't adapt now, Fernley officials told the Truckee-Carson Irrigation District.
Potential changes include making developers supply their own water rights, switching the city's main municipal water source from groundwater to agricultural water from the Truckee Canal, and harnessing non-drinkable water for landscaping.
Next week, Fernley's city council will discuss forcing developers to buy enough water rights to support the homes they plan to build, rather than paying the city a fee to hook onto its water system as is done now.
If developers don't bring in water, they won't get to build in Fernley.
"That's how we're going to handle growth," Fernley Mayor Dave Stix told the TCID board of directors at a recent meeting.
Fernley will also make developers build two water lines into new subdivisions, one for in-house drinking water and one for outdoor landscaping, so that untreated water and treated effluent can be used for non-consumption purposes. They call it "the purple pipe."
"Summer versus winter usage appears to show that most of the water is used for landscaping," said Fernley City Manager Gary Bacock.
Fernley officials also told the TCID board that the city's primary source of drinking water by mid-2006 will be the Truckee Canal rather than the wells from which all of Fernley's water is currently drawn.
An arsenic-removing water treatment plant for the city's groundwater would cost about $7 million, Stix said, while a plant to treat irrigation water for consumption would be closer to $5 million.
Fernley's groundwater barely meets the old federal arsenic standard for drinking water of 50 parts per billion but not the new 10 parts per billion standard, which is set to kick in by late January, 2006. Fernley received an extension from the state and won't have to meet the new standard until 2009.
Fernley's plan to use agricultural water from the Truckee Canal would put another major buyer of Newlands Project water rights into what already is considered a sellers market.
Unpopular moves
The prospect of adding Fernley to the long list of people and government agencies competing for the irrigation water that feeds Lahontan Valley farm fields worries Churchill County officials.
Aside from jacking the cost of water rights up too high for local farmers, it means less water will flow through local canals. Churchill County Manager Brad Goetsch said that will directly affect the amount of water that seeps into local acquifers and could limit the growth here.
"It basically steals the future from Churchill County...," he said.
"It takes away our ability to grow as they have been able to grow."
Goetsch said the county will "do anything in our ability" to keep as much water in Churchill County as possible. The county will likely continue to purchase water rights from sellers looking to get out of the farming business and possibly even form water-buying partnerships with agencies such as the city of Fallon, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and TCID.
"There are things we would explore that haven't been done yet," Goetsch said.
Fernley's groundwater barely meets the old federal arsenic standard for drinking water of 50 parts per billion but not the new 10 parts per billion standard, which is set to kick in by late January, 2006. Fernley received an extension from the state and won't have to meet the new standard until 2009.
Fernley's plan to use agricultural water from the Truckee Canal would put another major buyer of Newlands Project water rights into what already is considered a sellers market.
Unpopular moves
The prospect of adding Fernley to the long list of people and government agencies competing for the irrigation water that feeds Lahontan Valley farm fields worries Churchill County officials.
Aside from jacking the cost of water rights up too high for local farmers, it means less water will flow through local canals. Churchill County Manager Brad Goetsch said that will directly affect the amount of water that seeps into local acquifers and could limit the growth here.
"It basically steals the future from Churchill County...," he said.
"It takes away our ability to grow as they have been able to grow."
Goetsch said the county will "do anything in our ability" to keep as much water in Churchill County as possible. The county will likely continue to purchase water rights from sellers looking to get out of the farming business and possibly even form water-buying partnerships with agencies such as the city of Fallon, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and TCID.
"There are things we would explore that haven't been done yet," Goetsch said.
But while Goetsch is concerned about Fernley's new proposals forcing developers to coming looking for water rights here, he thinks they might just be on to something.
Churchill County itself may consider requiring developers to find their own water rights before building.
"It puts the responsibility on the people who build, not on the (residents)" Goetsch said.
Builders, while not wild about the idea of adding water rights purchases to their workload, also realize Fernley has to do something.
"If that's what they need to do, that's what they need to do," said Mike Holmes, President of the Builders Association of Northern Nevada.
Still, developers have been sharply at odds with the Fernley's handling of growth issues lately, with Holmes calling the city's past actions "borderline malfeasance."
Holmes chided the city's plan to have developers put in a second landscaping water line for untreated water, saying they haven't even gotten word from environmental agencies whether that would be allowed. He also criticized the events that led up to the city's proposal to require water rights for new homes.
In order to ration its limited water supply, the city recently hiked its "in lieu of" water right fee from $1,000 to $5,000, which resulted in skyrocketing water rights prices from Fernley to Fallon. Then the city stopped accepting in lieu of payments altogether.
"They don't know what they're doing," Holmes said of planners in the city that incorporated just three years ago.
Water to grow
Churchill County itself may consider requiring developers to find their own water rights before building.
"It puts the responsibility on the people who build, not on the (residents)" Goetsch said.
Builders, while not wild about the idea of adding water rights purchases to their workload, also realize Fernley has to do something.
"If that's what they need to do, that's what they need to do," said Mike Holmes, President of the Builders Association of Northern Nevada.
Still, developers have been sharply at odds with the Fernley's handling of growth issues lately, with Holmes calling the city's past actions "borderline malfeasance."
Holmes chided the city's plan to have developers put in a second landscaping water line for untreated water, saying they haven't even gotten word from environmental agencies whether that would be allowed. He also criticized the events that led up to the city's proposal to require water rights for new homes.
In order to ration its limited water supply, the city recently hiked its "in lieu of" water right fee from $1,000 to $5,000, which resulted in skyrocketing water rights prices from Fernley to Fallon. Then the city stopped accepting in lieu of payments altogether.
"They don't know what they're doing," Holmes said of planners in the city that incorporated just three years ago.
Water to grow
If all the homes that are currently planned in Fernley are built, about 8,500 of its 8,644 municipal water rights will be allocated.
Fernley officials don't want to be forced to stop there and they don't want to cut it that close. They want to be able to grow more and they want extra water in hand, in case usage is higher than they expect or in case continued drought depletes the aquifer.
While the city is looking for more groundwater sources, including an existing well on private land within the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe reservation, it's the move to irrigation water Fernley officials hope will give it room to grow.
City planners hope about half the city's groundwater rights will be used eventually, with the rest kept for reserve. Excess irrigation water might even be pumped back into the aquifer for storage, officials told the TCID.
Reno, Sparks and Washoe counties already use the Truckee River for their municipal supplies and indications are they'll keep looking for more water rights to allow for future growth.
If Fernley doesn't buy available Truckee River water rights, interests even further upstream will, Bacock said.
Fernley, like Churchill County, doesn't want its own population boom to be cut short while places like Las Vegas and Reno continue to flourish.
"We need to protect the longevity of our public's (economic health), Bacock said.
"We don't want to run out of water."
Cory McConnell can be contacted at cmcconnell@lahontanvalleynews.com
Fernley officials don't want to be forced to stop there and they don't want to cut it that close. They want to be able to grow more and they want extra water in hand, in case usage is higher than they expect or in case continued drought depletes the aquifer.
While the city is looking for more groundwater sources, including an existing well on private land within the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe reservation, it's the move to irrigation water Fernley officials hope will give it room to grow.
City planners hope about half the city's groundwater rights will be used eventually, with the rest kept for reserve. Excess irrigation water might even be pumped back into the aquifer for storage, officials told the TCID.
Reno, Sparks and Washoe counties already use the Truckee River for their municipal supplies and indications are they'll keep looking for more water rights to allow for future growth.
If Fernley doesn't buy available Truckee River water rights, interests even further upstream will, Bacock said.
Fernley, like Churchill County, doesn't want its own population boom to be cut short while places like Las Vegas and Reno continue to flourish.
"We need to protect the longevity of our public's (economic health), Bacock said.
"We don't want to run out of water."
Cory McConnell can be contacted at cmcconnell@lahontanvalleynews.com
