Assembly committee reviews bill to create Nevada voluntary water‑rights retirement program and related water provisions

The Assembly Committee on Natural Resources heard testimony Feb. 25, 2025, on Assembly Bill 104, a comprehensive water bill that would establish a Nevada Voluntary Water Rights Retirement Program in statute, authorize the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources to administer grants and a retirement account, and adopt several other water‑related clarifications for reuse, septic conversions and Las Vegas‑area revocable rights.

Assemblymember Natha Anderson, sponsor of AB 104, said the draft grew from a joint interim committee process and from a 2023 pilot program funded with American Rescue Plan Act money that granted $25 million to four entities to retire rights. "The pilot program granted $25,000,000 … This program ultimately led to approximately 21,380 acre feet of water rights being retired from willing sellers," Anderson said.

Under the bill as amended and presented to the committee, the state would create a Nevada Conservation and Recreation Program within DCNR that includes an account to accept legislative appropriations, gifts, grants or other funding sources to buy water rights from willing sellers. The statute would allow the state engineer and the director to ensure retired rights remain out of future allocation; the program would prioritize basins with withdrawals that exceed sustainable supply or where groundwater levels are declining. The bill includes a sunset (committee materials cite 06/30/2035) intended to prompt early participation and a later program evaluation.

Alan Biaggi, who represented a water‑working group and several water professionals, said the program is voluntary and intended to keep retired water "in the ground." "This voluntary program would allow willing sellers to relinquish water rights for compensation and direct the state engineer to permanently retire those rights from future allocation," Biaggi said.

The bill also addresses several other topics: clarifying the difference between "temporary" permits and the historical Las Vegas "revocable" rights; adding the Nevada Voluntary Water Rights Retirement Program into DCNR; enabling DCNR to adopt regulations to operate the program; creating an advisory committee that includes representatives from agriculture, regional water authorities, conservation and mining, and two ex‑officio seats for the State Engineer and State Land Registrar; and revising grant eligibility language to allow program funds to be used for retiring groundwater.

Witnesses from conservation groups, regional water authorities and county governments testified in support of the bill and the proposed conceptual amendment filed Feb. 20, 2025. Laurel Saito of The Nature Conservancy, Krista Cabrera Georgeson of the Nevada Conservation League and representatives of central and northern water authorities described prior pilot buyback efforts as evidence the approach can retire water rights in basins with declines in groundwater levels. "We are in support of AB 104 as amended," said Krista Cabrera Georgeson.

Opposition testimony raised concerns about cost and effectiveness. Robert Coache, a former deputy state engineer, testified in opposition and said the 2023 pilot had purchased substantial amounts of "paper water" and water that did not directly affect environmental or conflict outcomes, calling buybacks an inefficient use of public funds and recommending investment in additional technical analysis and use of existing statutory tools instead.

Committee members asked several questions about program administration, fiscal implications and statutory detail. Sponsor Anderson acknowledged a fiscal note filed by DCNR for $328,000 over the biennium to fund one staff position and said the department and stakeholders were discussing program scale and potential funding sources. Members also questioned the use and scope for septic‑to‑sewer financial assistance authorized in section 18 of the draft; proponents said that provision is intended to allow property owners a path back into eligibility for assistance if they repay a voluntary fee when a health district program is established.

No committee votes were recorded; multiple members suggested continued negotiation of statutory language, including clarifications on priority basins, documentation of retired rights in state engineer files and coordination on the program's regulatory framework and fiscal staffing. Proponents and several local governments and conservation organizations said they would continue to work with DCNR and the committee.