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Advocates tell Ely Council pumped-storage proposal risks local springs and city water rights
Summary
The Great Basin Water Network told the Ely City Council a USGS-modeled scenario shows the proposed White Pine Pumped Storage Project could cause far greater groundwater drawdown than the project's own model predicts, threatening springs used by the City of Ely and nearby ranchers; the group urged the city to protect its water rights ahead of federal NEPA/FERC review.
Great Basin Water Network Executive Director Kyle Roerink warned the Ely City Council on Nov. 13 that modeling run under USGS assumptions shows substantially larger 50-year groundwater drawdown from the proposed White Pine Pumped Storage Project than the project proponent's own analysis.
Roerink presented a memorandum and maps comparing the proponent’s projected drawdown with USGS-modeled outcomes. He said the proponent’s model shows limited impact in many areas, but the USGS model indicates “magnitudes worse” effects in and beyond the immediate well field. "When you're dealing with springs...if you lose twenty feet of head on a spring that means you could go dry," Roerink told the council, adding that losing spring head could force ranchers to drill deeper wells or lose grazing access.
Roerink flagged specific municipal rights by name on his memo, including Lackawanna Springs, and said the analysis suggests the city and other water-rights holders in Steptoe Valley face uncertainty and potential harm if pumping proceeds at the scales proposed. He described legal avenues for protecting those rights but said detailed strategy was not appropriate for the public forum.
The presentation emphasized Nevada water-law principles: groundwater appropriations require that water be available, must not conflict with existing rights, and must not harm the public interest. Roerink said the modeled drawdown “would absolutely be detrimental to public interest” and warned that the federal process the project will undergo (FERC/NEPA) is expected to accelerate in early 2027.
City officials did not take formal action on the presentation. The memorandum and model comparison were presented so the council could better understand potential risks to municipal water supplies and to inform future participation in regulatory and permitting processes.
The council meeting packet includes the GBWN memorandum and a table of springs and wells referenced in the analysis; GBWN recommended the city follow legal and technical review avenues as the federal process proceeds.
What happens next: Roerink said stakeholders will see FERC/NEPA processes pick up in January 2027; the memo and modeling are intended to guide local efforts to monitor and, if necessary, defend Ely’s water rights.
