Committee hears water‑use and pumped‑storage concerns; consultant cites appeal filed for Pine and Wah Wah Valley decisions

Jeremy Drew of Resource Concepts, Inc. told the committee that at the federal level there are pending rule updates on grazing, planning rules for Resource Management Plans, and other items affecting public‑land management. He said the Greenlink North final EIS was expected in July and raised concerns about the White Pine Pumped Storage Project's hydrogeologic investigation and how aquifer drawdown would be modeled; he also said Great Basin Water Network had submitted concerns in a letter.

Drew reported that RCI filed an appeal on April 1 for the final record of decision for Pine and Wah Wah Valley and discussed Steptoe Basin's status as a closed basin and the state water engineer's special order as a management tool. Committee members discussed the difficulty of protesting applications after deadlines and a member recommended the county file protests when appropriate; members also proposed possible field trips to view project sites.