AP News. (2022, June 22). Nevada Supreme Court ruling shakes up groundwater rights. Retrieved August 28, 2022 from https://apnews.com/article/climate-science-droughts-reno-nevada-bb7c27a9ec000a2424107d1597daa790

 

Recently the Nevada Supreme Court ruled 4-3 that water management plans in places with depleting groundwater do not have to follow the “priority doctrine” that has traditionally governed water rights laws in the area. The Diamond Valley is an agricultural area that has been depleting its groundwater rapidly, resulting in its designation as a Critical Management Area. While it remains in a critical state, the Nevada government is able to make plans that deviate from the “priority doctrine”, as long as they have been approved by an engineer and most of the water-users within the area. Traditionally, water rights in the western United States have essentially functioned on a first-come, first-serve basis, where those that claim water first have priority over those that come later. Thus, this Nevada ruling is a break from the norm and significantly changes the water rights system in the state. 

 

This ruling allows the government to prioritize the continued availability of groundwater over traditional systems for water management, which is important as Nevada gets even drier as climate change continues. In places such as the Diamond Valley, the tragedy of the commons has come into effect and water has been severely depleted. I have hope that this ruling will allow Nevada’s government to start to replenish the state’s water supply, although that will be hard as they need to balance farmer’s and consumer’s needs with the need for preservation. In a way, I’m surprised that a ruling like this didn’t happen earlier and that it was still so close. It seems that it’s important for the government to be able to manage water usage regardless of how early a certain company or group claimed the water. However there might be part of this that I’m missing, and I can see how overreach by the government on this issue could result in significant problems.