A group of more than 20 stakeholders is investigating the future of adjudicating and reviewing water cases in Nevada. Like most things involving water, there will be an array of opinions on the matter.
This spring, the Nevada Supreme Court Chief Justice, James Hardesty, empanelled a commission that includes representatives from different sectors across the state. Commissioners will discuss and debate what — if anything — should be done to address how the courts should address legal matters regarding water.
Kyle Roerink, Great Basin Water Network’s executive direction, was named to the Com-mission. GBWN represents the non-profit community in Nevada while other commission members represent agriculture, mining, local government entities, municipal water purveyors, judicial districts and other areas.
GBWN has plenty of experience working in the state’s legal and regulatory realms and is eager to offer its insights. Our No.1 goal is to ensure that the legal system always represents small communities, ecosystems, and water users in an equitable way that doesn’t tip the scales in favor of powerful entities that reside in Vegas or Reno.
This commission was the result of a failed bill that attempted to move water matters out of district courts and into the court of appeals. Major changes like that require amending our constitution, which was written to ensure water users have local access to justice via Nevada’s district courts.
We will be providing more updates as this process continues. The commission allows for public comment and participation. The committee met for the first time on April 16 via Zoom. The upcoming meetings will be June 25th and August 27th at 1 pm. For more information, go to the Supreme Court’s website. At the top of the page search for docket ADKT 0576.
