If we properly manage groundwater, we rightfully sustain a significant water supply that must remain for future generations of plant, animal and human life.
That’s easier said than done. And creating policy solutions to guarantee long-term water availability can be fraught with historic conflict, political strife, and uncertainty.
But during the 2025 legislative session, GBWN and an uncanny group of stakeholders were able to find solutions after years of collaboration with AB104 — a law that builds a foundation for creating a groundwater rights retirement program. When Governor Joe Lombardo signed the bill into law he made a commitment to figuring out solutions to imminent problems. That was a strong signal for all of us who worked on this effort.
The law, which tactfully outlines how government funds and philanthropy can be used to limit water use, allows for the retirement of water rights to balance destabilized aquifer systems. This effort is based off a pilot program funded with COVID relief money. That money ran dry. But the desire to keep the program alive persisted after $35 million was spent to retire water across the state. That pilot effort will keep thousands of acre feet of groundwater in aquifers. We hope the new bill multiplies that effect by many magnitudes.
Now that we have a legally valid retirement program, we must do the hard work of finding money to execute it. Nevada did not have any spare funds to fill the coffers of the new retirement program since COVID funds are exhausted and federal programs are in a state of flux.
But, as GBWN said all legislative session, if we build it, the money will come to the program. Why is this important?
We need to ensure that we are limiting the likelihood of future conflicts over groundwater in the nation’s driest state. That is conflict between communities and the natural world. The concept is simple enough. But actually preventing disputes and harms is a lot harder — especially when you think about the complex nature of water systems in general.
Groundwater and surface water sources are no longer being considered as two distinct sources of water. They are, as studies continue to exemplify, inherently connected.
In Nevada, half of our aquifers have more water available on paper than what actually exists in reality. In more specific terms that means regulators doled out more permits to use water than they should have during the past 120 years. On top of that, dozens of aquifer systems have, empirically, more water going out of the system than recharging it, a phenomenon known as over-pumping.
A retirement program is not a silver bullet. It is a part of a silver buckshot effort. To solve all of our problems via a water rights buyback program will take hundreds of millions of dollars. But it can be a catalyst for raising the profile of the issue. Doing nothing is not an option. We are not going to over-sell this effort. But we will praise the collaboration and willingness to do something that can have meaningful outcomes.
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