December 6, 2007
Water Meeting Rescheduled

By Dave Maxwell

A meeting scheduled in Carson City on November 29 with Tracy Taylor, State Water Engineer, to discuss applications by Vidler Water on behalf of the Lincoln County Water District for the release of more water in the Tule Desert, has been postponed and rescheduled for January 16, 2008.

Water District board member Ronda Hornbeck reported the postponement was due to a family crisis for chief Vidler geologist, Greg Bushner, who would not be able to attend the meeting. Bushner is the man with all the figures Vidler needed to present to the Water Engineer’s office.

Mrs. Hornbeck also made a brief comment about the story in the November 29 issue of the RECORD regarding the ruling in September by Taylor denying the request by Aqua Trac, LLC for 38,000 acre-feet of groundwater annually in areas of western Nevada. Taylor sided with opponents of the request and ruled that Aqua Trac had not supplied “sufficient and credible evidence to support the amount of ground water flow suggested by the applicant.”

Whether this ruling would have an effect on the way he looked at Vidler/LC Water District for applications in Tule Desert, is unknown. Mrs. Hornbeck said the November meeting was delayed because with Mr. Bushner absent, the County would not be able to present Taylor with all the necessary data it has gathered. She hoped that Taylor would rule on each matter on a case-by-case basis. “We have worked very hard to get our data, to get what he has required of us, so that the understanding of what was needed was there. Each case is going to have to be on its own merit,” she said.