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By: Jim Giudici, NWA Attorney
Thanks to the efforts of Nevada’s senior U.S. Senator Harry Reid and his staff, Congress has ordered the Secretary of Interior to transfer Carson Lake and Pasture (aka the Greenhead Club) to the State of Nevada no later than June 30, 2010.
Upon the transfer, Carson Lake will become a State Wildlife Management Area (SWMA) under Nevada Department of Wildlife’s administration. The State will be required to manage Carson Lake and Pasture as a SWMA in a manner consistent with applicable international agreements of the United States and designation of the area as a component of the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network, or else the area will revert to the federal government and become part of Stillwater National Wildlife Refuge under U.S. Fish and Wildlife management.
The transfer of Carson Lake to the State of Nevada was a key component in Section 206 of Public Law 101-618 (Water Settlement Act). The federal government had originally decided to abandon the Lahontan Valley wetlands and was going to decommission the Stillwater National Wildlife Refuge and let all the marshes dry up. But, thanks to the efforts of some key individuals (especially including Ron Anglin who was then the Stillwater Refuge Manager, Norm Saake who was the Nevada waterfowl biologist, and his boss at the time, Willie Molini, NDOW Director) word was spread of the impending destruction of the Lahontan Valley marshes.
Nevada Waterfowl Association was started and the Lahontan Valley Wetlands Coalition was formed thanks to people like John Rogers, Dr. Ken Taber, Tina Nappe, Rose Strickland, Hugh Judd and too many others to list here. All of the wetlands advocate groups went to work to save the Lahontan Valley marshes.
We knew there was no way to succeed unless we could convince Congress to make a major federal commitment to save the marshes. It soon became apparent that Congress would not do so unless the State of Nevada and local organizations also contributed to the effort. In the end, the State committed to spend $9 million and would receive title to Carson Lake and Pasture as a State Wildlife Management Area.
The transfer of Carson Lake was essential to the package of compromises and solutions Congress passed in Section 206 of PL 101-618 to save the marshes. And, as it turned out, it was Section 206 that really caught Congress’ attention and may have secured the signature of President Bush (senior).
It came as a surprise to all of the wetlands advocates when we were told later that the Carson Lake transfer was only “discretionary” with the Secretary of Interior. The Secretary took the position that he would not transfer Carson Lake to Nevada unless Nevada agreed to limit transfers of water rights bought with state funds to the reduced delivery rate of 2.99 acre feet per acre (afa) even though the water rights had an existing duty rate of 3.5 or 4.0 afa. That position stunned both the State and wetlands supporters.
The State refused to give in to the Secretary’s demand, and the entire Section 206 implementation process was in jeopardy. Nevada Waterfowl Association jumped into the dispute and after way too many years of arguing with the Secretary, a compromise was reached. In October 2004, a formal agreement for the transfer of Carson Lake to Nevada was signed in former Governor Kenny Guinn’s office. The State agreed that the conveyance of title would be subject to a restrictive covenant by which water rights would be delivered to Carson Lake at the reduced delivery rate of 2.99 afa unless and until a higher delivery rate is obtained through the regular State Water Engineer application process subject to federal court review. (At this time, NWA and NDOW have won the full duty rate issue before the State Engineer. The decision is currently pending review in the U.S. District Court).
Once the formal transfer agreement was signed, NWA was again hopeful that the transfer could be achieved. But controversy then arose concerning the studies that have to be completed to allow the Secretary to actually transfer title. Those problems dragged on and once again frustration grew.
But now, Congress has passed and President Bush (junior) has now signed H.R. 2764, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2008. Section 208 states, in pertinent part:
“Notwithstanding any other provisions of law, … the Secretary of the Interior -- acting through the Commissioner of Reclamation, shall use… $3,000,000 for activities necessary to convey to the State of Nevada the land known as the 'Carson Lake and Pasture,' as authorized by section 206(e) of [Public Law 101-618] …
… “The Secretary shall achieve compliance with all applicable Federal laws (including regulations) relating to the conveyance of the Carson Lake and Pasture to the State of Nevada … by not later than June 30, 2010. Any part of the $3 million that is not expended by BOR, will go to the State of Nevada to supplement the $2.5 million the State will receive upon the transfer of title. That money is to purchase water rights from willing sellers and to make necessary improvements to benefit Carson Lake and Pasture.”
Ken Mayer, Director of the Nevada Department of Wildlife, is very excited about the new legislation and pending transfer. When contacted for this article, he said, “This is truly a monumental day in the history of the Carson Lake acquisition. For over 20 long years Nevada Department of Wildlife, NWA, Lahontan Valley Wetlands Coalition, and countless individuals have been striving for this moment and with the favorable opinion by the State Engineer and the legislation passed by Senator Reid it is almost a reality.
"We still need to get through the activities outlined in HR 2764 Section 206 and have the appeal of the State Engineers' opinion upheld in the courts, but we have made tremendous recent progress and I’m confident that with everyone’s continued help we will succeed. However, we are not going to wait around for these final actions to unfold. NDOW will initiate the development of a Comprehensive Management Plan (CMP) for the acquisition. The CMP process is open to the public, where we will provide the public an opportunity to share their ideas on how the area should be managed. My goal as Director is to do what we can to make the Carson Lake WMA a crown jewel of the state!”
Public Law 101-618 was enacted in 1990. Congress finally has now mandated that Carson Lake be transferred to Nevada by no later than June 30, 2010. It will have taken 20 years, but it will be worth the fight once this very important wetlands area is directly managed by the State.
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