S.J.R. 12


Senate Joint Resolution No. 12--Committee on Natural 
    Resources

                 January 31, 1995
                 _____________

    Referred to Committee on Natural Resources


SUMMARY--Urges Federal Government to adhere to 
          states' laws governing use, allocation, 
          management and protection of water. 
          (BDR R-995)

FISCAL NOTE:  Effect on Local Government: No.
              Effect on the State or on Industrial Insurance: No.



EXPLANATION--Matter in italics is new; matter in bra
ckets [ ] is material to be omitted.

SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION--Urging the Federal Government to adhere to 
        the states' laws governing the use, allocation, management and 
        protection of water.


  WHEREAS, Nevada and the other western states 
of the United States are critically dependent upon present 
and future water resources for their quality of life and 
economic base; and
  WHEREAS, The western states are 
geographically, hydrologically and economically diverse and 
distinct from each other and from the eastern states; and
  WHEREAS, Nevada has developed and customized a 
system of water allocation in response to the arid 
conditions of the state; and
  WHEREAS, Water resources in many of the major 
interstate river basins in the west are apportioned and 
administered through interstate compacts or court decrees 
between two or more states; and
  WHEREAS, There has been a long-standing policy 
of deference to the states by the Federal Government in the 
area of the use, allocation, management and protection of 
water; and
  WHEREAS, Nevada has extensive experience in 
managing its own water resources, including both surface and 
ground water supplies, and recognizes the importance of 
protecting its water resources for present and future 
beneficial use; and
  WHEREAS, The individual water users within the 
various states have relied upon the law and policies of 
their respective states and court decrees to acquire vested 
water rights and for the protection of those rights; and
  WHEREAS, Nevada's laws governing the use, 
allocation, management and protection of water provide for 
public participation and are based upon the public 
interest; and
  WHEREAS, The number of federal agencies 
involved in some aspect of water policy or management 
continues to increase, adding duplication, confusion and 
conflicting policies; and
  WHEREAS, Congress is considering several 
pieces of legislation related to the management of water 
resources, some of which contain elements that would 
increase the role of the Federal Government in the 
administration of water resources and undermine the primacy 
of the states' laws governing the use, allocation, 
management and protection of water; now, therefore, be it
  RESOLVED BY THE SENATE AND ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF 
NEVADA, JOINTLY, That the Nevada Legislature urges the 
Federal Government:
  1.  To recognize that the use, allocation, management and 
protection of water resources is primarily the 
responsibility of the states;
  2.  To recognize the primacy of the states' laws governing 
the use, allocation, management and protection of water; and
  3.  To require all federal agencies to conduct their 
activities in accordance with the states' laws governing the 
use, allocation, management and protection of water;
and be it further
  RESOLVED, That the Nevada Legislature urges 
the United States Department of the Interior, the United 
States Army Corps of Engineers, the United States Forest 
Service, the United States Bureau of Land Management, and 
all other federal agencies to refrain from further efforts 
to erode the authority now vested in the various states to 
use, allocate, manage and protect their precious water 
resources; and be it further
  RESOLVED, That the Secretary of the Senate 
prepare and transmit a copy of this resolution to the 
President of the United States, the Secretary of the 
Interior, the Chief of Engineers of the United States Army 
Corps of Engineers, the Chief of the United States Forest 
Service, the Director of the Bureau of Land Management, the 
Director of the State Department of Conservation and Natural 
Resources and each member of the Nevada Congressional 
Delegation; and be it further
  RESOLVED, That this resolution becomes 
effective upon passage and approval.

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