Beneath a bone-dry Nevada lakebed, close to the dusty desert where the Burning Man festival is held each year, an ambitious water project is reshaping this pocket of the US West.
A giant, natural underground aquifer containing enough water to supply 25,000 homes annually is fed by rainfall and snowmelt from the surrounding volcanic mountains.
For the past few years, a little-known company called Vidler Water Resources has been quietly pumping much of this water out through a buried pipeline, under the mountains — and straight into the rapidly sprawling northern suburbs of Reno, some 30 miles (50 kilometers) away.
“We, everybody, had to start buying from Vidler,” said developer Robert Lissner. “Anybody who is building.”
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Housing developer Robert Lissner inspects a site where he is building 42 new housing units in Cold Springs, Nevada
Andri Tambunan
Diverting often-scarce water to cities is, in itself, nothing new in the West. But this pipeline is unusual because it was fully constructed and paid for by a private company.
Such projects could help solve water-shortage issues as development expands rapidly in the desert, but they raise serious concerns for the area’s aquifers – and with high building costs, the path forward will depend on whether the strategy ultimately proves profitable.
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Vidler spent around $100 million to purchase the ranch atop the aquifer, and build the infrastructure — an outlay that local government officials say they could not contemplate.
“If Vidler hadn’t constructed this project, it wouldn’t have gotten done,” said John Enloe, of the water utility covering Reno.
“They took quite a risk,” agreed Lissner.
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Mud cracks on the dry lake bed in Fish Springs, Nevada that lies over the natural underground aquifer from which Vidler draws its water
Andri Tambunan
Nevada is the nation’s driest state, and consistently among its fastest-growing. Builders cannot break ground on new homes here unless they have procured enough “water rights” to supply them indefinitely.
Developers typically buy these coveted and highly limited licenses from local farmers. In districts where local water rights have all been reallocated, building grinds to a halt.
“The land is completely worthless in our area without the water,” said rancher David Stix, whose farm is surrounded by newbuild houses.
Several companies have “water importation” plans, similar to Vidler’s.
IWS Basin, formerly Intermountain Water Supply, planned to pipe water to northern Reno, but had its permits canceled in 2018. Similar schemes in nearby Lower Smoke Creek and Red Rock Valley are at various stages of development.
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A giant industrial park containing Tesla and Panasonic factories, unable to procure local water rights, is constructing a pipeline taking “recycled” water from a Reno treatment plant.
The Vidler water pipe terminus is seen in Lemmon Valley, Nevada in June 2023
Andri Tambunan
But water importation projects raise ecological concerns.
The US West remains in the grip of a decades-long drought, driven by climate change. Environmentalist Kyle Roerink believes that, if over-pumped, aquifers like Vidler’s “very well could be tapped out.”
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As basins are interconnected, the negative impacts of pumping water into one valley might not be noticed in another until “it is too late,” he said.
Vidler declined to comment, instead directing queries to local water utility, the Truckee Meadows Water Authority (TMWA).
TMWA reduced its dependence on a major river flowing from Lake Tahoe by using Vidler’s pipeline — which can currently meet almost 10 percent of the region’s total demand.
The authority said a federal environmental impact review had been carried out, and that the amount of water the pipeline is permitted to take is well below the aquifer’s annual capacity.
Still, Roerink fears the Vidler pipeline could become a “bellwether” for similar projects, which may not prove sustainable in a few decades.
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“There are other basins just like this, where you have developers who are salivating to tap it, salivating to export,” he warned.
Kyle Roerink, a water-conservation advocate, believes that aquifers like Vidler’s ‘very well could be tapped out’
Andri Tambunan
“Salivating to build their next subdivision, and shopping mall, off of groundwater that comes from 50 or 100 miles away.”
Environmental issues aside, the process of moving water across — or beneath — mountains is very challenging.
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“There are lots of proposals… Every year or two, we get a call from somebody saying ‘I want to do a water importation project,’” said water lawyer David Rigdon.
“But they’re very, very difficult to get approved. They’re super expensive to build. And a lot of times, the market is not there for the water.”
Vidler’s pipeline, for example, sat unused for nearly a decade after it was completed in 2008, as recession brought housebuilding to a halt.
Vidler currently charges $45,000 per acre-foot of water rights, while water rights in central Reno tend to trade for between $10,000-$15,000. (An acre-foot is equivalent to around half an Olympic-size swimming pool.)
Those costs are borne by the developers, who must calculate whether the additional price makes construction viable.
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“It doesn’t help,” admitted Lissner, the developer.
That said, one of the nation’s largest homebuilders seems to think Vidler is a good bet: Last year the company was bought by construction giant DR Horton for just under $300 million.
But whether such pipelines ultimately succeed largely depends on one factor, Stix, the rancher said: “Ultimately, at the end of the day, the almighty dollar wins out.”
The College of Southern Nevada (CSN) has installed a Solid State Logic Duality Fuse SuperAnalogue console in the main control room at the Recording Studio Facilities at its North Las Vegas Campus. The 48-channel Duality Fuse, which came online for the 2023 fall semester, is being used to instruct students enrolled in the Audio Recording Technology Program at the college, which attracts more than 30,000 students annually to its three campuses in and around Las Vegas.
We asked John Jacobson, audio recording technology program coordinator, College of Southern Nevada, the details of the installation.
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SCN: How long did the project take from start to finish?
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John Jacobson: This project was to do a complete renovation and upgrade of the College of Southern Nevada (CSN) Recording Studio’s main control room. [It was] about three months from first totally emptying the Recording Studio Control Room and having it refurbished, installing the new Solid State Logic (SSL) Duality Fuse 48-Channel console, and reinstalling all of the existing gear.
SCN: What was there before and why was change needed?
JJ: A Solid State Logic (SSL) AWS 900 24-Channel console. We felt the need to upgrade to a model that was newer and had more channels and features.
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[Out of Sight Sound]
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SCN: Were there any challenges in the installation? If not, what made it so “easy?”
JJ: Overall, the project went smoothly; it was planned out over many months between [me] and their audio technician Donnie Whitbeck. Support was provided by SSL regarding the Duality Fuse’s wiring needs, and additional concerns were addressed by CSN facilities. The actual install of the Duality Fuse was done by SSL technician Ryan Clifford with assistance from myself, Donnie Whitbeck, and CSN students.
SCN: Why was the Duality Fuse selected?
JJ: The Duality Fuse is the flagship SSL console and an industry standard, especially in high-end facilities. It was the only one that had the features desired and fit into the available budget. Additionally, its design is similar to the SSL AWS 900 previously used, so we felt the learning curve for both faculty and students would be shortened.
SCN: What has been the response from the school/students?
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JJ: Fantastic! Its impressive performance and appearance have been embraced by everyone at the college, and students have had little difficulty in understanding the Duality’s features.
Want to find out more? Read the entire case study here.
NEVADA, MO – When it comes to golf, there really isn’t much Emree Cameron can’t do. The next stop for the Nevada senior is the U.S. Girls Junior Golf Championship.
Picking up the sport at the age of six, Emree began competing at just seven years old. The division one Louisville commit said it’s her younger brother that drives her success.
“I was in the spotlight for awhile, and now he’s playing baseball and it’s his turn,” said Emree.
“I love it, and I want to show him that he can go be successful, and can play his sport long term.”
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With Nevada now home, golf takes the Cameron’s from coast to coast.
No matter where Emree goes however, her father, is with her every step of the way. The longtime golfer and former caddie, said he couldn’t be more proud of his daughter.
“It’s hard to put into words how proud I am,” said Eric Cameron.
“When I think about it, it almost brings me to tears, and it just speaks for itself.”
In 2024, Emree is a division one golf commit, and her school’s first ever state champion for girl’s golf. Despite the accolades, Emree would emphasize that her father and family would always be the most important over the course of her career.
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“My dad is my number one supporter, and so is everyone in my family,” Emree said.
“I don’t think I would be where I am, and have the mental state with golf right now if it wasn’t for my dad.”
In addition to competing in the U.S. Girls Golf Championship, Cameron will also play in the Junior PGA Championship in Bethesda, Maryland.
The Junior Golf Championships will take place at El Caballero Country Club in California on Monday, July 15th through Saturday, July 20th. The Junior PGA Championship will take place from July 30th through August 2nd.
CARSON CITY, Nev. (KOLO) -Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo last week announced 30 appointments to boards and commissions.
They include Ben Kieckhefer, Lombardo’s former chief of staff, to the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, and Terry Reynolds, recently retired as the Nevada Department of Business and Industry director, to the Nevada Ethics Commission.
“Both Terry and Ben bring decades of wisdom and experience to their respective appointments, and I’m grateful for their honorable service to their fellow Nevadans,” Lombardo said in a statement.
Prior to serving as Lombardo chief of staff, Kieckhefer served on the Nevada Gaming Commission, appointed in October 2021 by Gov. Steve Sisolak, and served as a member of the Nevada State Senate for three consecutive terms representing the Washoe and Carson portions of the Tahoe Basin.
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Before working for state government, Reynolds previously served as city manager for the cities of Prescott, Ariz., Elko and Sparks. Reynolds served in municipal government for over 20 years. Reynolds will fill the seat formerly held by Ethics Commissioner Thoran Towler.
The appointments:
Shane Kraus Advisory Committee on Problem Gambling
Scott Kichline Air Service Development Commission
Christopher Abraham Air Service Development Commission
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Eric Smith Board for Regulation of Liquefied Petroleum Gas
Justin Johnson Board of Agriculture
Jennifer Stepp Board of Examiners for Marriage and Family Therapists and Clinical Professional Counselors
Salome Balecha Board of Optometry
Adriana Fralick Cannabis Compliance Board
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Kent Lay Contractors’ Board
Shatawna Daniel Interagency Advisory Council on Homelessness to Housing
