Existing law: (1) authorizes the State Engineer to require a hydrological, environmental or any other study be conducted before the State Engineer approves or rejects an application to apply water to beneficial use if such a study has not been conducted by the applicant, a governmental agency or other person or the study is not available; and (2) requires the applicant to bear the full cost of the study. (NRS 533.368, 533.370) Any money collected from the applicant to perform the study is required under existing law to be deposited in the Account for Studies Concerning Water and used to defray the costs of conducting these studies and certain inventories. (NRS 533.369) Section 1 of this bill creates a Fund for Hydrological Studies and, with certain exceptions, requires, for a hydrological study which is required by the State Engineer to be conducted in a county whose population is less than 100,000 (currently all counties other than Clark and Washoe Counties): (1) an applicant to pay a deposit to defray 50 percent of the cost of such a study; and (2) the State Engineer to make a grant of money from the Fund equal to the amount deposited by the applicant to defray the remaining 50 percent of the cost of such a study. Section 1 further requires, if there is insufficient money in the Fund to make such a grant of money, the State Engineer to make a grant of money from the Account for Studies Concerning Water to cover the remaining costs. If the Account also has insufficient money to cover the remaining amount, section 1 authorizes the applicant to: (1) pay a cash deposit to the State Engineer in an amount sufficient to defray the remaining cost of the study; or (2) withdraw his or her application and receive a refund of any money deposited pursuant to the provisions of section 1. Finally, section 1 sets forth procedures governing the use of money deposited in the Fund and requires that any money paid by an applicant or the State Engineer that exceeds the amount required to conduct the study be refunded to the applicant, the Fund or Account in an amount which is proportional to the deposits contributed by the applicant or the State Engineer. Section 2 of this bill authorizes the State Engineer to adopt regulations to carry out the provisions of section 1 and makes a conforming change to reflect the changes made by section 1 to the requirements for the defrayment of the cost of certain hydrological studies. Section 3 of this bill makes a conforming change to reflect the use of money in the Account for such studies. Section 4 of this bill makes an appropriation to the Fund for grants of money required to be made by the State Engineer pursuant to section 1.

Statutes affected:
As Introduced: 533.368, 533.369
BDR: 533.368, 533.369