STATE OF NEVADA DEPARTMENT OF CONSERVATION AND NATURAL RESOURCES DIVISION OF WATER RESOURCES JASON KING, P.E. STATE ENGINEER FISH LAKE VALLEY HYDROGRAPHIC BASIN 10-117 GROUNDWATER PUMPAGE INVENTORY WATER YEAR 2013 Field Investigated by: Steven Martinez and Gary Wiegand Report Prepared by: Chris Thorson TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................... 1 HYDROGRAPHIC BASIN SUMMARY ...................................................................................... 2 PURPOSE AND SCOPE ................................................................................................................ 3 DESCRIPTION OF THE STUDY AREA ..................................................................................... 3 Figure 1. Location Map of Fish Lake Valley Hydrographic Basin 10-117 .......................................... 4 Figure 2. Monitoring Well Location Map of Fish Lake Valley Hydrographic Basin 10-117 .............. 5 GROUNDWATER LEVELS ......................................................................................................... 6 METHODS TO ESTIMATE PUMPAGE ...................................................................................... 7 PUMPAGE BY MANNER OF USE .............................................................................................. 8 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................... 9 APPENDIX A. FISH LAKE VALLEY GROUNDWATER PUMPAGE FOR WATER YEAR 2013 BY MANNER OF USE. ...................................................................................................... 10 APPENDIX B. FISH LAKE VALLEY HISTORICAL GROUNDWATER PUMPAGE BY MANNER OF USE....................................................................................................................... 12 APPENDIX C. FISH LAKE VALLEY GROUNDWATER PUMPAGE FOR WATER YEAR 2013 BY APPLICATION NUMBER. .......................................................................................... 14 i ABSTRACT This inventory represents the status and usage of all permitted, certificated and claims of vested right groundwater rights located within Fish Lake Valley, Hydrographic Basin 10-117, for water year 2013 (October 1, 2012 through September 30, 2013). Also included are tables and data associated with links to depth to groundwater data and graphs. The data presented are valid for the time period of this report, and may vary from previously published data as water rights within the basin are subject to administrative action, such as certification, cancellation, forfeiture, or withdrawal on a daily basis. For water year 2013 the permitted, certificated and claims of vested right groundwater rights totaled 52,630 acre-feet. The estimated pumpage for the water year was 27,390 acre-feet. Irrigation is the largest manner of use within the basin. For water year 2013, appropriations for irrigation supply totaled 51,729 acre-feet and pumpage was 27,109 acre-feet. The next largest manner of use was pumping by exempt domestic wells, at 213 acre-feet. Exempt domestic wells are defined by Nevada Revised Statues 534.013 and do not require a permit issued by the State Engineer. 1 HYDROGRAPHIC BASIN SUMMARY HYDROGRAPHIC BASIN NUMBER ...................................................... 117, REGION 10 HYDROGRAPHIC BASIN NAME .......................................................... FISH LAKE VALLEY COUNTIES ................................................................................................. ESMERALDA MAJOR COMMUNITIES .......................................................................... DYER DESIGNATED ........................................................................................... YES DENIALS BASED UPON WATER AVAILABILITY ............................. COMMERCIAL, INDUSTRIAL, IRRIGATION, QUASI-MUNICIPAL, RECREATION, OTHER GROUNDWATER LEVEL MEASUREMENTS ...................................... NDWR, USGS ESTIMATED PUMPAGE IN 2013 (ACRE-FEET)................................... 27,390* STATE ENGINEER’S ORDERS 704 - DESIGNATION ...................................................................... FEBRUARY 10, 1978 1220 – RELINQUISHMENT IN FAVOR OF DOMESTIC .............. AUGUST 28, 2012 1221 - DESIGNATION AND PREFERRED USE ............................ OCTOBER 19, 2012 COMMITTED GROUNDWATER RESOURCE: 52,630 ACRE-FEET DATE: FEBURARY 2014 IRRIGATION……..51,729 COMMERCIAL ........... 351 INDUSTRIAL .............. 10 CONSTRUCTION ........ 5 QUASI-MUNICIPAL ... 19 MINING/MILLING ..... 343 OTHER ......................... 1 STOCKWATER ........... 138 RECREATION ……….31 DOMESTIC .................. 2 NOTE: Committed groundwater resource data are accurate for February 2014. Manner of use category totals vary over time, as water rights are not necessarily static. Rights may be subject to change applications, certification, withdrawals, forfeiture and cancellations; each of these circumstances could impact the duty, diversion rate and acreage associated with a given right. *Includes pumpage by exempt domestic wells, as defined by NRS 534.013. The domestic use estimate is based upon a count of the total domestic wells in the basin multiplied by 1 acre-foot per annum. The number of domestic wells in the basin was estimated by a query of the Nevada Division of Water Resources Well Log Database and is approximately 213. 2 PURPOSE AND SCOPE The purpose of this report is to inventory all of the groundwater resources allocated and described by the Office of the State Engineer, Nevada Division of Water Resources, and to estimate the amount of groundwater pumped within the Fish Lake Valley Hydrographic Basin 10-117, for the water year beginning October 1, 2012 and ending September 30, 2013 (hereafter referred to as Water Year 2013). This report estimates the amount of groundwater pumped under the permits and certificates issued by the State Engineer, claims of vested right, and the amount pumped by exempt domestic wells within the basin. Links to associated information, such as groundwater level measurements data are also provided. DESCRIPTION OF THE STUDY AREA Fish Lake Valley is a basin located in southwestern Nevada. The valley is approximately 50 miles west of Tonopah and 200 miles northwest of Las Vegas, Nevada, and is within the Central Hydrographic Region. Dyer, Nevada is the principal community with a population of 259 as of the 2010 census. The basin is within Esmeralda County; portions of it extend into California (see Figure 1). Fish Lake Valley is bounded on the west by the state line of California and the White Mountains, which have the highest peak in Nevada, Boundary Peak, which has an elevation of 13,147 feet. The Silver Peak Range forms the east and south boundaries, rising to greater than 9,000 feet (all elevations in this text are above mean sea level). The Volcanic Hills border the basin to the north. The adjacent hydrographic basins are as follows: Queen Valley, 10-116, to the north; Columbus Salt Marsh Valley, 10-118, also to the north; Big Smoky Valley, 10-137A, to the east; Clayton Valley, 10-143, to the east; Lida Valley, 10-144, to the southeast; and Oriental Wash, 14-232, to the south. The exterior boundary of the Fish Lake Valley Hydrographic Basin is as described by Designation Orders 704 and 1221, issued by the Nevada State Engineer February 10, 1978 and October 19, 2012, respectively. The Nevada portion of the basin covers approximately 706 square miles. Valley floor elevations range from 5,200 feet near Oasis on the south end to about 4,700 feet at the playa in the north-eastern part of the valley. Several perennial streams flow into Fish Lake Valley from the White Mountains and flow eastward onto and across the valley floor of Fish Lake Valley. The streams are the Chiatovich, Leidy, Perry Aiken, McAfee, and Cottonwood Creeks which are listed from north to south. The axial drainage in the valley generally is northward to a playa where most runoff, when it occurs, ponds and evaporates. The average annually precipitation for Dyer, Nevada is 4.45 inches. 3 Figure 1. Location Map of Fish Lake Valley Hydrographic Basin 10-117 4 Figure 2. Monitoring Well Location Map of Fish Lake Valley Hydrographic Basin 10-117 5 GROUNDWATER LEVELS Depths to groundwater in Fish Lake Valley have been measured by the Nevada Division of Water Resources consistently since the early 1970's. There are 28 active sites and 6 inactive sites in the monitoring well network. The following are the site names and links to the data (refer to Figure 2 for monitoring well locations): 117 S01 E35 14BD 1 117 S01 E35 15CD 1 117 S01 E35 21DA 1 117S01 E35 24DB 1 117 S01 E35 27DC 1 117 S01 E35 28AC 1 117 S01 E35 33DC 1 117 S01 E35 34BB 1 117 S01 E35 34CB 1 117 S01 E35 35CC 1 117 S01 E36 20BC 1 117 S02 E35 03CC 1 117 S02 E35 13DC 1 117 S02 E35 22BB 1 117 S02 E35 22DC 1 117 S02 E35 24CD 1 117 S03 E35 03BC 1 117 S03 E35 04DB 1 117 S03 E35 15CA 1 117 S03 E35 15CBC 1 117 S03 E35 26CC 1 117 S03 E36 32CD 1 117 S04 E36 09DDCC1 117 S04 E36 16BB 1 117 S04 E36 21DD 1 117 S04 E36 23CD 1 117 S04 E36 35 1 117 S05 E36 01 1 The water level data and hydrograph for each site are available from the Water Level Data page of the NDWR website (http:/water.nv.gov/data/waterlevel/). Data retrievals are organized by hydrographic basin. Groundwater level data was also collected by the USGS until the 1970’s (data may be accessed through the USGS website http://nevada.usgs.gov/).