South Truckee Meadows General Improvement District

Minutes of the washoe county well Mitigation Hearing Board, March 16,2006 Page 6 of 12
feet. She added she has not had time to research that issue with the State Engineer's office. She went on '
to say that water rights are currently selling for up to $80,000 and the water purveyors in the area are
buying them. She urrca if it only takes a dedication of .62tobuild a subdivision home, doesn't that mean
ttrat oir county is going to be a6le to serve three more homes with the signing 9f
tl,rat well oredit form.
She asked doisn't that mean that there would be an additional $180,000 with the hookup fee for each
home bringing in an additional $16,000 plus the charges for water use at approximately $60 per month.
She asked by selling the water and hooking her up, doesn't the County stand to bringln close to $200'000
plus a *otrthly residual of close to $240 pir month for water usage. She stated she thinks this more than
covers the infrastructure oost to bring them water'
Ms. Shannon referred to monitoring well statistics and stated they have numerous times requested to have
Washoe County DWR regularly r"ud h"r meter as part of their monitoring program. She quoted within
many letterr pttrrid.d in ttre pactet and STMGID Local Governing Board minutes,-they were declined to
have their meter read by D-wR and STMGID. She quoted a DWR Hydrogeologist, "Our office is
currently measuring Mafy Schuerman's well across the street from your home. This well provides us
adequate information ott tit" water level in your immediate area." Ms. Shannon stated that it was further
substantiated on April 16, zOO2 in a letter containing data thus far on all the monitoring wells in their
area. The letter reassured them that they would not be held umesponsive for a lack of properly
documented well readings when the mitigation time came. She added that along with Schuerman,
Stephens, Melarkey, Quinn, Shepard, Nixon, Hunt, Kitchen, Brokaw, Rummler, Moassessi, they expect
to be mitigated.
Ms. Shannon referred to the County's report and stated she assumes that if they approved mitigation, they
proved a deleterious impact on those domestic wells. She added that later she would provide a map
showing that those wells circle her properly. She referred to the County's report, which states "Water
levels have declined over twenty years ten to twenty feet. Several other neighbors were on the monitoring
system, such as Mr. Kitchen." She stated that the August 20,2001 STMGID minutes state, "It is the
domestic well owner's responsibility to continuously monitor their wells but that only 10 to 20%o actually
do this." She stated she thinls that since 1995, she has paid just about every other year to have their well
monitored in order to come to this meeting prepared. She added that in addition to monitoring, the meter
should prove what water they have been t sittg- She explained that they believe that DWR and STMGID
had an idequate sampling of their area and accepted their declination to monitor their well. She went on
to say that of the wetts tttat failed, 15 of the 16 have been mitigated and paid for well failure. She stated
that per the STMGID minutes, Mr. Dowling was declined due to "moving too quickly" without following
the correct steps to be mitigated. She added that the minutes also said, "He had not waited to have his
well fail." She stated that there was a ruckus at the meeting over discussion of whether a well owner had
to actually wait for his/her well to fail before requesting mitigation.
Ms. Shannon stated it is highly dishessing to have a final sunmary for their mitigation hearing, which
cites statistics for wells in a parameter including areas of their aquifer, which are responding to pumpage
completely different from their area. She addedthat in the old Government Lots there are not 530 homes.
She iead hom the packet, "There are approximatdy 26 wells measured twice a year in the Government
Lots.,' In 2001 a DWR point person .nt-itt"d a list to the STMGID Local Managing Board showing 40
wells that were thought io eventually need to be deepened or replaced due to impact from STMGID well
6. She stated that tire statistics being used are in a completely different hydrobasin when Callahan Ranch
is iumped with the oid Government tract. She explained those wells tend to be 30 feet deep and have a
complitely different reaction to pumpage. She added it is upsetting to see those wells cited rather than
those agreed-upon during negotiations for their specific area when this Board was created.
Ms. Shannon next referred to a diagram of where their home is situated in the center of the monitoring
and ..the wells which have been miiigated". She stated that the STMGID Board compiled a list, which
shows 30 of the approximately 40 homes affected by STMGID 6 pumpage. She added that in further
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