Bureau of Land Management's Decision Record and Environmental

Jersey Valley Geothermal Development Project
Environmental Assessment: NV063 -EAO8 -091
A hazardous material handling, storage and transportation plan has been produced and would
reduce the potential for fires (see Section 3.11). Ormat has also proposed environmental
protection measures to further reduce the potential for human caused fires (see Section 2.1.11).
Power transmission lines have been known to start fires either from arcing or electrocution of
birds. Installation of anti electrocution perching sites on power poles and maintenance of roads
and/or constructing fuel breaks along the Rights of Way would also reduce potential impacts.
3.8.2.2 Alternative 1
The construction, operation and maintenance of Alternative 1 would differ from the Proposed
Action only by the small increase (0.25 acre) in the total permanent surface disturbance. The
impacts of Alternative 1 to vegetation would not be different from that of the Proposed Action.
The mitigation measures recommended for the Proposed Action would be equally applicable to
Alternative 1.
3.9 WATER QUALITY AND QUANTITY
3.9.1 Affected Environment
The Nevada State Engineer of the Division of Water Resources, Department of Conservation and
Natural Resources (NDCNR-DWR) places the Jersey Valley Unit Area within the 142 square
mile Jersey Valley Hydrographic Area (Number 132 of 232 in the State of Nevada)
(NDCNR-DWR 2009a). The Jersey Valley Hydrographic Area is located within the Central
Hydrographic Region (Number 10 of 14 in the State of Nevada), which covers nearly 30 million
acres. The Jersey Valley Hydrographic Area makes up approximately 0.3 percent (about
91,000 acres) of the Central Hydrographic Region.
The Jersey Valley Hydrographic Area is one of seven ground water basins that are connected
with the Dixie Valley ground water basin (Hydrographic Area Number 128), which together
form a closed hydrologic unit referred to as the Dixie-Fairview Valley Area (Cohen and Everett
1963). All seven of these ground water basins were “designated” by the State Engineer in 1978
in order to better manage the ground water in Dixie Valley (NDCNR-DWR 2005;
NDCNR-DWR 1978). “Designating” a basin gives the Nevada State Engineer additional
authority in the administration of the water resources within that basin. Basins are typically
“designated” by the State Engineer when permitted ground water rights approach or exceed the
estimated average recharge. The Dixie Valley ground water basin has committed ground water
rights of approximately 30,700 acre-feet per year (AFY), and an estimated perennial yield (the
amount of water that can be drawn indefinitely without depleting the resource) of 15,000 AFY
(NDCNR-DWR 201 Oh).
The Jersey Valley Hydrographic Area ground water basin is recharged by precipitation,
primarily spring snowmelt resulting in seasonal stream flows. Near-surface ground water is
primarily stored in unconsolidated sedimentary deposits that range from a few hundred feet thick
in Jersey Valley to over 1,000 feet thick in Dixie Valley (Cohen and Everett 1963). Ground
- 64 -