USA Statutes : nevada
Title : Title 48 - WATER
Chapter : CHAPTER 532 - STATE ENGINEER
The Office of the State Engineer is
hereby created.
[Part 1:108:1919; A 1949, 450; 1943 NCL § 7390]
The State Engineer is appointed by and
responsible to the Director of the State Department of Conservation and
Natural Resources.
[Part 1:108:1919; A 1949, 450; 1943 NCL § 7390]—(NRS A 1957, 652;
1987, 1311)
No person may be appointed as State
Engineer who is not a licensed professional engineer pursuant to the
provisions of chapter 625 of NRS and who does
not have such training in hydraulic and general engineering and such
practical skill and experience as shall fit him for the position.
[Part 1:108:1919; A 1949, 450; 1943 NCL § 7390]—(NRS A 1997, 1069)
Before entering upon the duties of his office,
the State Engineer shall take and subscribe to an official oath, such as
is provided by law for state officers, before a person authorized by the
law of this State to administer oaths.
[12:140:1913; 1919 RL p. 3227; NCL § 7900]—(NRS A 1959, 552; 1975,
347)
1. The State Engineer is in the unclassified service of the State.
2. Except as otherwise provided in NRS 284.143 , he shall devote his entire time and attention
to the business of his office and shall not pursue any other business or
occupation or hold any other office of profit.
[31:295:1953; A 1955, 525]—(NRS A 1959, 552; 1960, 396; 1964, 2;
1965, 706; 1967, 1501; 1971, 1440; 1981, 1283; 1995, 2316)
1. The State Engineer shall keep his office at the State Capital.
2. The State Engineer shall keep his office open to the public on
the days and during the hours established pursuant to NRS 281.110 .
[17:140:1913; A 1949, 102; 1943 NCL § 7904] + [Part 1:108:1919; A
1949, 450; 1943 NCL § 7390]—(NRS A 2003, 1452 )
1. The State Engineer is empowered and directed to procure for his
office a seal upon which shall appear his official title and such other
suitable inscription as he may deem proper.
2. The seal shall be affixed to all official permits, certificates
and other documents issued by him under the provisions of law.
[74:140:1913; 1919 RL p. 3244; NCL § 7960]
1. The State Engineer may, with the consent of the Director of the
State Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, appoint such
technical, clerical and operational staff as the execution of his duties
and the operation of the Division may require.
2. Snow survey personnel appointed for the purposes of NRS 532.170
are exempt from the provisions of
chapter 284 of NRS.
[Part 2:108:1919; A 1929, 143; 1949, 450; 1943 NCL § 7391]—(NRS A
1957, 653; 1959, 552; 1963, 71; 1985, 434)
The State Engineer may purchase such
material and incur such expenses for traveling and other purposes as may
be necessary for the proper conduct and maintenance of his office, to be
paid from the moneys which may be appropriated for such purposes from
time to time, as other state claims are paid.
[Part 2:108:1919; A 1929, 143; 1949, 450; 1943 NCL § 7391]
The State Engineer shall perform such
duties as are or may be prescribed by law and the Director of the State
Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.
[Part 2:108:1919; A 1929, 143; 1949, 450; 1943 NCL § 7391]—(NRS A
1957, 653)
1. The State Engineer is empowered to make such reasonable rules
and regulations as may be necessary for the proper and orderly execution
of the powers conferred by law.
2. The State Engineer shall have power to make rules, not in
conflict with law, governing the practice and procedure in all contests
before his office, to insure the proper and orderly exercise of the
powers granted by law, and the speedy accomplishment of the purposes of
chapter 533 of NRS. Such rules of practice
and procedure shall be furnished to any person upon application therefor.
[31:140:1913; 1919 RL p. 3232; NCL § 7918] + [86:140:1913; 1919 RL
p. 3248; NCL § 7972]
The State Engineer and his
authorized assistants may administer such oaths as may be necessary in
the performance of their official duties.
[16:140:1913; 1919 RL p. 3227; NCL § 7903]
The State Engineer shall prepare and deliver
to the Director of the State Department of Conservation and Natural
Resources at such times as may be required by the Director, a full report
of the work of his office, including a detailed statement of the
expenditures thereof, with such recommendations as he may deem advisable.
[14:140:1913; 1919 RL p. 3227; NCL § 7901]—(NRS A 1959, 552)
1. The records of the office of the State Engineer are public
records and shall remain on file in his office and be open to the
inspection of the public at all times during business hours.
2. Such records shall show in full all maps, profiles and
engineering data relating to the use of water.
3. Certified copies thereof shall be admissible as evidence in all
cases where the original would be admissible as evidence.
[15:140:1913; 1919 RL p. 3227; NCL § 7902]
The Attorney General and the district attorney of the county in which
legal questions arise shall be the legal advisers of the State Engineer
and shall perform any and all legal duties necessary in connection with
their work without any further compensation than their salaries fixed by
law.
[78:140:1913; 1919 RL p. 3246; NCL § 7964]
The State Engineer shall:
1. Conduct necessary studies and inventories.
2. Review and evaluate proposals by federal, state and local
agencies for flood control and water development projects to ensure that
such proposals are compatible with the state water resource plan and are
in compliance with Nevada water laws.
3. Within the limits of legislative appropriations, implement a
program to map water rights statewide on a geographic information system.
(Added to NRS by 1969, 239; A 1977, 1171; 1995, 2685)
1. Subject to the provisions of subsection 2 and with the approval
of the Director of the State Department of Conservation and Natural
Resources, the State Engineer, for and on behalf of the State of Nevada,
is authorized to enter into agreements with the United States Geological
Survey, the United States Soil Conservation Service, and any state
agency, subdivision or institution having jurisdiction in such matters,
for cooperation in making stream measurements, underground water studies,
snow surveys, or any investigations related to the development and use of
the water resources of Nevada.
2. The expenses of such investigations and surveys shall be
divided between the parties upon an equitable basis.
[1:117:1945; 1943 NCL § 8259]—(NRS A 1959, 553)
The State Engineer, after a
public hearing on the issue and with the approval of the Director of the
State Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, for and on behalf
of the State of Nevada, is authorized to enter into agreements with
neighboring states or their political subdivisions concerning cooperative
management of groundwater basins shared between the states.
(Added to NRS by 1991, 108)
With the approval of the
Director of the State Department of Conservation and Natural Resources,
the State Engineer, for and on behalf of the State of Nevada, is
authorized to cooperate with the United States Government and the State
of California in making a study of the various problems pertaining to the
future needs and uses of the waters of Lake Tahoe in the area adjacent
thereto, and, if it appears that at some future period there may be a
shortage of water, to study ways and means of developing a supplemental
water supply so that the development of the area will not be impeded and
existing water rights not jeopardized.
[1:173:1947; 1943 NCL § 7392.04]—(NRS A 1959, 553)
1. For the purpose of advancing and paying for stenographic work
and transcripts required by law or order of court, or for the costs,
witness fees or expenses incurred by or upon the authority of the
Attorney General and the State Engineer in any litigation affecting any
order of determination adjudicating the waters of any system of streams
in this state, there is hereby created the Adjudication Emergency Account
in the State General Fund. All money returned pursuant to subsection 3
and NRS 533.190 until those returns
total an amount determined by the State Board of Examiners must be
deposited in this Account, and thereafter the Account must be maintained
for the purposes designated in this section. If the balance in the
Account exceeds the amount determined by the State Board of Examiners,
that portion of the balance in the Account which exceeds the amount
determined by the State Board of Examiners must be deposited in the State
General Fund. If the balance in the Account is below the amount
determined by the State Board of Examiners, the State Engineer may
request an allocation from the Contingency Fund pursuant to NRS 353.266
, 353.268 and 353.269 .
2. No part of the Account may be used in the payment of attorney’s
fees.
3. The State of Nevada shall recover all costs paid or advanced
pursuant to the provisions of this section, and the money recovered must
be placed in the Account.
4. All expenditures from the Account must be paid as other claims
against the State are paid.
[1:136:1927; NCL § 8251] + [2:136:1927; NCL § 8252] + [3:136:1927;
NCL § 8253]—(NRS A 1979, 114; 1985, 720; 1991, 1781; 2001, 2774 )
1. The fund created pursuant to the provisions of chapter 232,
Statutes of Nevada 1931, and chapter 23, Statutes of Nevada 1943, is
hereby continued as a revolving account within the State General Fund,
for the purposes set forth in NRS 533.270 to 533.295 ,
inclusive, and for the purposes set forth in the provisions of chapters
534 , 535 and 536
of NRS pertaining to the conservation and
distribution of waters.
2. The money in the Water Distribution Revolving Account may be
used for:
(a) The payment of state water commissioners’ and assistant state
water commissioners’ salaries and expenses.
(b) The payment of salaries and expenses of other employees engaged
in the work of the distribution of waters or streams that are directly
under the supervision of the State Engineer.
(c) The payment of expenses necessarily incurred by the state water
commissioners in the distribution of water.
3. The money in the Water Distribution Revolving Account, or so
much thereof as is necessary, may be used by the State Engineer for the
uses and purposes of, and in the administration of the provisions of,
chapter 534 of NRS pertaining to the
conservation and distribution of underground waters.
[1:232:1931; A 1943, 34; 1943 NCL § 8255] + [2:232:1931; A 1943,
34; 1943 NCL § 8255.01]—(NRS A 1979, 666; 1991, 1781)
1. The Channel Clearance, Maintenance, Restoration, Surveying and
Monumenting Program is hereby established and must be administered by the
State Engineer.
2. This Program is to aid local governments in this state in the
clearance, maintenance, restoration, surveying and monumenting of
navigable rivers.
3. Any incorporated city, county or other political subdivision of
this state may apply to the State Engineer for a grant under this program
if the incorporated city, county or other political subdivision
requesting the money agrees to match the state grant equally.
4. The State, its departments, divisions and agencies, an
incorporated city, a county and all other political subdivisions of this
state, and their employees and agents, are immune from civil liability
for damages caused by an alteration or disturbance of a riverbed or
flooding sustained as a result of any act or omission by an employee or
agent in clearing or causing to be cleared, maintaining or restoring a
channel of a river pursuant to this section if the channel is cleared,
maintained or restored pursuant to a permit granted by the Division of
State Lands of the State Department of Conservation and Natural Resources
and such other permits and approvals as are required by law.
5. The Division of State Lands and the Division of Environmental
Protection of the State Department of Conservation and Natural Resources
shall refund the application or permit fees, if any, paid by a
governmental entity to apply for a state permit to perform channel
clearance, maintenance, restoration, surveying and monumenting if:
(a) The governmental entity applies for the applicable permits from
the Division of State Lands and from the Division of Environmental
Protection of the State Department of Conservation and Natural Resources;
(b) The governmental entity obtains all other permits and approvals
as are required by law;
(c) The governmental entity applies for a grant pursuant to
subsection 3; and
(d) The grant is denied for lack of money in the Account after:
(1) The State Engineer requests an allocation from the
Contingency Fund pursuant to subsection 4 of NRS 532.230 ; and
(2) An allocation from the Contingency Fund is not made
within 90 days after the request is made.
6. A state permit must not be denied for lack of money in the
Account for the Channel Clearance, Maintenance, Restoration, Surveying
and Monumenting Program.
7. As used in this section, “navigable river” means a river or
stream that is used, or is susceptible of being used, in its ordinary
condition for trade or travel in the customary modes of trade or travel
on rivers or streams.
(Added to NRS by 1973, 821; A 1979, 114; 1985, 305; 1989, 1692;
1993, 112; 1997, 2221; 1999, 1240 )
1. The Account For The Channel Clearance, Maintenance,
Restoration, Surveying and Monumenting Program is hereby created in the
State General Fund.
2. The money in the Account must be administered by the State
Engineer and must be expended only to aid local governments in the manner
provided in NRS 532.220 .
3. If the balance in the Account is below $250,000, the State
Engineer may request an allocation from the Contingency Fund pursuant to
NRS 353.266 , 353.268 and 353.269 .
4. If the balance in the Account is not sufficient to provide a
grant of money to an incorporated city, a county or a political
subdivision of this state, the State Engineer shall request an allocation
from the Contingency Fund pursuant to NRS 353.266 , 353.268 and
353.269 .
(Added to NRS by 1995, 865; A 1997, 2222; 1999, 1241 )
