Reno Water Import Ban Considered

If approved, the initiative would require growth in Washoe County to be based on sustainable water resources within the county and would ban the importation of water from outside the county. Officials said it would be the first binding question on growth limits to appear on a county ballot.

A citizen initiative designed to limit sprawl and associated water consumption around Reno, Nev, appears headed for the November ballot.

Supporters turned in petitions with more than 28,000 signatures, about 10,000 more than the 18,093 needed.

If approved, the initiative would require growth in Washoe County to be based on sustainable water resources within the county and would ban the importation of water from outside the county.

Officials said it would be the first binding question on growth limits to appear on a county ballot. It has the potential to set a precedent for banning imported water in other counties.

Pamela Galloway of Voices for a Sustainable Washoe County said the initiative would require regional planners to plan for 200,000 more people for a total population of 600,000.

A new regional water facilities plan would provide for up to 1.2 million people.

Mike Dillon, acting director of the Builders Association of Northern Nevada, said the measure is not needed. Developers must turn over water rights to utilities in order to build, he said.

“A petition like this is a plan to stop…positive economic growth in times that are very difficult for people to pay their gas bill,” Dillon told the Reno Gazette-Journal.

Mike Dillon, acting director of the Builders Association of Northern Nevada, said the Reno area has not experienced runaway growth.

“Every year over any time in northern Nevada, we have not had over 3 percent growth,” he said.

Pamela Galloway of Voices for a Sustainable Washoe County said actual growth would not be limited until a decade or two.

“It took us 150 years to get to 400,000 people,” she said.