Water in Nevada belongs to the public. That is the foundational principle written into state law. But the right to use that water — to pump it, divert it, sell it, or transfer it — belongs to whoever holds a permit issued by a single appointed state official: the State Engineer.

The State Engineer is not elected. According to Nevada statute, the position is appointed by the governor and overseen by the Nevada Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. The current State Engineer, Adam Sullivan, was appointed in 2021 by then-Gov. Steve Sisolak and continues to serve under Gov. Joe Lombardo. He is Nevada’s 24th State Engineer since the office was created by the Legislature in 1903.

Sullivan holds sole authority to approve or deny water right applications across Nevada’s 256 hydrographic basins, which cover every river, stream, aquifer, and groundwater source in the state. His office processes applications, sets permit terms, collects fees, enforces compliance, designates overappropriated basins, and can cancel permits for nonuse. Decisions can be appealed to the district court within 30 days, but the burden of proof falls on the party challenging the State Engineer’s ruling.

First in Time, First in Right — that is the doctrine governing Nevada water allocation. Priority dates determine who gets water when supplies run short. A water right filed in 1925 takes precedence over one filed in 2020. In times of shortage, junior rights are curtailed first. Senior rights are protected by law.

Obtaining a water right begins with an application to the State Engineer. According to the Division of Water Resources’ published fee schedule, filing an application to appropriate water costs $360, which includes $50 for mandatory publication in a local newspaper. Changing the point of diversion, manner of use, or place of use of an existing right costs $240. Filing a protest to someone else’s application costs $30.

If the State Engineer approves the application, a permit is issued. The permit comes with conditions: the applicant must demonstrate beneficial use of the water within a specified time frame or the permit is subject to cancellation. Once proof of beneficial use is filed and approved, the State Engineer issues a certificate of appropriation. That certificate becomes a property right — it can be bought, sold, transferred, or mortgaged.

But it can also be lost. Under Nevada law, failure to use water for five consecutive years can result in forfeiture. The principle is enforced: use it or lose it.

The costs escalate with the volume of water requested. According to state statute, issuing and recording a permit to appropriate water costs $360 plus $3 per acre-foot approved. For large-scale municipal or industrial permits, the fees climb into the thousands. The Southern Nevada Water Authority, which supplies water to more than 2 million people in Clark County, holds water rights totaling hundreds of thousands of acre-feet — each one requiring separate application fees, issuance fees, and annual compliance costs.

In the Las Vegas Valley alone, approximately 60 percent of groundwater management fees are paid by municipal water purveyors and government entities — the largest water rights holders in the basin. Domestic well owners pay a flat annual fee of up to $30. Industrial, commercial, and quasi-municipal users pay up to $30 per acre-foot of permitted water use.

The State Engineer’s decisions are not made in a vacuum. Nevada law requires public notice of all water right applications. Notices are published in local newspapers, and anyone can file a protest. If a protest is filed, the State Engineer may hold a field investigation, an administrative hearing, or both. Hearings are broadcast online and open to public testimony.

In recent years, those hearings have drawn intense scrutiny. The Southern Nevada Water Authority’s applications to pump groundwater from rural eastern Nevada basins led to years of litigation and protest from ranchers, tribal governments, environmental groups, and Utah counties concerned about cross-border impacts. In 2019, the State Engineer denied those applications after a two-week public hearing involving subject-matter experts, hydrology models, and testimony from dozens of stakeholders.

In January 2024, the Nevada Supreme Court issued a unanimous ruling that significantly expanded the State Engineer’s authority. The court affirmed that the State Engineer has the power to conjunctively manage surface water and groundwater as a single source if the best available science shows they are connected. It also upheld the State Engineer’s authority to combine multiple hydrographic basins into what critics called a “super basin” when the evidence showed that pumping in one basin depleted water in another.

That ruling came in a case involving Coyote Springs, a proposed master-planned community northeast of Las Vegas. The developer held water rights approved years earlier, but new science showed that pumping from the Coyote Springs basin would deplete flows in the Muddy River — a fully appropriated system with vested water rights dating back to before 1913. The State Engineer combined six basins into one flow system and restricted total pumping to 8,000 acre-feet per year to protect senior rights.

The legal principle at stake: senior rights cannot be impaired by junior permits. When water runs short, the oldest rights are protected first.

Nevada is the driest state in the nation. According to the 1999 Nevada State Water Plan, approximately 77 percent of the state’s water is used for agriculture. Public and municipal use accounts for 13 percent. But more than half of Nevada’s 256 groundwater basins are fully or over-appropriated. In the Las Vegas Valley, the basin has been over-appropriated for nearly 50 years.

For residents who want to participate in the water rights process, the Division of Water Resources maintains an online database of pending applications, recent hearings, and State Engineer orders dating back to 1941. Public comment periods are announced on the division’s website. Protests must be filed in writing within the statutory deadline — typically 30 days from publication.

The public’s role is limited but defined. The water belongs to everyone. The right to use it belongs to those who apply, pay the fees, and prove beneficial use. The authority to decide belongs to one appointed official.