ADA Compliance
RCI completed a delineation of jurisdictional waters along 27 miles of U.S. Hwy 95 in Churchill County between Fallon and Interstate 80 for the Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT). The southern portion of the project area is located within the Bureau of Reclamation’s Newlands Irrigation Project, and several of the drainage ditches crossed by the project area are managed by the Truckee-Carson Irrigation District. The northern portion of the project area crossed through the upper extent of the Carson Sink and into the West Humboldt Range, draining toward the Forty Mile Desert.
43 Aquatic Resources Identified
The delineation identified 43 aquatic resources that were evaluated for jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act as administered by the Army Corps of Engineers and the Nevada Department of Environmental Management. The waters included perennial and seasonal drainages, wetlands, playas, and one spring that drained into either the Carson Sink or the lower portion of the Carson River, or were hydrologically isolated from all other waters.
Isolated, Intrastate Waters Determination
All waters within the project area were determined to be isolated, intrastate waters with no apparent connection to interstate or foreign commerce, and therefore, not regulated under the Clean Water Act. Since the State of Nevada has no programs regulating the isolated waters as waters of the State, no authorizations are needed for fill or modification of non-jurisdictional waters.
Significant Determination
This jurisdictional determination is significant for two reasons. First, RCI’s delineation challenged the Corps’ previous determination for the Carson River which stated “the Carson River, from its source in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California to its terminus at the Carson Sink, near Fallon, Nevada, is a navigable-in-fact water.” RCI’s report demonstrated that below the Carson River Diversion Dam the Carson River was no longer “navigable-in-fact,” or had a connection to interstate or foreign commerce. Secondly, the jurisdictional determination formally recognizes the Carson Sink to be non-jurisdictional, the status of which had previously been in question due to the Corps wording in the earlier determination made for the Carson River.
Far Reaching Implications
These two findings have implications far reaching beyond the project area and suggest that numerous non-navigable waters that flow to the lower portion of the Carson River, or directly to the Carson Sink, are likely to be non-jurisdictional as well.
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