By Robin Hebrock Pahrump Valley Times
June 16, 2022 – 11:09 am
A more than decade-long battle between the owners of Patch of Heaven Christian Camp and U.S. Fish and Wildlife seems no closer to a resolution but Nye County commissioners are hoping that a letter from the county to the state engineer’s office might finally prompt some forward movement.
During its Tuesday, June 7 meeting, the Nye County Commission approved that letter, to be sent to Adam Sullivan, Nevada state engineer with the Division of Water Resources.
David McDonald, an attorney representing Ministerio Roca Solida Inglesia Cristiana, of which Patch of Heaven is a part, thanked the commission for addressing the item as well as for the past support shown for the owners of Patch of Heaven, the Fuenteses.
“For those of you who may not be familiar with Victor and Annette, and their struggles to protect their church camp from the federal government, about 12 years ago the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decided that it would be better for the environment if the stream that had run through the Patch of Heaven parcel since time immemorial was instead rerouted around the Fuentes’ property a few hundred feet to the east,” McDonald said that morning.
That stream, located inside of the Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, used to flow down what is called the Carson Slough. When Fish and Wildlife diverted the water, the Fuentes’ property went from a lush oasis in the desert to a barren landscape.
“Now, I don’t have time to discuss the litany of abuses committed by the Fish and Wildlife Service here but in addition to stealing the church’s stream and turning the property into a miniature dust bowl, Fish and Wildlife has refused to provide for the delivery of vested waters rights that the church is legally entitled to under order of the state engineer, and is blatantly ignoring their obligations under that order,” McDonald stated.
He noted that his clients had filed a notice of violation with the state engineer’s office in April of 2021 but as of the June 7, 2022 commission meeting, that violation was still pending.
“The Nye County Board of Commissioners sent this communication to encourage the Division of Water Resources to pursue adjudication of vested water right No. V10092 and the approved application #85417 of the Ministerio Roca Solida Inglesia Cristiana with some urgency,” the letter from the county opens. “In addition to the adjudication of the above, the completion of the requested investigation into the junior water rights holder’s interference with the continuous flow to the senior water right holder is of greater urgency.”
The letter goes on to state that vested water right for the church camp is affecting 64 other water rights held by Fish and Wildlife at Ash Meadows, remarking, “With that many separate permits resting on the adjudication of one vested right, it should be promoted to a position of priority in your offices.”
Nye County Sheriff Sharon Wehrly is among local officials who have come out to publicly support Victor and Annette and she was on hand on June 7 to reiterate that support.
“This is such an atrocity. I got involved in it some time ago and on one of my trips to Washington, D.C. I talked to Trump’s representative for western states about this very issue. We were told that they would look into it, but I really don’t think much happened with it,” Wehrly said. “And I really think that we need to push forward or we will lose our water rights. Not only these ones, but other ones that are subject to the state water engineer and fish and wildlife.”
Commissioner Leo Blundo made the motion to approve the letter, with a second from commissioner Bruce Jabbour. The motion passed with emphatic “ayes” all around.
To view the letter in its entirety visit www.NyeCountyNV.gov and locate the June 7 Nye County Commission agenda in the “Meeting Center”. The document is contained as part of agenda item #34.
For more background information on the struggle visit pvtimes.com and search for “Patch of Heaven.”
Contact reporter Robin Hebrock at [email protected]