Ranch purchase to help Walker Lake

Water rights of 7,139-acre Flying M part of basin’s restoration

RENO — The remote desert ranch that for decades provided a scenic backdrop for flights by some of the world’s most daring aviators is under new ownership.

The Flying M Ranch, located northwest of Hawthorne, sold earlier this summer to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation for $19.4 million, the Reno Gazette-Journal reported.

The deal is part of an effort to direct more water to the Walker River so it can flow into the beleaguered Walker Lake near Hawthorne as part of an environmental recovery project.

“The acquisition of Flying M is an incredibly significant accomplishment for the Walker Basin Restoration Program and for the overall conservation values in the Walker Basin,” said David Yardas, director of water investments for the foundation.

It covers 7,139 acres of land, surface water rights sufficient to produce nearly 28 cubic feet of flow per second in the Walker River and primary rights to 160 acre-feet of groundwater as well as thousands of acre-feet of storage rights. An acrefoot is enough water to supply a typical home for a year.

“We now have thousands and thousands of acres of water that is going to wind up going in that lake,” said Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., of the Flying M and previous purchases. “We are going to save Walker Lake.”

Reid was instrumental in establishing the Walker Basin Restoration Program.

The idea behind the program is to acquire enough property and water rights to restore Walker Lake to the condition it was in around the year 2000 when it supported fish species such as Lahontan cutthroat trout and Tui chub and an annual stopover by migrating loons.

Low flows have shrunk the lake and contributed to higher levels of saline and other dissolved solids, reducing water quality.

“It didn’t come cheap,” Reid said of the ongoing efforts. “It has been a lot of money, well more than 100 million of your taxpayer dollars.”

In addition to the land and water rights, the Flying M deal includes a life-lease provision that will allow former owner Barron Hilton, 88, to remain on the property.

The Flying M is the biggest purchase so far for the foundation’s Walker Basin Restoration Program. Since 2010 the foundation has purchased 15,719 acres with enough surface water rights to account for flows of about 98 cubic feet per second, although it’s unclear how much of the water will flow to the lake. The amount is still being determined in a federal court water rights case. The case addresses how much of the water should be allowed to move through the Walker River system and into the lake.

“The Flying M property includes significant areas of the East Walker River, which provides a great opportunity to protect and enhance a healthy riparian corridor while also protecting a significant amount of water for the health of the Walker River and Walker Lake,” Yardas said.

Including the Flying M, the group has spent more than $100 million in the region.

The acquisition program gets funding through the Desert Terminal Lakes Program, which is managed by the Bureau of Reclamation.

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation receives funds from the bureau through grant agreements and administers the Walker Basin program for the bureau and the Department of the Interior.

PAHRUMP — The cost of brothel licensing is up for debate in one Nevada county.

Possible changes to the Nye County legalized prostitution ordinance would be the first updates in more than two decades.

Quarterly brothel licensing fees could increase depending on the number of workers while the annual background check fee rises from $5,000 to $7,500.

Brothel owners can make recommendations until Sept. 20 when county commissioners are expected to hear the proposals.

“The intent was to update an ordinance that hadn’t been changed for over 20 years,” said Nye County Sheriff Sharon Wehrly. “Everything goes up, and all we’re trying to do is bring this into today’s economic times.”

Nye County Commissioner Butch Borasky and Wehrly worked together to create the proposal.

The businesses would have to identify anyone with a financial interest and increase health checks for workers.

Brothel owner Dennis Hof said the changes are politically motivated.

“It’s totally political because I’m running for Assembly District 36 and it’s a way to put me in the news in a negative light,” Hof said. “That’s all it is.”

Borasky said the changes were years in the making and not political in nature.

Five brothels pay fees that bring the county $70,000 to $80,000 annually.

Higher fees are expected to add tens of thousands of dollars in 2016-2017.

Some Nevada residents are in favor of the increases.

“I think they should always pay more because they don’t have much money for the city here,” said Ralph Vaccaro. “Pahrump is a mess.”

Valerie Simmons said these businesses “should be paying more because we’re the only county that has the brothels. Nobody else has them.”

Commissioners could approve changes in October.

MARILYN NEWTON/RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL Walker Lake in Northern Nevada’s Mineral County, seen in 2005, has suffered from low flows for years but will get help because the Flying M Ranch and its water rights were sold earlier this summer to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.