Tuesday
June 5, 2007
Fish
Springs Ranch LLC Announces Settlement with the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe
Source: PRNewswire
The economic obligations of Fish Springs Ranch to the Tribe in settlement and mitigation of potential impacts of the water importation project of up to 8,000 acre-feet per year are:
(1) upon signing of the agreement:
a payment of $500,000 and the deeding
of approximately 6,214 acres of real estate in Nevada with a market
value of approximately $500,000;
(2) a payment of $3,100,000 on January 8, 2008;
(3) a payment of $3,600,000 on the later of January 8, 2009 or the date an
Act of Congress ratifies the agreement and direction to the Secretary
of the Interior to sign the agreement as required under the Act of
Congress.
In addition, in exchange for the Tribe's agreement not to oppose all permitting activities with respect to pumping and importation of groundwater in excess of 8,000 acre-feet per year up to 13,000 acre-feet per year, Fish Springs Ranch agrees that it shall pay the Tribe 12% of the gross sales price for each acre-foot of any additional water that Fish Springs Ranch ultimately sells in excess of 8,000 acre-feet per year.
John Hart, Vidler Water Company's and PICO Holding's Chief Executive Officer, commented:
"This agreement removes the final hurdle from our water importation project as well as prohibits any further protests by the Tribe with respect to any future pumping and importation of Fish Springs groundwater in excess of 8,000 acre-feet per year. We have not suffered any delay to date on this project due to the Tribe's actions and we are still aiming to complete construction of the pipeline by the end of the year. We are still on schedule to deliver water to the northern valleys of Reno, which currently have no available water supply, in late 2007 or early 2008.
Contact:
Mark Ahrens, (503) 231-6123
