Buying land in northern NV

[TWP]

pengyou,  In one word, no.  Water is a hotly contested commodity in Nevada.  We are the driest state in the US (lowest rainfall).

While there certainly is ground water to be found, particularly along the path of the Truckee River, water rights are tightly controlled and heavily encumbered by permits.

Ground water levels vary, from less than 100 feet to several hundred feet or more.

Keep in mind that most of Nevada is a desert...

There are plans to extract water from our eastern mountains (the Sierra Nevada range) and pipe it south to the Las Vegas population center... Needless to say, those plans are causing lots of political fighting.

Add to this the presence of the nuclear testing site, mid-state, with contamination issues for water wells.

There are also problems with the normal ground water being contaminated by Arsenic, in some areas within the Truckee River drainage system (which is in "northern" Nevada).

Needless to say, you'll need to do your due-diligence research on any property.  The county will have extensive records on water rights, location, irrigation rights, etc.

Water is a problem in Nevada.

[Jerry D Young]

For the reasons that TWP stated, I would definitely investigate some of the non-traditional methods of obtaining potable water, especially those suitable for the high desert. Ones that do not depend on ground sources, or sources that can be controlled, restricted, and/or taxed by any authority. There are a few, plus a couple that while they might fall into one of the other categories, will be useful in situations where those authorities do not exist for some reason.

Check out aerial wells, atmospheric water generators, fuel cells, and the like.

And for some of the systems to be effective, large amounts of storage of water and/or components of the water acquisition systems may be required.

Just my opinion.

[pengyou]

Thanks. Yes, I have assumedfrom the beginning that an endeavor in the desert would mean being able to store lots of water (10,000 gallons or more) and more than a fair share of creativity.  I have been researching recent laws about water catchment systems with great interest, as well as means to store it.

[pengyou]

Is land in Washoe, Pershing and Humboldt Counties "LIKELY" to be more hospitable in terms of water availability, less likely to have arsenic problems in ground water, etc?  By LIKELY, I mean on the average....

[TWP]

Washoe yes, somewhat more hospitable because it is fed from the Sierra watershed.
Pershing and Humboldt are much more desert climate, although their western sides benefit from some Sierra watershed flow.

All are still subject to lots of regulation on water access and use.

[Clay]

My neighbor has a well about 135 feet deep or so. I collect mine from rain or bring it in by truck. There are quite a few folks here who have wells. Humboldt County isn't too bad at all.

There are a couple of lots near my property for sale if you are interested I can tell you the name of the owner.

[WolfBrother]

WB edited to specific:

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Plus one that had a nice place, but died a few years ago. A big loss to the prepping community. He was one of the authors that helped get prepper fiction going well.
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Was that Flea Taxi?

[Jerry D Young]

It was.

I spent quite a bit of time with him when he was in the hospital here in Reno, off and on, in the months before he died. His family could not get here very often, so I tried to keep him company when I could. He was a good guy.

[WolfBrother]

It was.

I spent quite a bit of time with him when he was in the hospital here in Reno, off and on, in the months before he died. His family could not get here very often, so I tried to keep him company when I could. He was a good guy.

I could tell that from his stories. 

 I have 27 pdfs of his stories.
I don't know if he wrote more, if he did I haven't had any luck finding them.

My favorite is a 4 volume series of stories (the series and first volume name is the same North to Alaska) centering on one man (Roy Williams) and then his family thru his grandchildren.  The base location was primarily Alaska and specifically Help Me Jack lake and the city of Alakaket.  All 4 books/volumes are IMNTBHO compelling stories illustrating the absolute need for self reliance and need for prepping.

The first book is primarily about Roy and then Roy and his pet wolf Oliver and then Roy, Oliver and Oliver's lady Francine AND his struggle to stay alive for a summer, fall, and winter close to the center of Alaska after a way off course guide plane crash strands him roughly 100 miles from where he was supposed to be.

After that the next two books (volumes) are what I call HELS stories wound in/around/thru a compelling story lines.  (HELS = Happy Ending Love Stories) 

I try to get everyone to read him, TOM, and of course JDY. 

Apologies for the thread hijack.

[Jerry D Young]

I have 30. I do not think any are duplicates. If you e-mail me a list, I will check it against mine and get back to you.

[WolfBrother]

Jerry - email out