Court rules in favor of top water regulator in Nevada lithium mining dispute
The Nevada Supreme Court reversed a previous decision that could have taken water rights away from the nation’s only operational lithium mine. In doing so, the court affirmed the broad power granted to the state’s top water regulator to make technical decisions about water rights. In Nevada, water rights must be put to “beneficial use” or be surrendered to the state. … The dispute between two mining companies stems from a rush to extract lithium in Esmeralda County, the state’s least populated county with about 1,000 residents roughly halfway between Reno and Las Vegas. It is home to Albemarle Corp.’s Silver Peak mine, which remains the only producing lithium mine in the country.
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