Tim Wilson, acting state engineer, appointed to the job permanently

CARSON CITY — Acting State Engineer Tim Wilson will be Nevada’s top water regulator, the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources announced Thursday.

Wilson takes over for Jason King, who retired in January after 28 years as a state employee, including his final eight as state engineer. He will also serve as the administrator of the Division of Water Resources. Wilson has served as acting state engineer since King retired.

The state engineer is responsible for the appropriation and regulation of all water in Nevada outside of the Colorado River, and is tasked with reviewing applications for water rights and deciding how much water, if any, can be pumped or diverted without harming other people’s water rights.

For Wilson, the role entails inheriting several lawsuits left by his predecessor, including challenges to King’s decisions regarding Pahrump, Coyote Springs and the Southern Nevada Water Authority’s long-standing plans to pipe water 300 miles from Eastern Nevada to Las Vegas.

Wilson has been with the Division of Water Resources since 1995.

Bradley Crowell, director of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, said that they are “fortunate” to have Tim lead the division.

“As both the driest state and one of the fastest-growing states in the nation, coupled with the current realities and impending risks our state faces from climate change, Nevada’s state engineer plays a pivotal role in advancing an innovative and forward-looking management of our limited water resources in all corners of our great state,” Crowell said in a statement. “Tim’s leadership will play a vital role in the state’s capacity to solve complex water challenges, while ensuring a sustainable water future for all Nevadans.”

Patrick Donnelly, state director of the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement that he looks forward to working with Wilson on projects involving the protection of the Moapa dace, a protected fish species that is found only in streams and springs that form the Muddy River, and balancing the Lower White River Flow System.

Donnelly, whose organization is one of several groups that protested King’s most recent decision on the Eastern Nevada pipeline, added that he hopes Wilson’s appointment “can usher in an era of new thinking on large-scale groundwater exportation projects like the SNWA project.”

Contact Capital Bureau Chief Colton Lochhead at clochhead@reviewjournal.com or 775-461-3820. Follow @ColtonLochhead on Twitter.