Southern Nevada delegation asks federal authorities for 20-year mining ban near Ash Meadows Wildlife Refuge • Nevada Current

The federal delegation from southern Nevada is calling on the federal government to ban mining on public lands in the fragile Amargosa River watershed, an effort that area residents have supported for months.

On Tuesday, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto sent a letter to federal land managers urging the Interior Department to implement a 20-year ban on new mining operations on public lands surrounding the Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, a critical wetland habitat that is home to a dozen endangered and threatened species.

Senator Jacky Rosen and Representatives Dina Titus, Steven Horsford and Susie Lee also signed the letter.

The 20-year ban is supported by the Timbisha Shoshone Tribal Council, the Nye County Board of Commissioners, the Nye County Water District and both the Amargosa Valley and Beatty city councils.

Under federal law, the Interior Department has the authority to withdraw land from mining for up to 20 years by approving a mineral withdrawal application submitted by the managing agency. Mineral withdrawals can also be guaranteed permanently by legislation passed by Congress and signed by the president.

Federal withdrawal of minerals would not dissolve previous mining concessions, but that would significantly reduce mining companies' incentive to develop the area, supporters of the 20-year ban say.

In the letter, lawmakers representing southern Nevada ask Interior Secretary Deb Haaland to formally initiate a 20-year mineral withdrawal on about 276,000 acres of public land that researchers say are most vulnerable to groundwater depletion from mining.

“Exploration or mining drilling could puncture the underlying, highly pressurized aquifer, resulting in artesian flow that could reduce spring flows and water levels at Devils Hole, and have widespread catastrophic impacts on this fragile landscape. Surface mining activities would require dewatering that would lower groundwater levels, reducing spring flows within the reserve and affecting water supplies to local communities,” the Department of National Defence said. The legislators wrote.

The Amargosa River flows just below the surface for most of its 186-mile (300 km) course. In the sections of the river that reach the surface, such as the Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, the river is home to endemic species that rely entirely on springs fed by underground aquifers.

However, some of these aquifers are extremely close to the surface, meaning that even shallow drilling into the Amargosa Basin groundwater system can have severe, unpredictable and far-reaching impacts.

The request follows Canadian company Rover Critical Minerals (formerly Rover Metals) announcing last year a new plan to drill up to 21 wells within a mile of the refuge, at depths of up to 150 feet, in search of valuable lithium deposits. The proposal included plans to drill within a few thousand feet of Fairbanks Spring, a critical habitat for the endangered Ash Meadows Amargosa baby fish and the Ash Meadows speckled dace.

“Recent proposals for exploratory drilling and mining near the refuge boundary pose an immediate threat to the integrity of this fragile ecosystem,” the letter reads.