Water wars

There's an old saying in the West: "Whiskey is for drinking; water is for fighting." Recent events have made this adage more poignant than ever.

On March 8,Washoe County sold some of the last remaining water in the North Valleys for $43,000 per acre-foot.

To be fair, the prices ranged from $39,100 to $43,000, averaging just about $40,500 per acre-foot.At the same time, the median priced house in the Truckee- Meadows hit nearly $270,000, and a first-time homebuyer won't find a home for less than $210,000.

Last chance In many respects, the North Valleys represents the last chance for the first-time home buyer.

Entry-level homes only recently broke the $200,000 mark,whereas in the Truckee Meadows (both north and south) and Spanish Springs, this threshold was shattered years ago.

The price of water for a North Valleys home buyer represents a greater portion of the overall purchase price.As such, a $43,000 per acre-foot price tag has a much bigger impact on an entry-level house, and thus the firsttime homebuyer.

That $210,000 home just went up 10 percent to $231,000.

Where to place blame While it's not fair to blame the high cost of housing on simply water, it is time to take a serious look at what we are doing.

That $43,000 paid for an acre-foot of water is merely a symptom of a much larger problem.

We must ask our elected officials, our policy makers and even ourselves: Is a $210,000 entry-level home good policy for our community? In many instances,we are pricing workers right out of the market.Yet, at the same time, we hear the ongoing drum beat demanding "affordable" housing often turning to the taxpayers for subsidies and grants.

Or, as an alternative, many people are forced to drive 30 miles or more to find reasonably priced housing.

The result? Our freeways are more congested and more pollution is put into the air from the additional commuters, both problems traditionally addressed by spending large sums of the taxpayers' money, resulting in higher taxes.

The irony? The significant loss of tax revenue to other counties these same workers represent as we push them further and further out.

Unfortunately, all signs indicate continued higher housing prices are in Truckee Meadow's future.

From land supply to materials cost, the causes of upward pressure on prices are multitude.

Some are in our control; many are not.Water availability is one cause that should be in our control.

Water solutions elusive It is difficult to understand why we struggle with water when the Truckee Meadows uses less than 7 percent of the Truckee River - 93 percent flows down the river.

It is difficult to understand why, after more than 30 years, water solutions in the North Valleys remain elusive.

It's difficult to understand why it seems nearly impossible to take even the smallest steps toward finding a water solution.

Come together The problems we face are complex.

The solutions even more so.

To the credit of some of our elected officials, baby steps have been taken.

But agreement on solutions is by no means universal.Unless our governmental entities can come together - unless we can all come together - to agree upon and implement a water policy that serves our community,we all lose.

The $43,000 per acre-foot sale in the North Valleys has been described as "The Perfect Storm."Assurances have been given that this was a total anomaly that will likely never happen again.

For the sake of our economic health, for the sake of all of us, I hope they're right! Gregory Peek, vice president of ERGS Inc., is chair of the Infrastructure & Planning Committee of the Builders Association of Northern Nevada.