Water Rights Sale Inked

Recent water rights sale transactions in Nevada includes 35 shares of Virgin River surface water. There are about 10 acre feet per share under the Virgin River Share arrangement in the Mesquite and Bunkerville irrigation system.

"In 1961 water shares in the valley were worth $14 per share and you were a damn fool to buy them" stated Cecil Leavitt, a Virgin Valley board director. He went on to say "Today they are worth more than the land".

The final sale price for the 35 shares was $2,801,968 or about $80,056 per share. That translates to over $8000 per acre foot for surface water rights.

The surface water is not currently used by the buyer of the rights, Virgin Valley Water District as drinking water. Construction of a water treatment plant to purify the water will be required for the local rate payers to see any beneficial use from the purchase.

There are few reasons the district would go ahead with the purchase now, except the fact that if they did not buy the shares now, Southern Nevada Water Authority might. Once they are owned and headed to Las Vegas they would never be available in the Virgin River Valley again.

This story will play out across Nevada over and over in the next few years. Basins are being closed to additional allocations, additional permits are being denied. What currently exists will only increase in value. Demand continues to grow from domestic growth to agricultural needs and uses.

Funny to hear "you would have to have been a damn fool to pay $14 a share in 1961, and it just sold for over $80,000 ".

While few had the foresight then, the future of water rights in Nevada seems very clear today. What do you think they will be saying in another twenty years?

Chris W. Miller is a Nevada Irrigated farm and ranch land specialist; most of his currently listed properties have water rights. Call Chris today for more information. Ref:Mesquite Local News Oct. 22, 2009

Chris W. Miller
ERA Brokers Consolidated
Mesquite NV 89027
702- 346-7200
435-862-5951

Mesquite Market

chris@mesquitemarket.com

Lincoln County Land Market

Nevada Ranch Properties

Investing in Nevada Irrigated Farm and Ranch Land with Water Rights

When most people think of farm land and ranch property, they think open ranges, hay fields, cattle and cowboys riding horses.

Wall Street seems like a far off place in another world. A fast paced place driven by profit and greed.

It seems the classic contradiction, slower paced, straight talking, down to earth folks making their living off the land verses the Bernie Madoff and George Soros types.

Truth is, the story I am about to tell you just may be a little sad, because Wall Street is buying up the farm. Over the past few years investment power houses like BlackRock, and retirement plan giants like TIAA-CREF has been plowing money into farmland. In Nevada farm land generally means land with water rights, due to the arid climate.
These are smart people who are motivated by money and profit.

Here is the deal; the fundamentals are in place for a long term boom in prices for everything AG-related. Consider this; in 1960 there were 1.1 acres of arable farmland per person globally, according to data from the United Nations. By 2000 that number had fallen to .6 acres. Over the next 40 years the world population is projected to grow from 6 billion to 9 billion.


According to Joachim von Braun, director general of the International Food Policy Research Institute, “Land is scarce and will become scarcer as the world has to double food output to satisfy increased demand by 2050”. “With limited land and water resources, this will automatically lead to increased valuations of productive land.” Von Braun goes on to say, “It goes hand in hand with water, Water scarcity will probably increase even more than land.”
Water in Nevada is today in short supply and clearly demand will outpace supply as they continue to close basins to new permits. Water rights in Nevada have another issue facing the dwindling supply, the demographic shift of the baby boomers to the more tax favorable warmer climate. Choices, decisions, are being made today, do we use the water for agriculture and food production, or do we pipe to Las Vegas for culinary use.

Farmers and ranchers want to stay in the business, but millions of dollars waved under their noses make it tough to say no to the sale. Many will stay on and lease to continue to live the lifestyle they love. These lease payments are cash flow on the investments. Could it be a win-win situation?

Commodities guru Jim Rogers says, “I’m convinced that farmland is going to be one of the best investments of our time.”

Meanwhile, B.L. Harris, acting director of the Texas Water Resource Institute, knows well the problems of the Ogallala system. “The one big issue with regard to the Ogallala is the fact that the annual recharge is much, much lower than the extraction rate that we are putting on the aquifer at the present time. The aquifer is over-drafted to a substantial extent.” The Ogallala is one of the world’s largest aquifers covering 174,000 square miles; it runs from South Dakota to Texas. Some estimates say it will dry up in as little as 25 years.
Farmers are smart and they talk, they may wear overalls and talk funny, but farming is older than Wall Street. Water and food are the sources of life for the planet, demand is guaranteed to grow. There are few guarantees on Wall Street. Farming is a difficult business, but it is a fine tuned machine, executed right it is a profit opportunity.

Nevada cattle ranches as large as 34,000 acres including rangeland leases, listed and available for sale. For information about Nevada farm and ranch land with water rights.

Chris W. Miller
Vegas Grand Realty and Property Management
435-862-5951
702-990-5951

Nevada Water Rights

Land in Nevada

Nevada Ranch Properties

Lincoln County Land Market

Mesquite NV Real Estate Market