Extracting ore, mining groundwater: Governmental indicators and the politics of water rights for the mining industry in Nevada, USA

In this paper we address governmentality and the politics of water rights by examining the Nevada Division of Water Resources (the Division)’s governance associated with water indicators and accounting practices. We are specifically interested in the political work of water indicators and accounting practices as they are produced, applied, and contested – work that generates advantages for Nevada’s mining industry. We focus on perennial yield, an important indicator used by the Division, and examine accounting practices in which mining water rights are designated as temporary and nonconsumptive. We examine how these water indicators and accounting practices are deployed in ways that 1) make groundwater legible and apportionable in ways that advantage the mining industry; 2) reduce the visibility of mining access to groundwater; and 3) enhance the resource state’s objectivity and legitimacy.