RENO, Nev. (AP) - The state engineer says his office is receiving objections about water use approvals sought for a proposed power plant in the Smoke Creek Desert about 120 miles north of Reno.

As of Monday's deadline, the office had received 11 protests over the first six applications to convert part of 25,000 acre-feet of water from agricultural to industrial use for the 1,450-megawatt power plant.

Of the water rights, 16,000 acre-feet would evaporate every year in cooling processes for the plant. Excess water rights are required because agricultural uses put some water back into the aquifer.

Washoe County, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe have joined several local property owners and environmental and alternative energy groups in opposing all or some of six of the 75 water applications filed.

In the 1940s, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated the Smoke Creek water basin contained only 16,000 acre-feet of water that could be drawn each year without draining the aquifer, the Reno Gazette-Journal reported on Wednesday.

"Sempra's move has all the hallmarks of a classic Western water grab," said Jon Wellinghoff, a lawyer representing Western Resource Advocates, of Boulder, Colo., a nonprofit group promoting energy conservation and alternative energy.

Sempra Energy, a major energy company in San Diego, plans to sell much of the power in Southern California.

Washoe County filed a protest against some of the water rights to protect its interests in the basin, said Vahid Behmaram, county water rights specialist. In 2002, the county filed for all unappropriated water rights for a potential future water supply for the Reno-Sparks area.

The BLM filed a protest to preserve its rights to protest later, said Rodger Bryan, associate acting field manager. The BLM is overseeing an environmental study for the power-plant project that would help determine whether the effects of the project can be dealt with.

---

Information from: Reno Gazette-Journal