What do I do if I get a letter from the State Engineer / Department of Water Resources?

Read it!  Does it call for performance of a duty?  Perform the duty as requested in the Letter! 

The State Engineer is responsible for administration of a process whereby a permit may be granted “. . .allow[ing] a specific quantity of water for a specific beneficial purpose. . .” Desert Irrigation, Ltd. V. State of Nevada, 113 Nev. 1049, 944 P. 2nd 835 (1997).  A permit to appropriate water issued by the State Engineer must be perfected by putting water to beneficial use. Id.  Proof of beneficial use is required by Nevada law.  NRS 533.410.  The State Engineer, in his discretion, may require the holder of a permit to submit proof and evidence of the permit holder’s compliance with a duty of good faith and with reasonable diligence to perfect an application. NRS 533.395(1).  The measure of reasonable diligence in perfecting a water right is the steady application of effort to perfect the application in a reasonably expedient and efficient manner under all the facts and circumstances relating to the application. Id.  

The reality associated with a water right is that it takes time to perfect the same.  On the road to perfecting a water right, conditions must be satisfied; and, the law allows a reasonable time in which to satisfy conditions.  The timelines must be honored!