Serving as the Nevada Irrigation District Director representing Division I for the past eight years has been a tremendous honor. I am grateful to the voters who entrusted me with this responsibility and am very proud of the accomplishments we achieved during that time.
After much thought and reflection, I have decided that I will not seek reelection this cycle.
While these past eight years have brought many positive changes to NID, they have also brought wonderful changes to my personal life. I recently celebrated my 70th birthday, became the proud grandmother of a beloved grandson, and married a wonderful man in March.
As I look ahead, I am ready to take a step back from work to spend more time with my husband and grandson, enjoy extended travel, embrace the freedom that comes with retirement, and discover what life looks like without a schedule.
I will miss working alongside NID’s dedicated and wise colleagues, staff and the management team. I feel confident that NID today is in excellent shape – with major steps towards better environmental stewardship, more solid fiscal management and important changes to ensure long-term fiscal responsibility and water reliability.
Over the last eight years, we undertook comprehensive long-range planning to evaluate future water supply and demand, conducted in-depth analyses of our water delivery system, and developed a science-based climate change model that is among the most advanced in the industry. We established a capital improvement planning process that prioritizes projects based on need and benefit—something that did not previously exist at NID – and we placed a renewed emphasis on stewardship of our watershed management activities.
Through these efforts and many others, it became clear that the previously proposed Centennial Dam was unnecessary. As a result, NID is selling properties acquired for that project more than a decade ago, generating funds that can now be used to address critical infrastructure needs and help manage future water rates.
All of these initiatives are essential to the repair, replacement, and modernization of our aging infrastructure, which remains a top priority for the years ahead.
Beginning in February, I began working within our community to identify qualified individuals who may be interested in serving NID and representing Division I. I am pleased to say that a highly skilled person has stepped forward, Dr. Terry McAteer, former Superintendent of Schools, will soon be filing for election. I feel confident in his qualifications and character and I proudly endorse Terry McAteer to be the next NID Director to represent Division I on the NID Board of Directors. I hope you will give him your support in November.
Thank you to the residents of Division I, to the hard-working women and men of NID and to those who supported me throughout this journey. Serving this community has been a great honor and I will always be grateful for my time at NID. I thank you for the opportunity.
Most sincerely, Ricki Heck.