Voices for a Sustainable Washoe County, an organization behind a citizen-led initiative petition requiring land-use planning to consider available water recourses, turned in 28,388 signatures to the Washoe County Registrar of Voters Office Friday morning, in hopes to qualify and appear on Nevada’s November 2008 ballot.

The group, a nonpartisan coalition, involves citizens throughout the community including members from the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada (PLAN), the Sierra Club, Keep Washoe Wild and Citizens for Sensible Growth.

“I have a pretty good hunch it’ll qualify for the November ballot,” Bob Fulkerson, director of PLAN, said before walking into the registrar’s office carrying a sign reading “28,388 Washoe County voices say yes to sensible water planning.”

Before turning in the signatures, Fulkerson announced the organization had collected about 10,000 more signatures than needed to qualify for the ballot.

A Washoe County initiative petition requires 18,064 signatures in order to qualify to appear on the ballot.

Fulkerson said that supporters spent the last 90 days collecting signatures after the Washoe County Commission told supporters to go home and watch "Oprah" when the group sought the measure to appear as a ballot advisory question.

“While Commissioner Larkin was at home watching Oprah, we were out collecting signatures,” Citizens for Sensible Growth president Eric Holland said.

The initiative petition, if passed, would amend the Truckee Meadows Regional Plan to include a policy or policies requiring local government land-use plans be based upon and be in accordance with identified and sustainable water recourses available to Washoe County. Washoe County, which currently has a population about 418,000, only has enough water recourses to sustain about 600,000, according to the initiative's description of effect.

“It’s not too late for us to build a sustainable community.” Pamela Galloway of Voices for a Sustainable Washoe County said.

The organization advocates sustainable growth, not no growth, Galloway said, and that current land use and water planning is disjointed.

“Most of our water comes from the Truckee River,” Jerry Purdy, a 40-year Reno Resident and initiative supporter, said. “We’re almost to the point where Donner Lake is at the rim level. We’re in the middle of a drought. We only get 10 inches of rainfall a year. We’re in a desert environment.”

Purdy, a civil engineer, said that some members of the engineering community have joined organizations such as PLAN because of their concern about sustainability in the region.

“The other thing is development doesn’t pay for growth because we haven’t raised user fees and we have no taxes,” Purdy said. “The quality of life is going down the drain.”

“This is the complete evolution,” Toni Harsh, a county commission candidate, said as she stood amid boxes of signatures in the county clerk office discussing concerns regarding water sustainability issues.

“I’m so proud of the citizens,” Harsh said. “Usually when you see a public initiative it means something is broken. That’s what an initiative does. It allows citizens to speak and implement law.”

Voices for a Sustainable Washoe County, despite having more signatures than necessary to qualify — once verified by the County Clerk — will still have to fight the opposition to the initiative.

“We have no illusion this is where the fight ends,” Fulkerson said. “But we think we are going to prevail. In fact, I know we are going to prevail.”