Population and Housing — Population growth will likely change the demographic characteristics of Eureka County. The average age, household composition, and household size will be influenced by future population gains. Average age is expected to decrease, family households and households with children will likely increase as a percentage of total households in Eureka County. The overall household size will increase as working age adults are more likely to be married and have children. These changes are different from recent demographic trends discussed in Section 2.0.

New housing demand will increase as a result of an influx of temporary and permanent workers. The demand for temporary housing options as well as more conventional housing structures will likely expand the Eureka County housing stock in Table 2-3. The increase in demand could result in higher rents and prices.

Eureka County Economy — The local private sector economic opportunities are likely to increase as compared to previous mining cycles that left wage, employment and income largely unaffected in Eureka County. As seen in Table 3-2, resident employment and the local unemployment rate will likely fall over the next several years. The unemployment rate will be driven down below 6 percent. Jobs held by local residents may move above the 1,122 reported in 2012 assuming gold prices remain elevated.

Total local employment (jobs held by residents of Eureka County) could increase by several hundred. Both direct and indirect mining jobs will materialize in the local economy. As shown in Figure 3-3, jobs located in Eureka County and the resident labor force will move higher. The high wages in the mining industry will increase Eureka County personal income, household income, and per capita income above the levels seen in Table 3-6. Again, projected increases in economic activity are dependent upon the mining industry.

Eureka County mining output as measured by net proceeds of mines is seen in Figure 3-9. Taxable sales will likely continue at elevated levels. Local trade and services will likely expand which will be beneficial to most residents in Eureka County. Presently, the trade and services sector of the local economy is very narrow. Increased population and wages will support expanded activity.

Other important elements of the local economy such as agriculture and travel and tourism should remain largely unchanged although some negative adverse impacts could occur in those two sectors given potential environmental impacts associated with proposed projects. The number of proposed projects increases the likelihood of impacts.

Although the current model of mining companies is to purchase agricultural properties for a host of reasons including acquisition of appurtenant water rights, mitigation options, and insulation from impacts to other private property interests, these mine owned ranches and farms are sometimes not operated in a manner which maximizes the economic outputs from operation. This often results in reductions in livestock numbers, forage and hay production from these lands resulting in decreases in overall agricultural commodity sales for Eureka County.

Local Government Fiscal Conditions — Eureka County is poised to see substantial increases in local government expenditures linked to population related impacts and growth. In preparation for impacts associated with proposed mining projects, Eureka County has already committed substantial resources to increasing its ability to accommodate increases in population and workers by upgrading facilities and infrastructure. Population growth will drive annual increases in local government operational costs and expand service demands.

Demands on local government services could exceed the current service levels in nearly all categories. Major expenditures can be anticipated for public safety, utility operations, general administrative services and health care. As seen in Figure 4-8, annual expenditures will likely mirror annual revenues and erode surplus revenues which accrued to Eureka County over the last few years.

Education — Permanent population increases will affect the Eureka County School District. With an increase in permanent working age population, school enrollments will increase and probably return to historic peaks experienced in the 1990s. As seen in Figure 5-1, changes (increases and decreases) in mining activity have a direct impact on schools because the population is driven by working age people, many with children who move into and out of the area.

The Mt. Hope Project alone will likely increase school enrollments possibly reaching capacity of the existing facilities. Increases above the Mt. Hope Project population may necessitate expansion of school buildings and expenditures by the District for new facilities. The Crescent Valley school has significant capacity and can absorb relatively large increases in enrollment, if they occur. Increases in teaching and non-teaching staff will be needed to the extent growth occurs.

Social Indicators — Social indicators in Eureka County have remained relatively consistent over time. Voting, voter registration, crime, traffic, and access to health care show stable trends. Growth in Eureka County over the next several years may have some influence on social indicators. There is no evidence to suggest that large influxes of a mining related workforce will alter voting patterns. Little change in voting patterns has occurred in other northeastern Nevada communities.

It has been evidenced in other cases that crime rates and domestic issues will raise in proportion to the population. Temporary construction workforces will likely add to crime rates during the periods they are in Eureka County and will require greater levels of law enforcement resources and other public safety services. Large construction workforces operating in Eureka County are somewhat different than conditions experienced in recent times.

The Mt. Hope Project may place as many as 600 to 900 construction phase employees in southern Eureka County. Traffic patterns and commuting could change dramatically in the future resulting in increases in the average daily traffic counts and accident rates on Eureka County roads. The need for health care and health care access will increase proportionally with population gains.

Natural Resources — Other than site specific impacts, recent mining projects have had little long-term impact on natural resources in Eureka County because most mining projects have been relatively short-term in nature, practice modern reclamation standards, and implement effective mitigation measures. A number of current and proposed projects in Eureka County are likely to have much longer operating lives as opposed to the majority of mining projects in Eureka County.

The total number of projects and increased duration of operations is likely to have a cumulative impact on natural resources beyond site specific impacts. In many instances, the impacts will be linked to water use. In the past, most mining water use was temporary (10-15 years in duration) and largely non-consumptive. However, the increased duration and more consumptive uses of water will have more long-term impacts to natural resources including wildlife habitat and forage and water for ranching operations. Several measures of water use are included in Section 7.0. Groundwater wells, water levels, and stream flows for selected locations in Eureka County. Additionally, precipitation records for southern Eureka County are included in Figure 7-7.

Livestock and crop production will likely diminish to some extent as more water is converted to mining and milling uses and mining companies purchase ranching and farming operations. The long-term pumping and consumptive uses of the Mt. Hope Project are predicted to result in the loss of surface water resources, notable declines in groundwater, and declines in water dependent resources within the project area.

The areal extent of the impacts and duration is much unlike any other project in Eureka County in recent memory. Both BLM and the Nevada Division of Water Resources have entered into a long-term monitoring program with Eureka Moly to ensure that realized impacts from the Mt. Hope Project are detected and hopefully properly mitigated. Eureka County has been granted the ability to participate and provide input in this process. A wide variety of natural resources including but not limited to vegetation, wildlife habitat and surface waters will be monitored. With the increase in operational duration, additional municipal and domestic water withdrawals will occur to support growth.

Additional reductions of authorized AUMs on public lands are predicted to occur due to site specific project needs and the impact created as a result of mining operations. Additionally, a reduction in public land grazing continues to be advocated by a variety of entities even though substantial reductions have already occurred over many decades. As AUMs for domestic livestock have been reduced (See Figure 7-1), growth in feral horse population remains largely uncontrolled.

Current populations of feral horses in Eureka County greatly exceed the population levels considered to be sustainable over the long-term with other multiple uses. Much forage loss, adverse impacts to riparian areas and degraded range conditions can be attributed to uncontrolled and over-populated horse herds. Adequate management of these animals is needed to protect the resource for future environmental and socioeconomic needs.