Geologist didn’t need permit, board says

MOSCOW, Idaho – State officials who once chided a geologist for performing consulting work without having the proper credentials have now backtracked, saying he doesn’t need them.

Phil Nisbet volunteered as a consultant for Naylor Farms, which received the single largest water right in Latah and Whitman counties. He was warned in January he’s not licensed to provide services in Idaho by the Board of Registration for Professional Geologists.

But the board now says Nisbet did not violate any laws or regulations for working in the state without a license.

Nisbet testified several times about a geological formation on the Ralph Naylor Farms property five miles north of Moscow that creates a water source separate from the region’s aquifers.

Naylor Farms says its 2.4 billion gallon annual request for water would not threaten local sources. The farms’ water call is more annual water than the cities of Moscow and Pullman use combined in a year.

Despite Naylor Farms representatives calling him a “consulting geologist,” Nisbet said he’s always worked for a company, not as a private geologist. Nisbet is an employee of I-minerals, a company that has been mining clay for years in the Bovill-Helmer area. As an employee, Nisbet argued he’s not required to have a license in Idaho.

Idaho law does not require company geologists to be licensed.

Prosecutors said there was not sufficient evidence to pursue filing charges against Nisbet for practicing geology without a license.

The Idaho Department of Water Resources has decided to reopen a public hearing on the Naylor Farms water right application to seek more scientific testimony and evidence about the groundwater situation in the Moscow sub-basin.