Amendment No. 478

Assembly Amendment to Assembly Bill No. 380 (BDR 48-971)

Proposed by: Committee on Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Mining

Amendment Box:

Resolves Conflicts with: N/A

Amends: Summary: Title: Preamble: Joint Sponsorship:

ASSEMBLY ACTION Initial and Date | SENATE ACTION Initial and Date

Adopted Lost | Adopted Lost

Concurred In Not | Concurred In Not

Receded Not | Receded Not

Amend section 1, pages 1 and 2, by deleting lines 3 through 14 on page 1 and lines 1 through 12 on page 2, and inserting:

"1. The priority of a water right acquired by a person for use in a federal reclamation project is determined according to the date on which the United States appropriated water for initiation of the project. Notwithstanding the fact that the water right so appropriated and acquired may ultimately vest in the name of the person at a later date, all such water rights so acquired are governed by the applicable law of this state in effect on the date on which the United States appropriated water for initiation of the project, unless the water rights vested under the law in this state before the time the United States first appropriated or otherwise acquired the water for initiation of the project. If the water right vested under the law in this state before appropriation or acquisition by the United States, the date of initiation of the water right is determined according to the date on which the water was first diverted under that appropriation or acquisition by the United States.

2. No water rights, in addition to those allocated under applicable court decrees, are granted, stated or implied by the determination of the date of priority pursuant to subsection 1.".

Amend the bill as a whole by deleting sec. 2 and renumbering sections 3 and 4 as sections 2 and 3.

Amend sec. 3, page 3, by deleting lines 3 through 11 and inserting:

"4. For the purposes of this section, a water right acquired for use in a federal reclamation project shall be deemed to be appurtenant to the property of any person who owns water rights within the project and may be used on any portion of that property within the project if the cumulative amount of water so used does not exceed the total amount of water owned by the holder of the water right.".

Amend sec. 4, page 3, by deleting lines 20 through 33 and inserting:

"2. [Except as otherwise provided in subsection 4, if the owner or owners of any such ditch, canal, reservoir, or any other means of diverting any of the public water fail to use the water therefrom or thereby for beneficial purposes for which the right of use exists during any 5 successive years, the right to so use shall be deemed as having been abandoned, and any such owner or owners thereupon forfeit all water rights, easements and privileges appurtenant thereto theretofore acquired, and all the water so formerly appropriated by such owner or owners and their predecessors in interest may be again appropriated for beneficial use the same as if such ditch, canal, reservoir or other means of diversion had never been constructed, and any qualified person may appropriate any such water for beneficial use.

3. No] Rights to the use of surface water shall not be deemed to be lost or otherwise forfeited for the failure to use the water therefrom for a beneficial purpose. In a determination of whether a right to use surface water has been abandoned, a presumption that the right to use the surface water has not been abandoned is created upon the submission of:

(a) Records, photographs, receipts, contracts, affidavits or any other proof of the occurrence of any of the following events or actions within a 10-year period immediately preceding any claim that the right to use the water has been abandoned:

(1) The delivery of water;

(2) The payment of any costs of maintenance and other operational costs incurred in delivering the water;

(3) The payment of any costs for capital improvements, including works of diversion and irrigation; or

(4) The actual performance of maintenance related to the delivery of the water.

(b) A copy of a local ordinance or other equivalent governmental document in which the governing body of a local government of this state or a public utility which is a purveyor of water within this state requires the dedication of or otherwise recognizes the water rights as a resource for the current or future municipal water supply.".

Amend sec. 4, page 4, by deleting lines 5 and 6.

Amend the bill as a whole by deleting sections 5 through 8 and adding a new section designated sec. 4, following sec. 4, to read as follows:

"Sec. 4. This act becomes effective upon passage and approval.".

Amend the title of the bill, sixth and seventh lines, by deleting:

"requiring a district court to decide protests of applications to appropriate water;".