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H0400........................................................by MR. SPEAKER
Requested by: Department of Water Resources
WATER RIGHTS - Amends existing law to provide that water may be used any
time, with or without a water right, for firefighting purposes.
01/17 House intro - 1st rdg - to printing
Rpt prt - to Res/Con
01/28 Rpt out - rec d/p - to 2nd rdg
01/31 2nd rdg - to 3rd rdg
02/01 3rd rdg - PASSED - 68-0-2
AYES -- Alltus, Barraclough, Barrett, Bell, Bieter, Black, Boe,
Bruneel, Callister, Campbell, Chase, Cheirrett, Clark, Crow, Cuddy,
Deal, Denney, Ellsworth, Field(13), Gagner, Geddes, Gould, Hadley,
Hammond, Hansen(23), Hansen(29), Henbest, Hornbeck, Jaquet, Jones,
Judd, Kellogg, Kempton, Kendell, Kunz, Lake, Linford, Loertscher,
Mader, Marley, McKague, Meyer, Montgomery, Mortensen, Moss, Moyle,
Pearce, Pischner, Pomeroy, Reynolds, Ridinger, Ringo, Robison, Sali,
Schaefer, Sellman, Shepherd, Smith, Smylie, Stevenson, Stoicheff,
Stone, Taylor, Tilman, Wheeler, Wood, Zimmermann, Mr Speaker
NAYS -- None
Absent and excused -- Field(20), Trail
Floor Sponsor - Kendell
Title apvd - to Senate
02/02 Senate intro - 1st rdg - to Res/Env
03/23 Rpt out - rec d/p - to 2nd rdg
03/24 2nd rdg - to 3rd rdg
04/04 3rd rdg - PASSED - 35-0-0
AYES -- Andreason, Boatright, Branch/Walton, Bunderson, Burtenshaw,
Cameron, Crow, Danielson, Darrington, Davis, Deide, Dunklin, Frasure,
Geddes, Hawkins, Ingram, Ipsen, Keough, King-Barrutia, Lee,
McLaughlin, Noh, Parry, Richardson, Riggs, Risch, Sandy, Schroeder,
Sorensen, Stegner, Stennett, Thorne, Wheeler, Whitworth, Williams
NAYS -- None
Absent and excused -- None
Floor Sponsor - Hawkins
Title apvd - to House
04/05 To enrol - rpt enrol - Sp signed - Pres signed
04/06 To Governor
04/14 Governor signed
Session Law Chapter 291
Effective: 07/01/00
H0400|||| LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO |||| Fifty-fifth Legislature Second Regular Session - 2000IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES HOUSE BILL NO. 400 BY MR. SPEAKER Requested by: Department of Water Resources 1 AN ACT 2 RELATING TO WATER RIGHTS; AMENDING SECTION 42-201, IDAHO CODE, TO PROVIDE THAT 3 WATER MAY BE USED AT ANY TIME, WITH OR WITHOUT A WATER RIGHT, FOR FIRE- 4 FIGHTING PURPOSES; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. 5 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho: 6 SECTION 1. That Section 42-201, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby 7 amended to read as follows: 8 42-201. WATER RIGHTS ACQUIRED UNDER CHAPTER -- ILLEGAL APPLICATION OF 9 WATER. (1) All rights to divert and use the waters of this state for benefi- 10 cial purposes shall hereafter be acquired and confirmed under the provisions 11 of this chapter and not otherwise. And after the passage of this title all the 12 waters of this state shall be controlled and administered in the manner herein 13 provided. Such appropriation shall be perfected only by means of the applica- 14 tion, permit and license procedure as provided in this title; provided, how- 15 ever, that in the event an appropriation has been commenced by diversion and 16 application to beneficial use prior to the effective date of this act it may 17 be perfected under such method of appropriation. 18 (2) No person shall use the public waters of the state of Idaho except in 19 accordance with the laws of the state of Idaho. No person shall divert any 20 water from a natural watercourse or apply water to land without having 21 obtained a valid water right to do so, or apply it to purposes for which no 22 valid water right exists. 23 (3) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (2) of this section, 24 water may be used at any time, with or without a water right, to extinguish an 25 existing fire on private or public lands, structures, or equipment, or to pre- 26 vent an existing fire from spreading to private or public lands, structures, 27 or equipment endangered by an existing fire. 28 SECTION 2. This act shall be in full force and effect on and after July 29 1, 2000.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
RS09383
Amend Section 42-201, Idaho Code, to establish that water may be
used at any time, with or without a water right, for fire fighting
purposes.
The purpose of this amendment is to ensure that fire fighting is an
acceptable use under any water right and to assure water users that
a separate water right is not required to provide for the rare
utilization of a water system for fire fighting. The Idaho Supreme
Court has ruled by approval of a general provision that fire
fighting is an acceptable additional use of a water right. This
amendment will codify the court's decision relative to areas in
general water right adjudications, and will extend the fire
fighting provision to areas not within general water right
adjudications. The purpose does not address whether compensation
may be due if use of water for fire fighting interferes with use
under established water rights.
FISCAL IMPACT
The proposal will not affect the general fund.