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S1426..........................................by RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT
WATER - APPROPRIATIONS - Amends existing law relating to the appropriation
of water to revise the criteria upon which the director of the Department
of Water Resources may reject an application for appropriation of water and
refuse issuance of a permit, partially approve and grant a permit for a
smaller quantity of water than applied for, or grant a permit upon
conditions.
02/11 Senate intro - 1st rdg - to printing
02/12 Rpt prt - to Res/Env
|||| LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO ||||
Fifty-sixth Legislature Second Regular Session - 2002
IN THE SENATE
SENATE BILL NO. 1426
BY RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE
1 AN ACT
2 RELATING TO THE APPROPRIATION OF WATER; AMENDING SECTION 42-203A, IDAHO CODE,
3 TO REVISE THE CRITERIA UPON WHICH THE DIRECTOR OF THE DEPARTMENT OF WATER
4 RESOURCES MAY REJECT AN APPLICATION FOR APPROPRIATION OF WATER, REFUSE
5 ISSUANCE OF A PERMIT, PARTIALLY APPROVE AND GRANT A PERMIT FOR A SMALLER
6 QUANTITY OF WATER THAN APPLIED FOR, OR GRANT A PERMIT UPON CONDITIONS AND
7 TO MAKE TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS.
8 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho:
9 SECTION 1. That Section 42-203A, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby
10 amended to read as follows:
11 42-203A. NOTICE UPON RECEIPT OF APPLICATION -- PROTEST -- HEARING AND
12 FINDINGS -- APPEALS. (1) Upon receipt of an application to appropriate the
13 waters of this state, the department of water resources, shall prepare a
14 notice in such form as the department may prescribe, specifying: (a) the num-
15 ber of the application; (b) the date of filing thereof; (c) the name and post-
16 office address of the applicant; (d) the source of the water supply; (e) the
17 amount of water to be appropriated; (f) in general the nature of the proposed
18 use; (g) the approximate location of the point of diversion; and (h) and the
19 point of use. The department shall also state in said notice that any protest
20 against the approval of such application, in form prescribed by the depart-
21 ment, shall be filed with the department within ten (10) days from the last
22 date of publication of such notice.
23 (2) The director of the department of water resources shall cause the
24 notice to be published in a newspaper printed within the county wherein the
25 point of diversion lies, or in the event no newspaper is printed in said
26 county, then in a newspaper of general circulation therein. When the applica-
27 tion proposes a diversion in excess of ten (10) c.f.s. or one thousand (1,000)
28 acre feet, the director shall cause the notice to be published in a newspaper
29 or newspapers sufficient to achieve statewide circulation. Any notice shall be
30 published at least once each week for two (2) successive weeks.
31 (3) The director of the department shall cause a copy of the notice of
32 application to be sent by ordinary mail to any person who requests in writing
33 to receive any class of notices of application and who pays an annual mailing
34 fee as established by departmental regulation rule.
35 (4) Any person, firm, association or corporation concerned in any such
36 application may, within the time allowed in the notice of application, file
37 with said director of the department of water resources a written protest,
38 together with the statutory filing fee as provided in section 42-221, Idaho
39 Code, against the approval of such application, which protest shall state the
40 name and address of protestant and shall be signed by him or by his agent or
41 attorney and shall clearly set forth his objections to the approval of such
42 application. Hearing upon the protest so filed shall be held within sixty (60)
43 days from the date such protest is received. Notice of this hearing shall be
2
1 given by mailing notice not less than ten (10) days before the date of hearing
2 and shall be forwarded to both the applicant and the protestant, or
3 protestants, by certified mail. Such notice shall state the names of the
4 applicant and protestant, or protestants, the time and place fixed for the
5 hearing and such other information as the director of the department of water
6 resources may deem advisable. In the event that no protest is filed, then the
7 director of the department of water resources may forthwith approve the appli-
8 cation, providing the same in all respects conforms with the requirements of
9 this chapter, and with the regulations rules of the department of water
10 resources.
11 (5) Such hearing shall be conducted in accordance with the provisions of
12 section 42-1701A(1) and (2), Idaho Code. The director of the department of
13 water resources shall find and determine from the evidence presented to what
14 use or uses the water sought to be appropriated can be and are intended to be
15 applied. In all applications, whether protested or not protested, where the
16 proposed use is such (a) that it will reduce the quantity of water under
17 existing water rights, or (b) that the water supply itself is insufficient for
18 the purpose for which it is sought to be appropriated, or (c) where it appears
19 to the satisfaction of the director that such application is not made in good
20 faith, is made for delay or speculative purposes, or (d) that the applicant
21 has not sufficient financial resources with which to complete the work
22 involved therein, or (e) that it will conflict with the local public interest,
23 where the local public interest is defined as the affairs of the people in the
24 area directly affected by which shall be determined by evaluating and balanc-
25 ing those adverse environmental impacts of the proposed water diversion or
26 return flow within the regulatory authority of the department with the poten-
27 tial economic benefits of the proposed use, or (f) that it is contrary to con-
28 servation of water resources within the state of Idaho; the director of the
29 department of water resources may reject such application and refuse issuance
30 of a permit therefor, or may partially approve and grant a permit for a
31 smaller quantity of water than applied for, or may grant a permit upon condi-
32 tions. The provisions of this section shall apply to any boundary stream
33 between this and any other state in all cases where the water sought to be
34 appropriated has its source largely within the state, irrespective of the
35 location of any proposed power generating plant.
36 (6) Any person or corporation who has formally appeared at the hearing,
37 aggrieved by the judgment of the director of the department of water
38 resources, may seek judicial review thereof in accordance with section
39 42-1701A(4), Idaho Code.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
RS 11925
The purpose is this legislation is to amend Section 42-203A,
Idaho Code revising criteria used when making an application water
for appropriation. Also contains information about permit refusals
and partial permits of smaller quantities than applied for. There
is also clarification on granting a permit with conditions and
technical corrections.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact.
Contact
Name: Sen. Burtenshaw 332-1000
Phone: Lewis Eilers (208) 736-1953
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE/FISCAL NOTE S 1426