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H0170.........................................by RESOURCES AND CONSERVATION
WATER RIGHTS - Amends existing law relating to the adjudication of water
rights to revise provisions relating to the truth and accuracy of
statements contained in notice of claim or amended notice of claim.
02/12 House intro - 1st rdg - to printing
02/13 Rpt prt - to Res/Con
02/16 Rpt out - rec d/p - to 2nd rdg
02/19 2nd rdg - to 3rd rdg
02/22 3rd rdg - PASSED - 66-2-2
AYES -- Anderson, Andrus, Bayer, Bell, Bilbao, Black, Block, Bock,
Boe, Bolz, Brackett, Bradford, Chadderdon, Chew, Clark, Collins,
Crane, Durst, Edmunson, Eskridge, Hagedorn, Hart, Harwood, Henbest,
Henderson, Jaquet, Killen, King, Kren, Labrador, Lake, LeFavour,
Loertscher, Luker, Marriott, Mathews, McGeachin, Mortimer, Moyle,
Nielsen, Nonini, Pasley-Stuart, Patrick, Pence, Raybould, Ring,
Ringo, Roberts, Ruchti, Rusche, Sayler, Schaefer, Shepherd(2),
Shepherd(8), Shirley, Shively, Smith(30), Smith(24), Snodgrass,
Thayn, Trail, Vander Woude, Wills, Wood(27), Wood(35), Mr. Speaker
NAYS -- Barrett, Chavez
Absent and excused -- Bedke, Stevenson
Floor Sponsor - Sayler
Title apvd - to Senate
02/23 Senate intro - 1st rdg - to Res/Env
03/12 Rpt out - rec d/p - to 2nd rdg
03/13 2nd rdg - to 3rd rdg
03/19 3rd rdg - PASSED - 32-0-3
AYES -- Andreason, Bair, Bastian, Bilyeu, Broadsword, Burkett,
Cameron, Coiner, Corder, Darrington, Davis, Fulcher, Geddes, Goedde,
Hammond, Heinrich, Hill, Jorgenson, Kelly, Keough, Langhorst, Little,
Lodge, McGee, McKague, McKenzie, Pearce, Richardson, Schroeder,
Siddoway, Stegner, Werk
NAYS -- None
Absent and excused -- Gannon, Malepeai, Stennett
Floor Sponsor - Cameron
Title apvd - to House
03/19 To enrol - Rpt enrol - Sp signed
03/20 Pres signed - To Governor
03/26 Governor signed
Session Law Chapter 187
Effective: 07/01/07
]]]] LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO ]]]]
Fifty-ninth Legislature First Regular Session - 2007
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
HOUSE BILL NO. 170
BY RESOURCES AND CONSERVATION COMMITTEE
1 AN ACT
2 RELATING TO THE ADJUDICATION OF WATER RIGHTS; AMENDING SECTION 42-1409, IDAHO
3 CODE, TO REVISE PROVISIONS RELATING TO THE TRUTH AND ACCURACY OF STATE-
4 MENTS CONTAINED IN NOTICES OF CLAIM OR AMENDED NOTICES OF CLAIM.
5 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho:
6 SECTION 1. That Section 42-1409, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby
7 amended to read as follows:
8 42-1409. NOTICE OF CLAIM. (1) The director shall prepare and furnish on
9 request a standard notice of claim form.
10 The notice of claim form shall include the following:
11 (a) the name and address of the claimant;
12 (b) the source of water;
13 (c) the quantity of water claimed:
14 (i) the quantity of water claimed to be used for water rights
15 acquired under state law shall describe the rate of diversion or,
16 for an instream flow claim, a rate of water flow in cubic feet per
17 second or the annual volume of diversion of water for use or storage
18 in acre-feet per year, or both;
19 (ii) the quantity of water claimed for water rights established
20 under federal law shall describe for each and every purpose the rate
21 of present and future water diversion or, in the case of an instream
22 flow claim the rate of flow in cubic feet per second or annual volume
23 of present and future diversion in acre-feet per year or both;
24 (d) the date of priority claimed:
25 (i) the date of priority claimed for water rights acquired under
26 state law shall be from any license, permit, or decree; or if the
27 right is not based upon a license, permit, or decree, then the date
28 when the water was first applied to beneficial use;
29 (ii) the date of priority claimed for water rights established under
30 federal law shall be determined in accordance with federal law;
31 (e) the number thereof, if founded upon a right on file with the depart-
32 ment; or if the right is founded upon judicial decree not on file with the
33 department, then the title of the court and cause, number of the action
34 and the date of entry;
35 (f) the legal description of the existing point(s) of diversion; if the
36 claim is for an instream flow, then a legal description of the beginning
37 and ending points of the claimed instream flow;
38 (g) the purpose(s) of use and the period of use:
39 (i) the purpose(s) of use for water rights acquired under state law
40 shall describe each purpose of use and the period of the year when
41 water is used for each purpose;
42 (ii) the purpose(s) of use for a water right established under fed-
43 eral law shall describe the purposes for which the water included in
2
1 the claim is presently being used, if at all, and the period of the
2 year when water is necessary for the designated purposes;
3 (h) a legal description of the place of use:
4 (i) the legal description of the place of use for water rights
5 acquired under state law shall describe the land where the water is
6 beneficially used; if one (1) of the purposes of use is irrigation,
7 then the number of irrigated acres within each forty (40) acre subdi-
8 vision, except as provided in section 42-219, Idaho Code;
9 (ii) the legal description of the place of use for a water right
10 established under federal law shall describe the federal reservation
11 and the existing or proposed place of use for each consumptive use;
12 (i) the dates of any changes or enlargements in use for water rights
13 acquired under state law, including the dimension of the diversion works
14 as originally constructed and as enlarged;
15 (j) conditions on the exercise of any water right included in any decree,
16 license, approved transfer application or other document; and
17 (k) such remarks and other matters as are necessary for definition of the
18 right, for clarification of any element of a right or for administration
19 of the right by the director.
20 (2) With respect to any water right for which a change was approved by
21 the director pursuant to section 42-211 or 42-222, Idaho Code, after filing
22 the notice of claim and prior to filing of the director's report, the claimant
23 shall amend the notice of claim consistent with the determination of the
24 director on the change.
25 (3) Each claimant, through submission of a claim, shall sign and verify
26 under oath solemnly swear or affirm under penalty of perjury that the state-
27 ments contained in a the notice of claim or amended notice of claim are true
28 and correct.
29 (4) All claimants of water rights that are included in a general adjudi-
30 cation shall file with the director a notice of claim for all water rights,
31 except for those types of water rights designated in paragraphs (a) through
32 (d) of subsection (1) of section 42-1420, Idaho Code.
33 (5) Any person who fails to submit a required notice of claim shall be
34 deemed to have been constructively served with notice of a general adjudica-
35 tion by publication and mailing as required by section 42-1408, Idaho Code.
36 (6) Each purchaser of a water right from the water system shall inquire
37 of the director whether a notice of claim has been filed, and if not, shall
38 file a notice of claim in accordance with this section. All claimants and pur-
39 chasers shall provide the director written notice of any change in ownership
40 or of any change in mailing address during the pendency of a general adjudica-
41 tion. All purchasers shall submit some evidence of ownership along with the
42 notice of change of ownership.
43 (7) At least one hundred twenty (120) days prior to filing of the
44 director's report with the court, the director may notify each holder of a
45 permit or license to appropriate water from the water system, for which proof
46 of beneficial use was filed after entry of the court's order commencing a gen-
47 eral adjudication, to file a notice of claim within thirty (30) days of mail-
48 ing of the notice. The director shall notify the holder of the permit or
49 license by certified mail at the most recent address shown in the records of
50 the department.
51 (8) The district court or director may extend the time for filing a
52 notice of claim.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
RS 16546C1
Idaho Code Section 42-1409 (3) states that each notice of a claim
in a water right adjudication shall be signed and verified under
oath, thus requiring notarization. Notarization has not been
found to improve the quality or reliability of claims. Also, the
notarization requirement hinders the ability of a water user to
file a claim using the Internet. Thus, this requirement is
proposed to be removed from the statute.
FISCAL NOTE
Implementation of this idea will decrease the cost of an
adjudication for the claimants (by removing the need to travel to
a notary and enabling Internet filing), and to the State of Idaho
(by enabling Internet filing of claims). The quality of claims
is not anticipated to be diminished by deletion of this
requirement.
Contact
Name: Dr. David Tuthill, Water Resources, Dept of
Phone: 208-287-4800
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE/FISCAL NOTE H 170