TITLE 42

IRRIGATION AND DRAINAGE — WATER RIGHTS AND RECLAMATION

CHAPTER 14

ADJUDICATION OF WATER RIGHTS

42-1411.  Report of the director. (1) The director shall prepare a director’s report on the water system. The director may file the director’s report in parts as the director deems appropriate. The director may include such explanatory material as he deems appropriate in the director’s report. Such explanatory material shall not impose any conditions or restrictions on the rights reported and shall not be subject to objection. This explanatory material shall not be used to support any notice of claim, objection to a notice of claim, or response to an objection.

(2)  The director shall determine the following elements, to the extent the director deems appropriate and proper, to define and administer the water rights acquired under state law:

(a)  The name and address of the claimant;

(b)  The source of water;

(c)  The quantity of water used describing the rate of water diversion or, in the case of an instream flow right, the rate of water flow in cubic feet per second or annual volume of diversion of water for use or storage in acre-feet per year as necessary for the proper administration of the water right;

(d)  The date of priority; provided that for stockwater use on federal land, the director shall accept the date of the first grazing permit issued on the federal grazing allotment, pursuant to federal grazing authorizations, including but not limited to the Taylor grazing act, as prima facie evidence of the date of priority, unless the claimant produces evidence of earlier stockwater use on the federal land, which shall then establish the date of priority;

(e)  The legal description of the point(s) of diversion; if the claim is for an instream flow, then a legal description of the beginning and ending points of the claimed instream flow;

(f)  The purpose of use;

(g)  The period of the year when water is used for such purposes;

(h)  A legal description of the place of use; if one (1) of the purposes of use is irrigation, then the number of irrigated acres within each forty (40) acre subdivision, except that the place of use may be described using a general description in the manner provided under section 42-219, Idaho Code, which may consist of a digital boundary as defined in section 42-202B, Idaho Code, if the irrigation project would qualify to be so described under section 42-219, Idaho Code; provided that for stockwater use on federal land, there shall be a rebuttable presumption that the claimant’s base property relates back to the base property when the first grazing permit was issued on the federal grazing land or when water was first applied to beneficial use on the federal land;

(i)  Conditions on the exercise of any water right included in any decree, license, or approved transfer application; and

(j)  Such remarks and other matters as are necessary for definition of the right, for clarification of any element of a right, or for administration of the right by the director.

(3)  The director may include such general provisions in the director’s report, as the director deems appropriate and proper, to define and to administer all water rights.

(4)  The director shall file the director’s report with the district court, and the director’s report shall be a part of the record. Upon filing with the court, the director’s report, except for the explanatory material referred to in subsection (1) of this section, shall constitute prima facie evidence of the nature and extent of the water rights acquired under state law. The unobjected to portions of the director’s report shall be decreed as reported.

(5)  Each claimant of a water right acquired under state law has the ultimate burden of persuasion for each element of a water right. Since the director’s report is prima facie evidence of the nature and extent of the water rights acquired under state law, a claimant of a water right acquired under state law has the burden of going forward with the evidence to establish any element of a water right that is in addition to or inconsistent with the description in a director’s report. Any party filing an objection to any portion of the director’s report shall have the burden of going forward with the evidence to rebut the director’s report as to all issues raised by the objection. Provided however, that a claimant objecting to the director’s recommended place of use described by a digital boundary or other similar technology shall not be required to produce digital boundary or other similar technology-generated evidence in order to meet the burden provided by this section. Places of use described using digital boundaries or other similar technology-based descriptions shall not be entitled to any greater weight than descriptions by metes and bounds, the number of irrigated acres within each forty (40) acre subdivision, or other method adequate for the description of water rights. Any other party to the proceeding may submit evidence in opposition to the objector’s position and in support of the director’s report. All such proceedings shall be governed by the Idaho rules of civil procedure and Idaho rules of evidence.

(6)  The director shall file an original of the director’s report with the district court. The director shall also distribute for display and review at least one (1) copy of the director’s report to the office of the clerk of the district court for each county in which any part of the water system is located. The director shall also serve on each claimant or the claimant’s attorney whose water right is listed in the director’s report a notice of filing of the director’s report. Notice shall be sent to the last known address of the claimant or the claimant’s attorney. The notice shall be prepared by the director using plain and concise language and shall include:

(a)  A statement that the director’s report of the various water rights acquired under state law has been filed with the district court, naming the district court(s) to which the report was filed;

(b)  A copy of that portion of the report setting forth the claimant’s water right;

(c)  A statement that a complete copy of the director’s report is available for inspection, listing the locations at which the director’s report is available, which shall include the office of the clerk of the district court for each county in which any part of the water system is located, the offices of the department, and any other locations the director may designate;

(d)  A statement that all or a portion of the director’s report is available upon request at the offices of the department, subject to payment of a reasonable fee to cover costs of reproduction and mailing;

(e)  A statement that any claimant may file objections to any portion of the director’s report with the district court specified in the notice and must mail a copy of the objection to the director, and to the claimant of each claimed right objected to, if the objector is not also the claimant of the right for which the objection is filed;

(f)  The date prior to which all objections must be filed, which shall not be less than sixty (60) days for any director’s report containing five hundred (500) claims or less, one hundred twenty (120) days for any director’s report containing more than five hundred (500) claims and not more than five thousand (5,000) claims, and one hundred eighty (180) days for any director’s report containing more than five thousand (5,000) claims; the above-stated periods of time shall commence on the date of service by mail of the notice of filing;

(g)  A statement that claimants may file responses with the court to objections filed against their claims and that a copy of any response must be mailed to the director and to the objector;

(h)  The date prior to which all responses to objections must be filed with the court, which shall not be less than sixty (60) days following receipt of a copy of the objection; and

(i)  A statement that any part of the report to which no objections are filed shall be decreed by the district court and the time and location set for the hearing at which the unobjected parts of the report will be decreed, which time shall not be less than sixty (60) days following the expiration of the period for filing objections.

(7)  The director shall file an affidavit with the district court demonstrating compliance with the notice requirements of subsection (6) of this section.

History:

[42-1411, added 1986, ch. 220, sec. 13, p. 573; am. 1994, ch. 454, sec. 18, p. 1461; am. 1994, ch. 455, sec. 2, p. 1481; am. 1996, ch. 186, sec. 2, p. 586; am. 1997, ch. 374, sec. 4, p. 1198; am. 2002, ch. 12, sec. 1, p. 14; am. 2002, ch. 13, sec. 1, p. 17; am. 2002, ch. 306, sec. 3, p. 873; am. 2003, ch. 167, sec. 1, p. 472; am. 2021, ch. 159, sec. 2, p. 440.]