Water rights procedures.

ORIGINAL
House
Bill No
.
HB0047

ENROLLED ACT NO. 67,

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

SIXTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WYOMING
2017 General Session

AN ACT relating to water; specifying fees related to water adjudication; specifying use of the fees; and providing for an effective date.

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:

Section 1
.

W.S. 41
‑
3
‑
914
(
d)
, 41
‑
4
‑
203
(a)(i)
, 41
‑
4
‑
204,
41
‑
4
‑
307,
41
‑
4
‑
511 and 41
‑
4
‑
513 are amended to read:

41
‑
3
‑
914
.

Adjudication of waters within control area.

(d)

At the first regular meeting of the board after completion of such proof and advertisement, the board shall cause to be entered in the records of its office an order showing the priorities of right to the use of water in the control area, the amount of appropriation of the parties claiming water therefrom, the character and kind of use for which the appropriation is made, and the places or points of use. The secretary of the board shall issue to each person represented in the determination, a certificate of appropriation signed by the president of the board and attested under seal of the secretary of the board which shall state the name and post
‑
office address of the appropriator, the priority date of the appropriation, the amount of water appropriated, the use to which the water has been applied and, if the appropriation is for irrigation, a description of the legal subdivision of land to which the water is applied, or the place of use if the appropriation is not being used for irrigation. The certificate shall be transmitted by certified mail to the county clerk of the county in which the appropriation has been made and the county clerk shall, upon receipt of the proper fee, record the same and thereupon immediately transmit the certificate to the appropriator. At the time
of the submission of final proof of appropriation before the state engineer or superintendent of a water division, a fee not to exceed
fifty dollars ($50.00)

one hundred dollars ($100.00)
shall be collected, which shall be used for advertising the proof of appropriation and recording the certificate. The priority of appropriation shall be the determining factor in adjudicating underground water; the person first making the appropriation being first entitled to the use of the underground water, except as modified by W.S. 41
‑
3
‑
933.

41
‑
4
‑
203
.

Collection of fees generally.

(a)

The secretary of the state board of control shall collect in advance reasonable fees not to exceed the following:

(i)

Fifty dollars ($50.00)
One hundred dollars ($100.00)
with each proof of appropriation of water or proof
of construction of a reservoir
;

41
‑
4
‑
204
.

Collection of fees; disposition generally.

Said secretary shall, out of the fees so collected, remit with each certificate or order of the state board of control, sent to a county clerk for recording, the statutory fee for recording such instrument
and pay all costs of advertising each proof of appropriation of water or proof of construction of reservoir
; all other fees so collected to be paid to the state treasurer as by law provided.

41
‑
4
‑
307
.

Notice; payment of printing costs.

All bills for the printing of notices to claimants of water in the adjudications provided for in this act shall be paid for by the
county in which the stream, the appropriation of whose waters shall have been so adjudicated, shall be situated
, the said bills to be approved by the superintendent of the water division in which the adjudication is made

secretary of the state board of control
.

41
‑
4
‑
511
.

Final proof of appropriation; procedures generally.

Whenever an appropriation of water has been perfected in accordance with any permit issued by the state engineer, the appropriator may submit final proof of appropriation of water at any time within the time specified by W.S. 41
‑
4
‑
506, to the superintendent of the water division in which the water right involved is situated, or, when more expedient, before the superintendent of another water division or the state engineer, or before a water commissioner in accordance with the provisions of W.S. 41
‑
4
‑
308. Proof shall be made by appropriators under oath upon forms furnished by the state board of control. The superintendent shall collect for each proof taken a fee not to exceed
fifty dollars ($50.00)

one hundred dollars ($100.00)
, which fee shall be transmitted to the secretary of the board of control together with the several proofs taken. The
secretary of the board of control shall use the fee to pay the

appropriate amount for the county recording fee
shall be used by the secretary of the board to pay

for the recording of the certificate of appropriation in the office of the county clerk of the county in which the water right is situated and the

newspaper advertising fee for advertising the several proofs as provided in this section. The
remainder of the fee shall be remitted to the state
treasurer to the credit of the general fund. If the board of control rejects any proof, the
recording

fee shall be returned to the person, association or corporation submitting such proof. At least thirty (30) days prior to any regular meeting of the state board of control the superintendent of each water division shall cause all proofs taken by him to be advertised in at least one (1) issue of a newspaper having general circulation in the community where the water right involved is situated, such advertisement to contain in each case the permit number, the date of priority, the name of the ditch, canal or reservoir, the name of the appropriator, the name of the stream from which the appropriation is made, and the amount of the appropriation expressed in acres for ditches designed for the irrigation of lands and in acre
‑
feet for reservoirs, or in cubic feet per second or gallons per minute when the appropriation is for domestic, stock, municipal, industrial, manufacturing, fish hatchery or power purposes. Advertisements shall state the time when, and the place where, the proofs of appropriation of water taken by the superintendent will be open for public inspection for a period of not less than one (1) or more than five (5) days, and the last day of the period shall not be less than fifteen (15) days prior to the meeting of the board.
The advertisement shall be paid for by the county

as provided by W.S. 41
‑
4
‑
307.

Any party claiming an interest in any water right from the stream or streams to which the advertised proofs refer, shall have the right to contest the proposed adjudications according to the provisions of W.S. 41
‑
4
‑
312 through 41
‑
4
‑
315.
Upon the completion of the taking of proofs of appropriation and the advertising, the superintendent of each water division shall transmit to the office of the state board of control in Cheyenne the several proofs taken, together with fees collected, and shall accompany the same with affidavits of
publication as evidence of the required advertisement. At its next regular meeting the board shall consider all proofs of appropriation received from the division superintendents and if satisfied that there are no conflicts and that any appropriation involved has been perfected in accordance with the permit issued by the state engineer, the state board of control by the hand of its president, attested under seal, shall issue a certificate of appropriation of water as described in W.S. 41
‑
4
‑
325 and send the certificate to the county clerk of the county in which the use of water has been made to be recorded by the clerk as provided in W.S. 41
‑
4
‑
325.

41
‑
4
‑
513
.

Adjudication of underground water rights.

After issuance of a permit, or recording of a statement of claim, or registration of a well, under the procedures provided for by law, and completion of the work according to the terms of the permit, as certified to by the state engineer or his authorized representative following an inspection of the work, and the recording of such information as is deemed necessary concerning the works, and an inspection of the lands irrigated or of the other uses being made of the water, the board of control may adjudicate such underground water rights upon proof of beneficial use being submitted as provided for by W.S. 41
‑
4
‑
511.
The costs of advertising groundwater proofs shall be paid by the county

as provided by W.S. 41
‑
4
‑
307

The
appropriator shall pay the necessary fees as provided by W.S. 41
‑
4
‑
511
.

Section
2
.

This
act is effective July 1,
201
7
.

(END)

Speaker of the House

President of the
Senate

Governor

TIME APPROVED: _________

DATE APPROVED: _________

I hereby certify that this act originated in the
House
.

Chief Clerk

1