Strong legal rights essential in water adjudication

Have you ever turned on your faucet and no water came out? Along with many folks in rural Montana, I had that experience in 2000 when my well went dry. The water shortage at my house was due to drought and nearby development in the aquifer. This experience taught me that water is, indeed, one of our most valued resources in the Treasure State.

Our state serves as the headwaters of both the Missouri and Columbia river systems, and we have more than 250,000 claims for beneficial use of water in Montana. It is essential that we establish strong legal rights to use this precious resource — before it flows out of state or is claimed by someone else. The State of Montana is working to complete its water adjudication so that we all have a solid legal right to use the water we need everyday.

Given the importance of this issue, the Legislature passed House Bill 22 in April 2005, led by Representative Walter McNutt, R-Sidney). The bill had widespread support from interim legislative committee members and passed the House 96-2 and the Senate 44-6. Organizations supporting the bill included the Montana Stockgrowers, the Montana Grain Growers, the Farm Bureau, the Farmers Union, Trout Unlimited, Conservation Districts, the Montana Association of Counties, the Montana Chamber and utility companies.

The legislation called for the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation to substantially beef up its staff for the review of water claims so the adjudication process can be completed within 10 years — about one-third the time it might have taken.

We have hired 37 new employees who are assisting with the accelerated adjudication process. Once DNRC has examined claims for water, the examinations go to the Water Court, which will further analyze claims basin by basin and stream by stream. The end product, a "final decree," describes the rights that are valid in specific watersheds across Montana.

If you claim a right to use water in Montana, either for a well, irrigation use or commercial or industrial use, you have probably received a letter and a bill for the expedited adjudication process. Fee assessments range from $20 every two years for a single water right to $400 per owner with multiple water rights to tens of thousands of dollars for very large water right holders, like power generators and those holding instream flow rights for fisheries.

General tax dollars are paying for a significant part of adjudication as well. Our staff at DNRC receives many phone inquiries about water rights, and we are happy to answer your questions. We have established a "hot line" for questions regarding billing, (406) 444-9050, available Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, visit our Web site at www.dnrc.mt.gov.

We are also cleaning up ownership records for water rights. As property has been bought and sold throughout Montana, the associated water rights have not always been correctly transferred. This is a good time to check your records.

In fact, you may even get a call from DNRC staff about your right to further update our records. If you have a well for household use, you will be billed unless you have not filed on the well. If you have filed and are included in the adjudication process, your bill for $20 will help to ensure that you will have a solid legal right to use your well.

All Montanans — homeowners, recreationists, irrigators and commercial interests — will benefit from a completed adjudication process. We can then protect our rights to use our water when other states or new users come knocking at our door wanting water. And, when a well goes dry, we have legal standing to find out what happened to our water and pursue legal avenues to protect our treasured resource.

Mary Sexton is the director of the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation.