THE TIME IS NOW
Gallatin County Water Rights Regulations
Our work is particularly timely given recent regulatory changes to the groundwater permitting process in Montana. The state used to exempt all small wells (less than 10 acre feet per year and 35 gallons per minute) from the water rights permitting process. Between 1993 and 2014, this exemption included multiple small wells that were part of the same development but were not physically piped together, creating a loophole that was regularly exploited by developers of subdivisions to avoid the permitting process. Between 2000 and 2008, nearly 30,000 of these exempt wells were drilled in Montana. In October 2014, however, the Montana First Judicial District Court decided that the exemption did not apply to multiple wells serving the same development, even if they are not physically connected. New multiple-well developments must now undergo the permitting process and obtain mitigation water rights. This change is a positive step towards sustainable water use, but may place a significant burden on both new water users and Montana’s Department of Natural Resources and Conservation to process an increase permit load.
Our group project has the potential to optimize the opportunity created by this change in groundwater management to sustainably balance all water needs, including environmental, agricultural, and municipal uses. A water exchange will streamline the permitting process under a cap on water withdrawals. New groundwater users (such as real estate developers or the City of Bozeman) could avoid the arduous process of finding an existing senior water right and repurposing it as mitigation water, and could instead obtain mitigation water by simply purchasing credits directly from the water exchange. Most importantly, the water exchange will demonstrate to other western States that a cap on groundwater withdrawals can protect instream flows and senior water right users without impeding future development. Without the exchange to act as an intermediary in the water permitting process, Montana runs the risk of losing its cap on water withdrawals to development pressure, which would harm instream flows and senior agricultural rights. |
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