The 2025 general session of the Utah Legislature begins next week. Below are summaries (written by the water attorneys at Smith Hartvigsen) of the water-related bills that have been released so far. As the session goes along, additional water bills will certainly be added.
HB 41 – State Water Policy
Rep. Carl R. Albrecht
House Bill 41 seeks to amend Utah Code section 73-1-21,
which enunciates water policy for the State of Utah. This bill came out of the
Legislative Water Development Commission and will likely have widespread
support. It adds promotion of the quality of groundwater, in addition to lakes
and rivers already listed. It also adds “the monitoring of activities in
watersheds that provide water to drinking water systems to protect the
watersheds”; the promotion of “state water planning, including the formation of
the state water plan as provided in Section 73-10-15”; and “water reuse
with appropriate conditions for the region in which the water reuse” as water
policy objectives.
All of the additions are laudable and will likely have little opposition. There are two deletions from existing water policy in the bill which may be controversial. The first is the deletion of the “balanc[ing] social, economic, public interest, and environmental” needs or values when considering water pricing and funding mechanisms or the “study and development of strategies and practices necessary to address declining water levels and protect the water quality and quantity of the Great Salt Lake, Utah Lake, and Bear Lake.”
To read the full text of the bill, click here.
HB 45 – Irrigation Amendments
Rep. Rex P. Shipp
House Bill 45 seeks to modify Utah Code section 73-1-8
regarding the duties and liabilities of the owners or operators of irrigation
ditches and canals. While the section already specifies that the owners or
operators of water facilities must exercise “reasonable and ordinary care” in
operating and maintaining those facilities, the bill would clearly assign
liability to the owners or operators of ditches and canals if their failure to
meet that care standard results in the waste of water, property damage, or
injury to others. In addition, if an individual is held liable to a third party
for any waste, damage, or injury directly caused by the failure of an owner or
operator to exercise reasonable and ordinary care in maintaining a ditch or
canal located within a municipality, the bill would allow that individual to
recover the amount for which they are liable from the owner or operator of the
ditch or canal.
To read the full text of the bill, click here.
HB 46 – Water Rights Applications Amendments
Rep. Doug Owens
House Bill 46 seeks to modify Utah Code section 73-3-18 regarding the State Engineer’s process of reinstating lapsed applications. The law currently allows the State Engineer to reinstate a lapsed application within 60 days of the lapsed application upon a showing of reasonable cause but gives no guidance on how a water right owner is to file this request for reinstatement. HB 46 directs the State Engineer to create a reinstatement form that will be used (in conjunction with a request for extension of time) for future requests to reinstate lapsed applications within the 60-day time period. The bill also provides that if an application is reinstated, the priority date will be changed to the date that the request for reinstatement was filed.
To read the full text of the bill, click here.
HB 47 – Public Lands Water Rights Amendments
Rep. Carl R. Albrecht
House Bill 47 seeks to modify Utah Code sections 73-2-14 and 73-3-31 regarding water claims under Public Water Reserve No. 107. In 1926, President Calvin Coolidge created Public Water Reserve Number 107 through an executive order. Public Water Reserve No. 107 reserved land containing water for the federal government for it to manage livestock watering on these lands. The rationale behind Public Water Reserve No. 107 was to promote western settlement and prevent monopolization of scarce water resources on federally managed lands. Public Water Reserve Number 107 created federal reserved water rights that are leased by the federal government to private individuals for grazing. Currently, Utah Code sections 73-2-14 and 73-3-31 do not recognize Public Water Reserve No. 107 separately and instead combine Public Water Reserve No. 107 uses with livestock water use certificates held by public agencies. HB 47 recognizes that Public Water Reserve No. 107 uses are unique and establishes a procedure and guidelines for federal agencies to file information with the Division of Water Rights so that the State Engineer may determine beneficial use for water claims under Public Water Reserve No. 107.
To read the full text of the bill, click here.
HB 81 – Fluoride Amendments
Rep. Stephanie Gricius
House Bill 81 seeks to prohibit public water suppliers from adding fluoride into a public water system.
To read the full text of the bill, click here.
HB 89 – Water Transfer Amendments
Rep. Gay Lynn Bennion
House Bill 89 seeks to modify Utah Code section 75-3-1201 regarding “small estate affidavits.” A small estate affidavit is used when a person has passed away and has personal property (such as furniture, jewelry, money in bank accounts, shares of stock, etc.) that are still in the deceased person’s name. The family of the deceased person can fill out the affidavit and then use the affidavit to have the personal property transferred out of the name of the deceased person and into the name of the successors/heirs. The affidavit cannot be used to transfer title to real property and the affidavit can only be used if the total value of the assets is less than $100,000. In the past, the small estate affidavit has been used in circumstances where a deceased person owned shares of stock in an irrigation company and the successors/heirs are seeking to have the irrigation company re-issue the shares into the name of the successors/heirs. HB 89 would disallow this practice. The bill states that “Shares of stock in a water company . . . are not eligible for transfer” using the small estate affidavit. This means that successors/heirs will be forced to go through the probate process in court in order to get water shares transferred out of the name of a deceased person.
To read the full text of the bill, click here.
HB 174 – Water Rights Restricted Account
Rep. Carl R. Albrecht
House Bill 174 seeks to modify Utah Code section 73-2-1.6 regarding how the Division of Water Rights can utilize funds in the Water Rights Restricted Account. Previously, the law allowed the Division to use funds for legal support related to water right adjudications. HB 174 would allow the Division to use funds for general legal support (i.e., “not limited to geographic areas of adjudication”).
To read the full text of the bill, click here.
HB 243 – Agriculture Water Optimization Amendments
Rep. Casey Snider
House Bill 243 seeks to amend two code sections in the Agricultural Water Optimization Act. The current law requires a 25% match for “a drip or automated surge irrigation project.” This language is amended to clarify that the match is for “(A) a subsurface drip irrigation project; (B) an automated surge irrigation project; or (C) a measurement, telemetry, or reporting project.” The bill would also add a provision that money in the Agricultural Water Optimization Account can be used for research that “establishes methods for measuring saved water or the effectiveness of the agricultural water optimization funding.”
To read the full text of the bill, click here.
HCR 1 – Regarding the Grand County Water Conservancy
District
Rep. Carl R. Albrecht
Resolutions do not have the power of law but show the position and will of the legislature and governor (if not vetoed) on the topic addressed. HCR 1 supports the transfer of water infrastructure and approximately 2,500 acre-feet of water rights from the United States Department of Energy to the Grand County Water Conservancy District. The infrastructure and water rights are currently used in the Moab Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action (UMTRA) Project to remove radioactive uranium mill tailings from a 130-acre tailings pile adjacent to the Colorado River, just north of Moab. The tailings are transported by rail to a remote off-river site near Crescent Junction. These tailings posed a serious threat to the Colorado River. If not removed, a major flood event would wash the tailings into the river and create a catastrophe for the millions of people who rely on the Colorado River below Moab. This federally funded Project, which is nearing completion, began in 2008 and has already removed 14.4 million tons of tailings. Once the Project is complete the water rights and infrastructure will no longer be needed by the Department of Energy and could be used for the benefit of Grand County.
To read the full text of the bill, click here.
SB 33 – Water Right Recording Amendments
Sen. Evan J. Vickers
Senate Bill 33 seeks to revise Utah Code section 57-3-109 regarding water right deed addenda. The law currently requires that the grantor’s signature on the addendum must be an original signature, whereas the grantee’s signature can be “by facsimile or electronic means.” SB 33 would allow for both the grantor’s and grantee’s signatures to be “by facsimile or electronic means.”
To read the full text of the bill, click here.
SB 36 – Water Quality Board Amendments
Sen. Todd D. Weiler
Senate Bill 36 seeks to revise Utah Code section 19-5-104 to establish a process for the Utah Quality Board to review settlement negotiations between the director and a party in alleged violation of the Water Quality Act and to issue a final order establishing a reasonable penalty in ongoing settlement negotiations.
To read the full text of the bill, click here.
SB 80 – Drinking Water Amendments
Sen. Scott D. Sandall
Senate Bill 80 seeks to enact Utah Code section 19-4-116, which would require the Department of Environmental Quality to establish a fee schedule for the regulation of public water systems in the state. The code section would outline the requirements related to the fee schedule, allow DEQ to establish a financial incentive for compliance, provide for the collection and monitoring of fees, and create an exemption for wholesale water suppliers. DEQ would also be required to evaluate other sources of funding to support the regulation of public water systems. Versions of this bill have appeared in every legislative session for the past several years as the Division of Drinking Water works to identify reliable funding mechanisms for its programs.
To read the full text of the bill, click here.
SB 92 – Golf Course Amendments
Sen. Daniel McCay
Senate Bill 92 seeks to authorize the Utah State University Institute of Land, Air, and Water to study the use of water on golf courses in the state. The Institute would identify best practices for water use in Utah relative to golf courses, and then work with golf course owners to “identify strategic water saving opportunities.” The bill also sets up an advisory committee of golf professionals to consult with the Institute. Additionally, the bill would require the Division of State Parks to develop a master plan for state-owned golf courses, which would address water use and conservation. Finally, the bill would classify water data records provided to the Institute as “protected records” under GRAMA.
To read the full text of the bill, click here.
SB 131 – Water Commitment Amendments
Sen. Nate Blouin
Senate Bill 131 seeks to amend Utah Code section 73-10-32 regarding water conservation plans. SB 131 would add a provision that a water conservation plan may include information regarding “the commitment of available water to uses on sovereign lands.” In this context, sovereign lands refers to “those lands lying below the ordinary high water mark of navigable bodies of water at the date of statehood and owned by the state by virtue of its sovereignty.”
To read the full text of the bill, click here.
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