Monday, October 23, 2017

Online Protest Form

As part of the administrative process for water right applications, the Division of Water Rights publishes notice of the application and gives a 20-day protest period. Any interested party may file a protest on an application during the protest period. Previously, the protests had to be submitted in hard copy via mail or hand-delivery, along with a check for the protest fee.

The Division of Water Rights now allows for protests to be submitted online. Additionally, the protest fee can be paid online using a credit card. The portal for filing protests is located here on the Division's website.

A few items to keep in mind with respect to submitting protests online:
--The online form must be filled out completely and correctly for the protest to be acceptable.
--The protest is not deemed complete until the protest fee has been paid.
--You cannot attach any documents to the online protest. Accordingly, if you have supporting documents to submit with the protest, you must email or mail the documents to the Division and reference the protest number so that the documents can be attached to the protest submitted online.

Monday, October 2, 2017

20-Year Review of the Bear River Compact

The Bear River Compact is an agreement between Utah, Idaho, and Wyoming that governs the distribution and use of water from the Bear River. The Compact was originally signed into law in 1958. The Compact provides that at least every 20 years, the Compact should be reviewed by the Bear River Commission, which is an administrative agency created by the Compact that includes Commissioners from each of the three states.

In April 2017, the Commission officially initiated its 20-Year Review of the Compact. As part of this process, the Commission has scheduled a series of public meetings around the Bear River Basin in order to receive comments from the public regarding the Compact. A schedule of these public meetings is included below.

Additionally, written comments can be submitted to the Commission, but must be received by the Commission before 5:00 pm on December 4, 2017. Comments may be sent by email to review@bearrivercommission.org or by mail to Bear River Commission, RE: 20-Year Compact Review, 106 West 500 South, Suite 101, Bountiful, UT 84010.

For more information about the 20-Year Review, please visit the Bear River Commission's website by clicking here.