The water bill of the week was SB 263: Revise state ownership of water rights on state lands sponsored by Sen. Becky Beard (R) SD 38 which MFBF has opposed since its first hearing in the Senate. This week SB 263 had its hearing in House Natural Resources.
MFBF, other ag groups, and the Lt. Governor on behalf of the Governor in his role as chairman of the Land Board, still stood in opposition, even though the bill was amended heavily in the Senate. This bill adds water rights to an existing list of things considered to be “improvements” on state land, when in fact, water rights are appurtenant property rights. Improvements on the other hand, are things you can “touch” like fences, water tanks, pipelines and buildings. Treating water rights as an improvement essentially devalues them and confuses the law.
Additionally, the bill seeks to add process for the state to assert ownership on water rights that are on state lands, requiring hearings and Land Board approval before the state asserts ownership claims. It is important to note that in 2019, MFBF, along with other agricultural organizations, crafted HB 286 that limited the state’s ability to obtain ownership on post-1973 water rights associated with school trust lands, to only if a court finds that the state does indeed have a claim. This became necessary when under the previous administration the state added themselves as owners to 141 water rights across the state. HB 286 became law and was successfully defended in court, putting the state and private water right holders back on an even playing field. This was an important win to balance the state’s constitutional responsibility to maximize funds on school trust land and lessee’s private property rights.
Since the enactment of HB 286, the Department of Natural Resources removed their claims of ownership from the 141 water rights identified as being impacted and created a website for comments where private landowner water right owners can raise concerns.
Zero responses have been submitted since the site has been active showing that the current process is functioning well.
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Montana Farm Bureau Federation
