A concurrence committee reviewing Senate File 43 agreed by voice vote to keep an amendment requiring that, after expiration of a temporary transfer of an irrigation water right, at least 50% of the water be returned to its adjudicated or permitted purpose before becoming eligible for another temporary transfer, and to delete separate language referencing in‑stream flows.

The change was presented as a compromise to protect irrigators while addressing concerns raised on the House side. Committee members and stakeholders said the retained language would reduce the risk that irrigated land would be left dry after repeated temporary transfers.

Senator Steinmetz, who has worked on water bills in Select Water and Agriculture committees, said the retained amendment addresses renewal practices that risk abandonment. “Under current Wyoming water law, if they're not running that water back on their land after 5 years, they're subject to abandonment anyway,” Steinmetz said. He described the bill as intended to clarify how temporary transfers interact with the five‑year abandonment rule and the state engineer’s authority.

Stakeholders representing ranchers urged the committee to keep the “put back to use” requirement. A visitor supporting the bill said the requirement was “critical to our support for the bill” because water rights are tied to a specific purpose and should be made available to others if not used as granted.

Opposition to the in‑stream flow language focused on statutory limits: committee members and supporters said only the state may hold in‑stream flow permits and that inserting in‑stream flow language into a temporary use statute would create confusion. A committee member summarized the concern by saying an in‑stream flow permit is not a temporary water use and should not be treated as one.

Committee discussion also addressed how the state engineer and the Board of Control administer nonuse and temporary authorizations. Members noted that questions about specific enforcement or discretionary decisions rest with the state engineer’s office.

As a next step, the committee chair directed staff to prepare a formal draft combining the agreed changes; the draft will be circulated for signatures and proceed through the formal concurrence process. The committee took a voice vote on the revisions; Senator Hein vocalized “Aye” and other members indicated agreement by nodding. The chair said staff from LSO will prepare the signature page and the senate chair will direct staff on the committee’s decision.

The committee’s action keeps the top amendment (page 3, line 4) requiring return of at least 50% to the adjudicated purpose and deletes the second amendment (page 2, line 17) that mentioned in‑stream flows.