Big Plains Water SSD approves permanent change and segregation of water rights to preserve municipal supply

The Big Plains Water Special Service District on March 12, 2025, voted to approve an application to permanently change and segregate water rights and ratified the chairman's signature, a move officials said is intended to prevent forfeiture of municipal water rights and to add points of diversion nearer to active wells.

Board members said the action covers a package of previously overlooked water rights that were not placed into the municipality and therefore risked forfeiture under the statute requiring periodic proof of use. The application discussed at the meeting included an initial parcel described in the record as one acre-foot, then expanded to include additional acre-feet grouped for the change and segregation process. The board approved the motion and recorded an aye vote; the motion carried.

Why it matters: Board members said many of the district's water rights, including rights acquired from a prior owner, had not been formally placed in the municipality. Under the six-year statutory use-provision discussed in the meeting, water rights not shown to be in active municipal use can be lost. District staff and board members said they will spend money to correct records and change points of diversion so the rights can be put to practical use, including adding a point of diversion at a property associated with a local well operator referenced in the meeting as Travis.

At the meeting the board described the action as primarily administrative: changing the legal points of diversion for a suite of water rights, segregating a portion from an existing application, and filing the paperwork to ensure municipal ownership. Staff identified that roughly half to three-quarters of the district's older permits were not previously put into the municipality, and that some points of diversion were located away from the district's active infrastructure. Board members said the change will group those rights so they can be diverted where water can be used.

The transcript records inconsistent application numbers in places; the item was discussed as an application to permanently change a water right with a segregation request tied to change application A26140C. The primary permanent-change application number appeared in the record in two different forms (A52732 and 852732). The district packet or clerk's office should be consulted to confirm the exact application number for the public record.

In related routine business the board approved the January 2025 water-usage comparisons (described in the record as "water adhesive comparisons") as part of the consent agenda and approved minutes from a prior meeting. Each consent item passed by voice vote; the meeting then adjourned.

The board discussed that correcting the municipal status of the water rights will require expenditure on filings and administrative work. District staff named Ben, Jen and Margaret as participants in the record who are handling the paperwork and coordination with state water authorities. Board members emphasized the intention to "do everything right" to preserve the water rights. No opposition or formal amendments were recorded in the transcript.