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Senate bill would restore temporary water-leasing tool with negotiated protections
Summary
Sen. Sue Vinton presented SB 178 to restore a temporary water-lease mechanism that expired; proponents and opponents described negotiated amendments intended to protect senior water rights while allowing short-term leases for conservation, agriculture and local projects.
Senator Sue Vinton opened the hearing on Senate Bill 178, which updates Montanas code to restore a temporary water-leasing tool that had previously lapsed. "Given the limitations in quantity and duration these temporary uses do not interfere with other water users," Vinton said, summarizing the bills intent to allow water-right holders to offer water for short-term uses without compromising underlying historical rights.
Stakeholders described a package of negotiated amendments intended to protect senior water-right holders while making the program usable. Clayton Elliott of Montana Trout Unlimited said he 'reluctantly' rose as an opponent only to request amendments; after the committee distributed an amendment packet he said the changes addressed timing, notice and expansion-of-use concerns and that with those edits his organization would support the bill.
Opponents and interested parties raised two main concerns: notice/objection procedures for senior water-right holders, and the departments authority to impose conditions to avoid adverse effects. Abby Brown, water attorney for Shields Valley Land and Cattle LLC, said that as drafted the bill lacked an adequate opportunity for senior holders to receive notice and object; she and others said the proposed amendments would likely resolve those concerns. Marcus Strange of the Property and Environment Research Center and Mike Murphy of the Montana Water Resources Association expressed similar themes: support for the concept, but need for clear notice and objection procedures.
DNRC water resources staff (Anna Pakenham Stevenson) and MBMG data were present as informational witnesses; Pakenham Stevenson told the committee the department participated in amendment negotiations and emphasized that the amended drafting was intended to produce an implementable tool. Committee members asked about the history: Elliott noted a temporary leasing provision first passed in 2013 (House Bill 37), and that a prior short-term statutory authority for road/dust uses dated to 2001.
Senator Vinton closed by saying she supports the negotiated amendments and urged the committee to consider them when moving the bill.
