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Bill to shield names of major agricultural water users draws sharp debate over transparency
Summary
A bill that would remove personal names, mailing addresses and contact information for major agricultural water users from public records drew support from farm groups and opposition from media and environmental advocates who said it would erode sunshine law and hamper drought response.
Representative Dane Deel (District 125) told the House Committee on Conservation and Natural Resources that House Bill 5-45 seeks to protect farmers’ personal information while improving reporting participation for large agricultural water users. The bill would make a filer’s name, mailing address and contact information confidential for major agricultural water users while preserving aggregate and well-location data, according to sponsor remarks in committee.
Deel said the change is intended to increase producer participation in reporting so that regulators and policymakers can get better aggregate data on water use. He told the committee that current reporting exists but that some producers decline to submit data because they do not want personal information publicly available.…
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