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Committee adopts multiple amendments to SB 358, a water-monitoring and exempt-well bill; final committee vote 9-2
Summary
Senate Bill 358 was amended several times in committee to change monitoring-area rules, reporting requirements and filing timelines for exempt wells. The panel adopted a package of amendments and approved the bill 9-2 after extensive debate over water limits and implementation details.
Senate Bill 358, a multipart bill addressing monitoring areas, exempt-well filing deadlines and related reporting, advanced from the Senate Natural Resources Committee after several amendments and detailed debate over water limits and enforcement.
The committee considered at least a dozen amendments addressing county designations (red/yellow status), maximum acre-feet allocations per lot in monitoring areas, reporting lines to interim legislative committees, and a compliance-assistance and grace-period proposal for 60-2 filings. Sponsors and opponents repeatedly described the bill as a product of working-group negotiations with some provisions the work group did not reach consensus on.
Why it matters: SB 358 modifies how the state monitors new water use in areas where groundwater resources are at risk, changing allowable volumes in some…
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