The Ways and Means Natural Resources Subcommittee on June 17 recommended a package of funding and policy changes for the Water Resources Department (WRD), reporting out Senate Bill 5543 (the department’s budget) and related measures that together aim to reduce backlogs and speed permitting while increasing fee revenue. The subcommittee recommended amendments and reported SB 5543 due pass as amended.

Key elements read into the record included a recommended WRD budget of roughly $245 million total funds, supporting about 245 positions, and several policy packages totaling about $12 million (including nearly $10 million general fund) to restore staff for water-right transaction processing, maintain dam safety services, provide legal services and carry forward grant funding for water-supply projects. The department will continue work on American Rescue Plan Act funded projects and restore services related to water-right transactions and dam safety.

To address chronic revenue shortfalls in permit-processing functions, the subcommittee also advanced fee increases in companion bills: House Bill 2803 raises most water-right transaction fees by about 50% and dam-safety fees by 56–58%, producing roughly $1.4 million in other funds revenue for transaction processing and dam safety; HB 2808 raises well construction, licensing and examination fees (including a 40% start-card fee increase), with projected revenue of about $920,000 in other funds during the biennium. The committee included an additional $1.3 million general-fund appropriation in SB 5543 to cover an estimated water-right transaction shortfall and to restore positions the department had identified for abolition.

Process reforms to speed contested-case hearings were advanced in House Bill 3544, which directs WRD and the Water Resources Commission to adopt uniform contested-case timelines and procedural standards, including a 180-day hearing timeline, remote participation allowances, administrative‑law judge settlement authority, and consistent party‑status timelines; the bill funds a position to help implement these changes. Supporters said these process improvements, combined with modest staffing and technology investments, should reduce the department’s backlog of contested cases and shorten permit timelines. Representative Owens said the combined approach "should start to make a dent in the 200-plus backlog of contested cases that are there."

Opponents and skeptical members warned about fee impacts. Representative Breeze Iverson and others said a 50% fee increase will be difficult for farmers and ranchers struggling through drought years and business pressures. Representative Owens said the alternative to the fee increase would be service erosion and longer delays: without new fee revenue and the general‑fund infusion, he argued the department would likely lose several FTEs and processing times would lengthen. Members asked broader questions about whether the post‑2009 fee/general‑fund split remains appropriate and whether natural-resource agencies receive adequate general‑fund support overall.

The subcommittee reported the budget and the companion fee and process bills out "due pass as amended." Votes were recorded as motions passing in the work session transcript; the chair declared the motions passed after discussion. Specific roll-call tallies for those motions were not captured in the excerpt.

Next steps: The bills move to full Ways and Means consideration. The department and Legislative Fiscal Office were asked to provide follow-up on expected service levels, the number of positions restored, and projected workload improvements against the fee increases and general-fund additions.