How to file a water‑user claim and where to find water‑right records online

At the public meeting Assistant State Engineer Chase McDonald walked attendees through how to obtain, complete and file water‑user claims and how to find scanned water‑right files and mapping on the division’s website. He demonstrated the Division of Water Rights website (waterrights.utah.gov), the map search tool, and the proposed determination (PD) book manager that lists adjudication subdivisions and tracks claim status.

Key filing points from the presentation: • Prefilled claims: the division will mail prefilled water‑user claims to owners of record for water rights in its files. McDonald advised claimants to read and, if necessary, correct the prefilled form before signing because a signed claim is the claimant’s assertion of the claimed attributes. • Blank claims: property owners who are not on the division’s records will receive blank claim forms and must complete them if they assert a pre‑statutory right. • Filing methods: claimants may file by mailing a signed claim to the division, emailing scanned signed claims to waterrights_adjudication@utah.gov, hand delivering to any Division of Water Rights office (closest Salt Lake City office), or filing at help sessions where staff will assist, print and accept signed claims. • Deadlines and extensions: the July 10 notice starts a 90‑day claim period; a single 30‑day extension is available if requested in writing within that 90‑day window. • Online records: the division’s water‑right detail pages include points of diversion, beneficial uses, scans of every filed document (scan documents tab), and an adjudication banner when a water right is in an active adjudication. McDonald showed how to turn on subdivision boundary layers and click point‑of‑diversion icons to display water‑right numbers and file scans.

Practical guidance offered: update title with the division if ownership has changed (a report of conveyance updates water‑right ownership on division records); contact division staff for help completing claims; and include contact information on claims to aid scheduling of field reviews. McDonald reiterated that filing a claim with the division is the common and recommended method because the division will file the claim with the court on the claimant’s behalf.