Conferees narrow differences on water budget; approve study language, seek carryover for Bowman radar

Conferees from the House and Senate met April 18 to reconcile differences in House Bill 1020’s water-related budget provisions, agreeing on study language and a request to carry over funds for a delayed Bowman County weather radar project.

The meeting focused on remaining differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill and on several water-program items that conferees said they could resolve with small wording changes. “Thanks, Alex, for doing that,” Chairman Swantek said of staff materials prepared for the meeting.

The discussion covered staffing, capital-asset funding, program-specific studies and carryover requests. Rees Haas, director of the Department of Water Resources (DWR), described the House proposal to allow the department flexibility within the biennium "up to $10,000,000 to shift those cash, to a project that would use it in the in the course of the biennium." Chris Katamus, DWR director of administration, told conferees that a Bowman County weather radar replacement—funded with a one-time appropriation of $1,800,000—will likely be delayed into the 2025–27 biennium and that DWR is asking for authority to carry the funding forward: “that project is most likely gonna be delayed for completion, which means it'll occur in the 20 five-twenty 7 biennium.”

Nut graf: The conferees discussed reconciling numerical differences and language across multiple sections of HB 1020…