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Committee hears bill to extend water‑reservation perfection deadlines for municipalities (SB 357)
Summary
SB 357 would extend deadlines for municipalities and districts to perfect reserved water rights in the Missouri River basin above Fort Peck. City officials and water stakeholders told the committee the extension is needed to protect investments and allow municipalities time to bring rights to beneficial use.
Senator Wiley Galt opened the hearing on Senate Bill 357 as a measure to extend perfection deadlines for existing water reservations held for future municipal and conservation uses.
"This bill is just moving back a sunset," Galt said, asking the committee to give stakeholders additional time to perfect water rights in the face of permitting, technical and financial hurdles.
City officials and water interests told the committee that the reservations were granted to secure future municipal supply but that the law’s perfection deadline—set by an earlier board order for some reservations at Dec. 31, 2025—risks lapsing before the cities can complete technical work, testing and permitting.
Ryan Leland, public works…
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