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Senate committee approves revised adjudication rules for water-right claims
Summary
The Idaho Senate Resources and Environment Committee approved updated adjudication rules (docket 3703012401) that streamline claim filing, fee calculations and online filing requirements, reductions the department said cut wordage and restrictive language.
The Idaho Senate Resources and Environment Committee approved updated adjudication rules governing notices of claim to water rights on a voice vote after a department presentation and minimal committee discussion.
Eric Boe, Water Compliance Bureau Chief and Rules Regulation Officer for the Department of Water Resources, told the committee the rules “set the minimum requirements for completing a notice of claim to a water right established under state law and establish clear criteria for calculating claim filing fees, refunding fees and rejecting incomplete claims.” He asked the committee for support of rule docket 3703012401.
The department said the rulemaking consolidated and clarified language, removed unnecessary definitions, added definitions for “public entity” and “public purpose” to clarify fees for public-purpose claims, and updated references to the department’s online claim-filing system. Boe told the committee the pending rule reduced the chapter’s word count by 831 words (a 17% reduction) and reduced restrictive word count by 79 words (a 65% reduction).
Committee questions were limited. Senator Phil Hart, the vice chair presiding, asked whether the rules’ legal descriptions tied to U.S. Geological Survey township-range-section (PLS) designations; Boe said the rules were adjusted to match the department’s water appropriation rules and PLS descriptions. Craig Saxton, the department’s Water Allocations Bureau Chief and subject-matter expert, explained that an aquaculture fee referenced in the chapter was removed from the general definitions and addressed later in the rule text because it was referenced only once or twice.
Senator Harris moved to accept docket 3703012401; Senator Taylor seconded. The committee approved the pending adjudication rules by voice vote with no recorded opposition.
The department published the proposed adjudication rules on Oct. 2, 2024, received one oral and 10 written comments during the negotiated rule-making process, and submitted the pending rules unchanged on Dec. 4, 2024.
