Senator seeks temporary protection for tributary districts until groundwater administration established

Sen. Jim Guthrie presented RS32249, a measure intended to prevent curtailment of surface water rights in tributary districts until groundwater in those same districts is administratively managed under the same rules.

Guthrie said the bill responds to recent conjunctive-management arrangements on the East Snake Plain (Water District 1) that excluded tributary districts; those tributary districts have experienced curtailment of surface water while groundwater remains not administratively managed. "As a surface water user in a tributary district, I have no relief options because I can't exercise the same right that surface water users had in the Snake Plains," Guthrie said. He said the bill would bar calls for curtailment in tributary districts "until both surface and groundwater are administrated the same and fairly."

A motion to send RS32249 to print was made and approved by the committee. No roll-call vote or fiscal details were recorded in the transcript; committee members did not record amendments during the presentation.