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Committee debates compromise bill to clarify "exempt well" rules for small developments
Summary
Senator Carl Glimm presented Senate Bill 436, which would clarify the definition of "combined appropriation" and preserve sideboards on exempt wells while adding an acreage‑based allocation metric intended to enable small, rural residential development.
Senator Carl Glimm opened testimony on Senate Bill 436, a bill that would revise how Montana treats exempt wells and would add a statutory definition of "combined appropriation." Glimm described the proposal as a pragmatic compromise intended to allow small residential and rural development to proceed while retaining limitations that prevent large‑scale diversion from exempt wells.
Nut graf: Supporters — including builders, realtors and county representatives — said the bill provides needed certainty for small developers and homeowners after court rulings constrained exempt well use; opponents said the bill could perpetuate cumulative impacts by continuing a class of appropriations without robust monitoring, enforcement or notice to other water users.
Key provisions described by the sponsor include a definition of combined appropriation that covers multiple developments drawing…
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