Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Water Leasing topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Bill to reinstate temporary water-leasing returns with negotiated amendments, draws mixed support
Summary
SB 178 would reinstate a temporary water-leasing tool with negotiated amendments to provide flexibility while protecting senior rights; supporters say amendments add appropriate notice and caps, while opponents pushed for stronger prior notice and DNRC review authority.
Senator Sue Vinton introduced Senate Bill 178 as a bipartisan effort to reinstate a temporary statutory tool that allows water-right holders to lease consumptive volumes for short-term uses without endangering senior rights. The sponsor said the revived statute updates a prior program that sunset and was intended to enable conservation, agriculture and business flexibility.
Clayton Elliott of Montana Trout Unlimited described a negotiated package of amendments designed to add notice and objection timelines, limit expansion of use under leases, and make the process more implementable for the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC). Elliott summarized a timeline printed with the amendment packet: an applicant files (day 0), DNRC posts notice (day 10), DNRC determines completeness and evaluates the application by day 30, and the objection window and commencement rules follow.
Opponents raised two recurring concerns: lack of prior notice and the ability for DNRC to independently review and condition leases so senior water-right holders are protected. Keegan Nashan (resident) and Abby Brown (attorney for Shields Valley Land and Cattle LLC) testified that, as drafted, the bill did not provide adequate opportunity for senior rights holders to review leases before approval. Several proponents said the amendment package addresses those gaps and improves public notice and objection mechanics.
DNRC’s water-division administrator, Anna Pakenham Stevenson, and other informational witnesses explained the administration’s role and noted they had been part of amendment negotiations. Committee members asked about the program’s history: witnesses said a similar temporary-lease authority existed in statute as House Bill 37 (2013) and sunset in 2023; the legislation’s proposals borrow protections from earlier statutes and add the notice timeline.
What happens next: the sponsor and proponents urged adoption of the negotiated amendments; committee members asked technical questions about timing, consumptive-use limits and notice mechanics. No final committee action was recorded in the hearing transcript.
