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Belgrade says DNRC water-rights change application stalled, cites burdensome pre-application requirements
Summary
City staff told council two DNRC pre-applications were deemed insufficient and that the pre-application process is time-consuming and costly; staff estimate about $206,000 spent so far and cautioned the process requires extensive historic-use data.
City staff told the Belgrade City Council that the city's water-rights change application with the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC) has been slowed by repeated "insufficient" rulings at the pre-application stage.
Camry Iulia, director of public works, said the change application seeks to update the city's place of use to reflect growth and to attach existing water rights to newly completed wells (Wells 8 and 9 and proposed Well 10). She said two pre-applications submitted Dec. 29 were returned as insufficient, largely because DNRC requested historic-use information dating back to 1928. "Most of their comments have centered around historic use data," Iulia said, adding that the city's supporting materials total about 508 pages and that the DNRC guidance document is roughly 374 pages.
Iulia said the city has spent roughly $206,000 so far on the change application (about $162,000 for engineering and $44,000 for legal work) and that the process is structured around agricultural-water use, which staff say makes municipal submissions complex. She also described House Bill 114 (2023) as intended to streamline change applications but said the pre-application stage has, in practice, "front-loaded" the work and the risk.
If DNRC deems a pre-application sufficient, Iulia said the next stage is a technical analysis with a 45-day statutory timeline; the city opted to have DNRC perform that analysis rather than a consultant, to avoid opening the analysis to challenge. Council members expressed frustration with inconsistent agency feedback and said staff will continue to coordinate with state representatives and the League of Cities and Towns to seek clarifications or legislative changes.
The council received the update; no formal action was taken at the workshop.
