Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Water Rights topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
State Engineer's Office: change applications noted; closed basins require 2 acre‑foot relinquishment for new lots
Summary
Curtis of the State Engineer's Office reviewed change applications including Meadow Valley Ranchos and noted that in closed basins creating a new lot requires relinquishing 2 acre‑feet of water rights; commissioners discussed past relinquishments and asked for price data in future reports.
Curtis, representing the State Engineer's Office, told the commission the closest entry in the year's report was Meadow Valley Ranchos and characterized it as a change application rather than new appropriations of water.
He explained that in closed basins, creating a new lot often requires relinquishing 2 acre‑feet of water rights in good standing to offset a domestic well. "It's in a closed basin. And so in certain basins to create a new lot, you have to relinquish 2 acre feet of rights in good standing, to offset for that domestic well," Curtis said.
Commissioners discussed the cost and implications of relinquishment; one commissioner mentioned seeing figures around $20,000 to buy water rights and asked Curtis to include price information where known in future updates. Curtis agreed to add any available price information and to follow up on bills related to water policy that the commission requested he track.
