With continued development of farmland into residential subdivisions, the demand on a precious resource-water-in the arid West has farmers and developers “vying for control of water supplies that have emerged as one of the region’s most coveted natural resources [.]” according Matthew Brown’s reporting for the Associated Press.On Tuesday another struggle emerged between the two groups as “five Montana ranch owners filed a petition Tuesday with the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC), charging the state’s water rules were stacked against them.”
Under current state law in Montana water rights are given by precedence to “the ‘senior’ right of farms and ranches.” Yet, current rules give exemptions from the state water laws when it comes to small wells “used by each house within larger subdivisions [.]” This exemption essentially means hundreds of homes can be developed within one larger subdivision without water permits. The fear is what this extra demand will do to the water source, an underground aquifer.
“Rancher Polly Rex characterized the exemption as a loophole that could ultimately rob her of the means to grow hay and water her livestock. Rex said a subdivision of more than 60 homes going up next to her Absarokee ranch could eventually draw down the natural springs she uses on an adjacent 1,250-acre field."I just really don't think I should change how I do our business because of somebody else," said Rex, whose water rights date to the late 1800s. "We simply cannot hand out water rights in thin air. It's a dumb way to doJohn Grassy, the DNRC spokesman, said attorneys for the agency are reviewing the ranchers’ legal petition as ‘“[t]he petition raises issues of statewide significance.”’ A previous 2006 Gallatin County Commission petition that is similar to this petition was rejected. That petition was rejected because “the county would have ‘completely halted development’ across large areas of the state where all water rights already have been allocated.”
business."’
The subdivision versus farmland issue has been present in Montana since at least 2000 as 30,000 exempt wells were drilled over an eight year period to serve the growing suburbs of Montana’s biggest cities. The exemption was put in place in 1993. The ranchers want this changed “so that two or more wells drawing from the same source would need a permit.”
Developers view the other option for water allocation as “a process that’s too burdensome to be viable [.]” This is why Dustin Stewart and the Montana Building Industry Association views “[p]rotecting Montana’s ability to use individual water wells and build homes in a rural area is something we are willing to fight for.”
We shall have to wait and see how this water rights struggle plays out.
To read the Associated Press article click here.
Posted: 12/04/09
