U.S. Water News Online
HELENA -- Montana's new law to help hire additional water-rights examiners and speed the settlement of water claims is valid, Attorney General Mike McGrath said in an opinion the governor requested.
Gov. Brian Schweitzer and Greg Petesch, head of the Legislature's legal staff, had disagreed on the validity of the law.
It demands fees from thousands of farmers, irrigation districts, businesses and other entities holding water rights, with the money going for additional state personnel. The goal: Process claims to water from Montana streams much faster, possibly in a 10-year instead of a 30-year span.
The 2005 Legislature said the new fees would become void if lawmakers did not commit at least $2 million, from other sources, to the water-rights process.
Petesch concluded lawmakers did not supply enough money, because dollars were not provided in a single appropriation. McGrath said the law allows the $2 million to be calculated by adding up multiple appropriations.
His opinion carries the weight of law, but can be challenged in court.
While the opinion was pending, the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation went ahead and hired several dozen people to examine water claims.
"We continued all along with the understanding that the law would be found valid or we would find some sort of legislative solutions," DNRC Director Mary Sexton said.
Sexton said the hiring of about 35 people is almost complete and she hopes to have most on board in early July. They will receive two weeks of training and likely will start examining claims in late July, the director said. Presently only three to five people examine water claims, Sexton said.
About 25 of the newly hired will work in Helena and the others in DNRC regional offices, she said. Job notices were circulated throughout the Northwest and drew a strong response, with many of the applicants bringing university or technical-school backgrounds, Sexton said. The upcoming training will include instruction in database work.
Sexton said that without the new staff, the projected time to settle all water claims was 30 years. Now she hopes the work can be done within 10 years.
The Montana Constitution written in 1972 requires a system for adjudicating all claims to water. Of the 220,000 claims filed over the years, 57,000 remain unexamined.
The new law stands to impose fees on about 113,000 holders of water rights. The biennial fees likely will range from $20 to $2,000, depending on the amount of water involved.
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