Bill Number: OK51RHB 1425 Filed: 01-19-2007
Author: Turner
STATE OF OKLAHOMA
1 1st Session of the 51st Legislature (2007)
2 HOUSE BILL 1425 By: Turner
3 AS INTRODUCED
4 An Act relating to waters and water rights;
5 establishing a priority of claims for groundwater;
6 providing for loss of priority claim unless
7 groundwater is actually used within certain time
8 period; specifying time period; limiting claim to
9 amount of groundwater used; providing for extension
10 of time; requiring submission of an application;
11 specifying content of application; providing for
12 priority of claim based on usage; listing priority
13 order of usage; making amount taken by claim subject
14 to certain yield; providing for loss of priority
15 claim unless groundwater is actually used within
16 certain time period; requiring the Attorney General
17 to bring suit to determine existing water rights upon
18 certain determination; allowing suits by certain
19 private parties; providing for notice of suit;
20 requiring the court to make certain findings;
21 amending 82 O.S. 2001, Sections 1020.7 and 1020.9, as
22 amended by Section 3, Chapter 365, O.S.L. 2003 (82
23 O.S. Supp. 2006, Section 1020.9), which relate to the
24 Oklahoma Groundwater Law; modifying application
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1 process to occur after adjudication of existing water
2 rights; updating statutory language; adding certain
3 finding to permit application process; providing for
4 codification; and providing an effective date.
5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
6 SECTION 1. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
7 in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 1020.3a of Title 82, unless
8 there is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
9 A. Priority of claims for the appropriation of groundwater
10 shall be determined by priority in use and time. All claims based
11 on actual taking of groundwater for beneficial use, prior to the
12 effective date of this act shall relate back to the date of placing
13 groundwater to beneficial use and all claims for the beneficial use,
14 of groundwater initiated after the effective date of this act shall
15 relate back to the filing of an application with the Board.
16 B. The priority of claim to appropriate groundwater based on
17 the actual taking and placing of groundwater to beneficial use,
18 prior to the effective date of this act, as provided for in this
19 section, shall be lost unless groundwater is actually taken and
20 placed to beneficial use within five (5) years for the effective
21 date of this act, provided that:
22 1. Within two (2) years after filing an application with the
23 Board, the applicant has begun construction of the works to put the
24 water applied for to beneficial use;
25 2. Within three (3) years after filing of the application,
26 the applicant has put twenty-five percent (25%) or more of the water
27 applied for to beneficial use;
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1 3. Within four (4) years after filing of the application, the
2 applicant has put seventy-five percent (75%) or more of the water
3 applied for to beneficial use; and
4 4. Within five (5) years after filing of the application, the
5 applicant has put one hundred percent (100%) of the water applied
6 for to beneficial use.
7 C. Where the amount of groundwater actually taken and placed
8 to beneficial use within five (5) years after the effective date of
9 this act is less than the amount of groundwater claimed by virtue of
10 the prior taking, then the claim shall be effective only for that
11 amount of groundwater actually taken and placed into beneficial use.
12 D. For good cause shown, such as engineering difficulty or
13 for any other valid reason over which the applicant has not control,
14 the Board may extend the time for construction an additional two (2)
15 years beyond the five year period.
16 SECTION 2. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
17 in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 1020.3b of Title 82, unless
18 there is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
19 A. In order to establish priority of a claim to appropriate
20 groundwater in a groundwater basin or subbasin in which there has
21 been no court adjudication of existing rights to appropriate
22 groundwater, an application shall be submitted to the Oklahoma Water
23 Resources Board on forms approved by the Board. The applications
24 shall include:
25 1. A legal description;
26 2. The use for which the groundwater is to be taken;
27 3. The amount of groundwater to be taken; and
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1 4. Any other information as may be required by the Board.
2 B. The Board shall first establish the priority of claims
3 based on the time the claim is made as provided for in Section 1 of
4 this act. After establishing the priority of a claim based on time,
5 the Board shall also establish priority based on the use of the
6 water in the following order:
7 1. Domestic use;
8 2. Agricultural stability;
9 3. Municipal use;
10 4. Health and welfare of the state; and
11 5. Industrial uses.
12 C. The amount of groundwater to be taken by a priority claim,
13 as established by the Board pursuant to this section, shall be
14 subject to a determination of the maximum annual yield of the basin
15 or subbasin.
16 D. The priority of claim to appropriate groundwater as
17 provided for in this section shall be lost unless groundwater is
18 actually taken and placed into beneficial use within five (5) years
19 from the filing of the application, and the amounts actually taken
20 and placed into beneficial use is equal to the amounts as provided
21 for in Section 1 of this act.
22 SECTION 3. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
23 in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 1020.6a of Title 82, unless
24 there is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
25 A. Upon a determination of the maximum annual yield of
26 groundwater to be produced from a groundwater basin or subbasin, the
27 Board shall deliver a copy of the order to the Attorney General who
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1 shall within sixty (60) days enter suit on behalf of the state for
2 the determination of all existing right to the use of the water in
3 the District Court of the county in which the groundwater basin or
4 subbasin is located.
5 B. Suits for the adjudication of groundwater rights may be
6 commenced by private parties with an interest in the use of the
7 groundwater.
8 C. When a suit for the determination of right to use
9 groundwater is commenced as provided for in this section, the court
10 shall direct that notice be given by publication in the county or
11 counties in which the groundwater basin is located in a newspaper or
12 newspapers qualified to publish legal notices and by mailing notices
13 by registered mail to all persons known to be using groundwater for
14 other than domestic purposes, to all persons who have filed
15 applications with the Board pursuant to Section 2 of this act, and
16 to all municipalities within a radius of twenty-five (25) miles of
17 the groundwater basin or subbasin.
18 D. At the hearing, the court shall hear evidence and make
19 findings which shall be entered as a decree as to the following:
20 1. The annual maximum yield of the groundwater basin or
21 subbasin;
22 2. The priority of existing claims to appropriate water from
23 the basin or subbasin;
24 3. The amount of water allocated for each claim; and
25 4. Any other matters necessary to adjudicate the existing
26 rights of all claims to the groundwater basin or subbasin.
27 SECTION 4. AMENDATORY 82 O.S. 2001, Section 1020.7, is
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1 amended to read as follows:
2 Section 1020.7 A. After adjudication of existing rights in
3 a groundwater basin or subbasin is completed, the remaining
4 groundwater subject to appropriation, if any, may be taken only
5 after making application and securing a permit from the Board.
6 B. Any person intending to use groundwater shall make
7 application to the Board for an appropriate permit as provided in
8 Section 1020.11 of this title before commencing any drilling [for
9 such purposes] and before taking water from any completed well
10 [heretofore drilled]. [Such] The application to take and use
11 groundwater shall be on a form provided by the Board and pursuant to
12 the rules [and regulations] established by the Board. The
13 application [heretofore] filed with the Board shall be used in
14 granting permits for existing wells, and the Board shall publish
15 the notice of the hearing [thereon] on the application.
16 SECTION 5. AMENDATORY 82 O.S. 2001, Section 1020.9, as
17 amended by Section 3, Chapter 365, O.S.L. 2003 (82 O.S. Supp. 2006,
18 Section 1020.9), is amended to read as follows:
19 Section 1020.9 A. 1. Before the Oklahoma Water Resources
20 Board takes final action on an application, the Board shall
21 determine from the evidence presented, from the hydrologic surveys
22 or reports and from other relevant data available to the Board and
23 applicant, whether:
24 a. the lands owned or leased by the applicant overlie a
25 fresh groundwater basin or subbasin,
26 b. the use to which the applicant intends to put the
27 water is a beneficial use,
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1 c. waste as specified by Section 1020.15 of this title
2 will occur, [and]
3 d. the proposed use is likely to degrade or interfere
4 with springs or streams emanating in whole or in part from water
5 originating from a sensitive sole source groundwater basin or
6 subbasin as defined in Section [1] 1020.9A of this [act] title,
7 and
8 e. there is remaining groundwater after appropriation
9 of prior claims.
10 2. The Board shall approve the application by issuing a
11 regular permit, if the Board finds that:
12 a. the lands owned or leased by the applicant overlie the
13 fresh groundwater basin or subbasin,
14 b. the use to which the applicant intends to put the
15 water is a beneficial use,
16 c. waste specified by Section 1020.15 of this title will
17 not occur. When determining whether waste will occur pursuant to
18 this subparagraph, if the activity for which the applicant intends
19 to use the water is required to comply with rules and requirements
20 of or is within the jurisdictional areas of environmental
21 responsibility of the Department of Environmental Quality or the
22 [State] Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food, and Forestry,
23 the Board shall be precluded from making a determination whether
24 waste by pollution pursuant to paragraph 7 of subsection A of
25 Section 1020.15 of this title will occur as a result of such
26 activity. Each groundwater protection agency, as such term is
27 defined by Section 1-1-201 of Title 27A of the Oklahoma Statutes,
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1 shall be responsible for developing and enforcing groundwater
2 protection practices to prevent groundwater contamination from
3 activities within their respective jurisdictional areas of
4 environmental responsibility, [and]
5 d. the proposed use is not likely to degrade or interfere
6 with springs or streams emanating in whole or in part from water
7 originating from a sensitive sole source groundwater basin as
8 defined in Section [1] 1020.9A of this [act] title, and
9 e. there is remaining groundwater after appropriation
10 of prior claims.
11 B. Except as otherwise provided in subsection C of this
12 section, a regular permit shall allocate to the applicant, after
13 appropriation of prior claims, the proportionate part of the
14 remaining maximum annual yield of the basin or subbasin. The
15 proportionate part shall be that percentage of the total annual
16 yield of the basin or subbasin, previously determined to be the
17 maximum annual yield as provided in Section 1020.5 of this title,
18 which is equal to the percentage of the land overlying the fresh
19 groundwater basin or subbasin which the applicant owns or leases and
20 which is dedicated to the application.
21 C. If the lands dedicated to the application overlie two or
22 more groundwater basins and both basins have had maximum annual
23 yields determined, the amount to be authorized by the regular permit
24 shall be calculated on the basin having the greatest maximum annual
25 yield. If the lands dedicated to the application overlie two or
26 more groundwater basins or subbasins and the maximum annual yield
27 has been determined for at least one but not all the basins or
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1 subbasins, a temporary permit may be issued to the applicant if the
2 applicant demonstrates by substantial competent evidence that the
3 water to be withdrawn by the temporary permit will not be taken from
4 a basin or subbasin for which the maximum annual yield has been
5 determined. If the land overlies two or more groundwater basins or
6 subbasins and the maximum annual yield has not been determined for
7 any of the basins or subbasins, more than one temporary permit may
8 be issued for the land if the applicant demonstrates by substantial
9 competent evidence from which basin the water will be withdrawn for
10 each of the permits.
11 D. The permit shall specify the location of the permitted
12 well or wells and other terms and conditions as specified by the
13 Board, including, but not limited to, the rate of withdrawal, the
14 level of perforating and the level of sealing the well. A regular
15 permit shall not be granted for less than the remaining life of the
16 basin or subbasin as previously determined by the Board.
17 SECTION 6. This act shall become effective November 1, 2007.
18 51-1-5387 KB 01/11/07
19 Page 1
20 Req. No. 5387
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