Legislators to Begin Discussing Water Policy Bills
A bipartisan legislative committee focused on state water policy will begin discussing next week what legislation it may want to sponsor during the 2011 session.
The Water Policy Interim Committee will meet May 11 at 9 a.m. in Room 152 of the State Capitol in Helena. The public is welcome to attend and will have a chance to comment on the work of the committee. A complete agenda is available on the legislative Web site at www.leg.mt.gov/water.
A subcommittee of the group met in April to discuss changing state law to allow the holder of a water right to market it to other users without specific contracts in place. Under current law, the water right holder must identify how much water would be used, where it would be used, and who would use it.
The subcommittee drafted a proposal that would allow a water right holder to change a water right from its current use, such as irrigation, to marketing for aquifer recharge or mitigation. That water could then be purchased by another user to offset the effects of a new appropriation, such as a community water system for a subdivision. The committee will discuss the proposal at its May 11 meeting.
The committee also is slated to discuss septic systems and water wells that are exempt from permitting.
On the afternoon of May 11, the committee will tour the North Hills area of the Helena Valley to inspect a ground water monitoring site, a controlled ground water area, and a residential development that uses individual wells and septic systems. The sites are all illustrative of the issues the committee has been considering as part of its study of state water policy.
On May 12, the committee is scheduled to continue debate on water marketing and other possible legislation.
With the exception of the North Hills tour, the meeting will be broadcast over the legislative Web site at www.leg.mt.gov and over the state public-access television network TVMT. To find the local TVMT channel, visit www.leg.mt.gov/tvmt.
Members of the Water Policy Interim Committee are Rep. Walt McNutt (chair), R-Sidney; Sen. David Wanzenried (vice chair), D-Missoula; Sen. Debby Barrett, R-Dillon; Rep. Russell Bean, R-Augusta; Sen. Brad Hamlett, D-Cascade; Rep. Bill McChesney, D-Miles City; Sen. Terry Murphy, R-Cardwell; and Rep. JP Pomnichowski, D-Bozeman.
For more information, contact Joe Kolman, committee staff, at 406-444-9280.
