# Utah H.B. 47: Public Lands Watering Rights Amendments Utah H.B. 47, Public Lands Watering Rights Amendments, is a 2025 General Session House bill sponsored by Carl R. Albrecht (Republican); status signed, last action 2025-03-19 (Governor Signed) (as of 2026-10-17). - Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-HB47-2025GS - As of: 2026-10-17 - Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts. ## Facts - Bill: Utah H.B. 47 - State: Utah - Session: 2025 General Session - Title: Public Lands Watering Rights Amendments - Status: signed - Chamber: House - Introduced: 2024-12-19 - Last action: 2025-03-19, Governor Signed - Sponsor: Carl R. Albrecht (Republican) - Cosponsors: 1 - Subjects: Livestock, Natural Resources, Public Lands, Water Rights, Agriculture & Food - Touches household money: no - Roll calls: 9 (130 yes, 0 no in all) - Economic provisions PRIA read: 5 ## Summary No summary available. ## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read - Ranchers can preserve water after grazing cuts: benefit, low. Beginning May 7, 2025, livestock water users can seek protection from partial loss of water rights after federal grazing cuts. This applies when a federal agency reduces animal unit months—the allowed amount of livestock grazing—and puts water rights at risk. The beneficial user can file a nonuse a… - Ranchers gain stronger water rights protections: benefit, low. Beginning May 7, 2025, livestock watering rights and Public Water Reserve No. 107 claims attach to the grazing allotment where livestock drink. Beneficial users—those putting the water to livestock use—have access and improvement rights reasonably needed to use and maintain it. Public land agencies… - Historic livestock water claims face limits: mixed, low. Beginning May 7, 2025, Utah sets a recognition process for Public Water Reserve No. 107 claims. It covers springs and water holes on public land owned or managed by a federal public land agency. The agency must file with the beneficial user's written consent, and Utah's state engineer must review t… - Livestock water certificates and fees end: mixed, low. Beginning May 7, 2025, Utah ends its livestock water use certificate process and related fees. Livestock water users save those fees but lose access to the certificates. For other listed water-right services, the law authorizes fees based on water flow or volume, without setting dollar amounts. Whe… - Livestock water rules change land coverage: mixed, low. Beginning May 7, 2025, Utah changes which state-owned lands fall under these livestock water rules. Land owned by the Division of Forestry, Fire, and State Lands is excluded. Land owned by the Division of Outdoor Recreation is no longer excluded. This narrows coverage for livestock water users on t… ## Sponsors and cosponsors - Sponsor: Carl R. Albrecht (Republican), House - Cosponsor: Derrin R. Owens (Republican), Senate ## Roll call votes | Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 2025-02-20 | Senate | Senate/ passed 3rd reading | pass | 23 | 0 | | | 2025-02-19 | Senate | Senate/ passed 2nd reading | pass | 23 | 0 | | | 2025-02-19 | Senate | Senate/ uncircled | fail | 0 | 0 | | | 2025-02-13 | Senate | Senate/ circled | fail | 0 | 0 | | | 2025-02-10 | Senate | Senate Comm - Favorable Recommendation | pass | 3 | 0 | | | 2025-02-04 | House | House/ passed 3rd reading | pass | 71 | 0 | | | 2025-01-24 | House | House Comm - Favorable Recommendation | pass | 10 | 0 | | | | Senate | Senate/ circled | fail | 0 | 0 | | | | Senate | Senate/ uncircled | fail | 0 | 0 | | ## Actions (34) - 2025-03-19: Governor Signed - 2025-02-28: House/ to Governor (House) - 2025-02-28: House/ received enrolled bill from Printing (House) - 2025-02-27: House/ enrolled bill to Printing (House) - 2025-02-27: Enrolled Bill Returned to House or Senate - 2025-02-24: Draft of Enrolled Bill Prepared - 2025-02-24: Bill Received from House for Enrolling - 2025-02-20: House/ signed by Speaker/ sent for enrolling (House) - 2025-02-20: House/ received from Senate (House) - 2025-02-20: Senate/ to House (Senate) - 2025-02-20: Senate/ signed by President/ returned to House (Senate) - 2025-02-20: Senate/ passed 3rd reading (Senate) - 2025-02-20: Senate/ 3rd reading (Senate) - 2025-02-19: Senate/ passed 2nd reading (Senate) - 2025-02-19: Senate/ uncircled (Senate) - 2025-02-13: Senate/ circled (Senate) - 2025-02-13: Senate/ 2nd reading (Senate) - 2025-02-11: Senate/ placed on 2nd Reading Calendar (Senate) - 2025-02-11: Senate/ committee report favorable (Senate) - 2025-02-10: Senate Comm - Favorable Recommendation (Senate) - 2025-02-06: Senate/ to standing committee (Senate) - 2025-02-05: Senate/ 1st reading (Introduced) (Senate) - 2025-02-04: Senate/ received from House (Senate) - 2025-02-04: House/ to Senate (House) - 2025-02-04: House/ passed 3rd reading (House) - 2025-02-04: House/ 3rd reading (House) - 2025-01-27: House/ 2nd reading (House) - 2025-01-27: House/ committee report favorable (House) - 2025-01-24: House Comm - Favorable Recommendation (House) - 2025-01-21: House/ to standing committee (House) - 2025-01-21: House/ 1st reading (Introduced) (House) - 2025-01-15: House/ received fiscal note from Fiscal Analyst (House) - 2025-01-15: House/ received bill from Legislative Research (House) - 2024-12-19: Numbered Bill Publicly Distributed ## Bill text - Enrolled, 2025-02-27: [PDF](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2025/bills/enrolled/HB0047.pdf) - Introduced, 2024-12-19: [PDF](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2025/bills/introduced/HB0047.pdf) ## Related bills - S.B. 199: Guardianship Amendments (signed) - H.B. 562: Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Amendments (signed) - H.B. 493: Medical Examiner Amendments (signed) - H.B. 482: Health and Human Services Reporting Requirements (signed) - S.B. 197: Property Tax Amendments (vetoed) - S.B. 3: Appropriations Adjustments (signed) ## Sources - [Enrolled (PDF)](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2025/bills/enrolled/HB0047.pdf) - [Introduced (PDF)](https://le.utah.gov/Session/2025/bills/introduced/HB0047.pdf) ## Related - [S.B. 199: Guardianship Amendments](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-SB199-2025GS) - [H.B. 562: Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Amendments](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-HB562-2025GS) - [H.B. 493: Medical Examiner Amendments](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-HB493-2025GS) - [H.B. 482: Health and Human Services Reporting Requirements](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-HB482-2025GS) - [S.B. 197: Property Tax Amendments](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-SB197-2025GS) - [S.B. 3: Appropriations Adjustments](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-SB3-2025GS) - [Utah bills](https://policyrisk.com/states/utah/bills) - [Utah state hub](https://policyrisk.com/states/utah) - [All state legislation](https://policyrisk.com/state-bills) Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/UT-HB47-2025GS (as of 2026-10-17).