Title 61, Waters

Any petitions, applications, surveys, reports, orders, or other documents provided for in this chapter must be filed with the commission in Bismarck, where they must be kept on file under the control of the director of the department of water resources.

In this chapter, unless the context or subject matter otherwise requires: 1. "Adjudicative proceeding" means an appeal under chapter 28-32 of a recommended decision prepared by the director of the department of water resources for a water permit application. 2. "Assignment" means…

A right to appropriate water can be acquired for beneficial use only as provided in this chapter. Beneficial use shall be the basis, the measure, and the limit of the right to the use of water.

Any person, before commencing any construction for the purpose of appropriating waters of the state or before taking waters of the state from any constructed works, shall first secure a water permit from the department of water resources unless the construction or taking from the…

The department of water resources may authorize emergency or temporary use of water for periods not to exceed twelve months if the department determines the use will not be to the detriment of existing rights. The department shall establish by rule a separate procedure for proces…

A permitholder must have a legal interest in each point of diversion identified on the permit. If the permitholder does not have a legal interest in each point of diversion, the department of water resources shall assign the permit, or portion of the permit, as provided in this c…

A permit application to make beneficial use of any waters of the state must be in the form required by the rules established by the department of water resources. The rules must prescribe the form and contents of, and the procedure for filing, the application. The application, al…

An applicant may not apply for a permit or permits for irrigation which, if approved, would enable a person, at any one time, to hold a conditional water permit or permits for more than seven hundred twenty acre-feet [888106.75 cubic meters] of water from a single surface or grou…

The date of receipt of the application provided for in section 61-04-03 in the commission must be noted on the application. If the application is defective as to form, incomplete, or otherwise unsatisfactory, it must be returned with a statement of the corrections, amendments, or…

The following fees must accompany a conditional water permit application and must be paid by the department of water resources into the resources trust fund of the state treasury: 1. For municipal or public use $500 2. For irrigation use $500 3. For industrial use of one acre-foo…

The department of water resources may refund a water permit application fee, upon the request of the applicant, if the application is withdrawn by the applicant, and: 1. The department has not published notice of the application; or 2. The department determines other good and suf…

If the department of water resources determines a conditional water permit application does not meet this chapter's requirements or the rules in North Dakota Administrative Code article 89-03, the department shall reject the application and decline to order the publication of not…

When an application is filed which complies with this chapter and the rules adopted under this chapter, the department of water resources shall instruct the applicant to: 1. Give notice of the application by certified mail in the form prescribed by rule, to all record title owner…

1. Comments regarding a proposed appropriation must be in writing and filed by the date specified by the department of water resources under subsection 5 of section 61-04-05. The comments must state the name and mailing address of the person filing the comments. Comment letters s…

1. The department of water resources shall issue a permit if the department finds all of the following: a. The rights of a prior appropriator will not be unduly affected. b. The proposed means of diversion or construction are adequate. c. The proposed use of water is beneficial. …

When there are competing applications for water from the same source, and the source is insufficient to supply all applicants, the department of water resources shall adhere to the following order of priority: 1. Domestic use. 2. Municipal or public use. 3. Livestock use. 4. Irri…

The department of water resources may issue a conditional water permit for less than the amount of water requested. Except for water permits for incorporated municipalities or rural water systems, the department may not issue a permit for more water than can be beneficially used …

Priority in time gives the superior water right. Priority of a water right acquired under this chapter dates from the filing of an application with the department of water resources, except for water applied to domestic or livestock purposes, or fish, wildlife, and other recreati…

If the department of water resources determines an application or any portion of an application does not meet the criteria prescribed in section 61-04-06 for any reason other than sufficient information or data is lacking to allow for sound decisionmaking of the impacts of the pr…

If the department of water resources determines an application or any portion of an application does not meet the criteria prescribed in section 61-04-06 because sufficient information or data is lacking to allow for sound decisionmaking of the impacts of the proposed diversion o…

After the permit's beneficial use date, or upon notice from the permitholder that water has been applied to a beneficial use, the department of water resources shall notify the conditional water permitholder and inspect the works. The inspection must determine the safety, efficie…

If the department of water resources, in the course of the department's duties, finds any works used for the storage, diversion, or carriage of water are unsafe and a menace to life or property, the department shall notify the owner or the owner's agent, specifying the changes ne…

Any person using works for the storage, diversion, or carriage of water after an inspection of the works by the department of water resources and receipt of notice from the department that the works are unsafe for the purpose for which the works are used and before the receipt of…

The department of water resources may extend the time for the application of water to the beneficial use cited in the conditional water permit for good cause shown. When the time has expired, the department may renew and extend the time upon application. However, a conditional wa…

Any conditional or perfected water permit may be assigned only upon approval by the department of water resources. Upon reasonable proof the assignment can be made without detriment to existing rights, the department shall assign the water permit without losing priority of any ri…

A permitholder may add a point of diversion to a conditional or perfected permit without affecting the priority date, if approved by the department of water resources. Applications to add a point of diversion must be processed and evaluated in the same manner as a conditional wat…

A permitholder may transfer acres approved for irrigation on a conditional or perfected water permit to any tract of land owned or leased by the permitholder without affecting the priority date, if approved by the department of water resources. The department shall cause the wate…

1. A permitholder may change the purpose of use of a conditional or perfected water permit without affecting the priority date, if approved by the department of water resources. 2. An application to change the purpose of use must be processed and evaluated in the same manner as a…

Any appropriation of water must be for a beneficial use, and when the appropriator fails to apply it to the beneficial use cited in the permit or ceases to use it for the beneficial use cited in the permit for three successive years, unless the failure or cessation of use has bee…

1. If it appears any water appropriation or portion of an appropriation has not been used for a beneficial use, or having been so used at one time has ceased to be used for that purpose for more than three successive years, unless the failure or cessation of use is due to the una…

Comments regarding the proposed cancellation must be in writing and filed by the date specified by the department. The comments must state the name and mailing address of the person filing the comments. Comment letters submitted electronically must state the name and mailing addr…

If no comments are submitted by the date specified by the department, the water permit or portion of the water permit must be canceled. If comments are received, the department shall consider all written comments and issue a final decision. The final decision must be mailed to th…

A water permit may be recorded as any other instrument affecting the title to real property without acknowledgment or further proof. The order canceling a water right or portion of a water right must be filed by the department of water resources with the county recorder where the…

By March thirty-first of each year, permitholders shall file with the department of water resources, on forms supplied by the department, water use and other information as the department requires. The department also may require permitholders to install measuring devices conform…

Upon proof satisfactory to the department of water resources that a water permit application or water permit contains a nonmaterial error, the department, by written notice to the holder of the affected water permit or application, may correct the error without publication of not…

The department of water resources has full power and authority to institute, maintain, and prosecute to determination in an administrative proceeding or any of the courts of this state, or in any of the federal courts, any and all actions, suits, and special proceedings that may …

A person who constructs works for an appropriation, or diverts, impounds, withdraws, or uses a significant amount of water from any source without a permit specifically authorizing such action, except as otherwise provided in section 61-04-02; who violates an order of the departm…

1. Whenever it appears necessary to the department of water resources, or when directed by the commission, the department may reserve and set aside waters by regulation for beneficial use in the future. a. Before the adoption of a regulation under this section, the department sha…

If a court of competent jurisdiction determines that a water supply has been illegally diminished in quantity or quality and that a valid water right to use that supply has been damaged as a result of the diminishment, damages awarded to the owner of the water right shall be an a…

A federal agency that enters into discussions with an entity relating to a water storage contract from a reservoir partially or wholly located within the state shall provide the department of water resources with a sixty-day notice once the discussions begin. Communications regar…