Title 41, Water

Owner's report of persons entitled to use water; superintendent's report of use of water. The owner of each reservoir shall annually, in writing, before or during the irrigating season and before the releasing of the water from the reservoir, deliver to the water commissioner hav…

Deeds for water rights; attaching of rights to land; sale, lease, transfer or use. The reservoir water and rights acquired under reservoir permits and adjudications shall not attach to any particular lands except by deed, or other sufficient instrument conveying such water or wat…

Deeds and leases for water rights; execution and recording. All deeds for reservoir water and water rights and all leases of the same for periods of three (3) years or more shall be executed and acknowledged as deeds are executed, and shall be recorded in the office of the county…

Excess stored water to be furnished applicants; preferences; rates. The owner or owners of a reservoir impounding a greater quantity of water than the owner or owners thereof necessarily use for irrigation and other beneficial purposes in connection with their own lands shall, wh…

Applicability of ownership provisions. The provisions of this act shall apply to reservoirs heretofore lawfully constructed as well as to all reservoirs hereafter lawfully constructed.

Carey Act lands. This act shall not apply to Carey Act lands or reservoirs for their irrigation, nor to any water right or rights to the use of waters of natural streams of this state, initiated from such streams and used through any such reservoir. All acts and parts of acts in …

Witnesses' fees and mileage. Every witness who shall attend before the court, or the judge thereof in vacation, or before the person appointed to take testimony in causes relating to water rights, under subpoena, by request of any party, shall be entitled to the same fees and mil…

Change in point of diversion. (a) The storage of water by means of a reservoir is a diversion, and the point of diversion is the point defined in the permit where the longitudinal axis of the dam crosses the center of the streambed. (b) A change in point of diversion of a reservo…

Failure to use water; extension of time; initiation by benefitted or injured user; hearing; appeal. (a) Where the holder of an appropriation of water from a surface, underground or reservoir water source fails, either intentionally or unintentionally, to use the water therefrom f…

Initiation by state engineer; hearing; appeal. (a) When any appropriator has failed, intentionally or unintentionally, to use any portion of surface, underground or reservoir water appropriated by him, whether under an adjudicated or unadjudicated right, for a period of five (5) …

Water divisions defined. (a) The state of Wyoming is hereby divided into four (4) water divisions, as follows: (i) Water Division No. 1 shall consist of all lands within this state, drained by the North Platte River, and the tributaries of the North Platte River and the South Pla…

Superintendents; appointment; removal; number; qualifications; examination. There shall be one (1) superintendent for each division, who shall be appointed by the governor and who shall be a resident of the water division for which he is appointed. The governor may remove any sup…

Superintendents; duties generally. Said division superintendent shall have general control over the water commissioners of the several districts within his division. He shall, under the general supervision of the state engineer, execute the laws relative to the distribution of wa…

Superintendents; powers generally. Said division superintendent shall have authority to order, in writing, the construction of suitable ditches to carry the return waters from any ditch or lands to the main stream or proper waste way; he shall have the authority, and it shall be …

Superintendents; compensation and traveling expenses; full time devoted to duties. Each division superintendent of a water division shall receive an annual salary as determined by the human resources division of the department of administration and information, payable in monthly…

Superintendents; appeal from order or regulations. Any person, ditch company, or ditch owner, who may deem himself injured or discriminated against by any such order or regulations of such division superintendent, shall have the right to appeal from the same to the state engineer…

Division of state into districts. The board of control shall divide the state into water districts, said water districts to be so constituted as to secure the best protection to the claimants for water and the most economical supervision on the part of the state; in laying out su…

Commissioners; appointment; term; removal; filling of vacancies; hydrographers. (a) The governor shall appoint a water commissioner for each water district, if needed, who shall be selected from persons recommended by the superintendent of the water division in which the water di…

Commissioners; general powers and duties; appeals from decisions. (a) The water commissioner shall, as near as may be practicable, divide, regulate and control the use of the water of all streams, springs, lakes or other sources of water within his district as will prevent the wa…

Commissioners; additional powers and duties; defense by county attorney. It shall be the duty of the said water commissioner to divide the water of the natural stream or streams of his district among the several ditches and reservoirs taking water therefrom, according to the prio…

Commissioners; power to arrest; procedure following arrests. The water commissioners or their assistants, within their districts shall have power to arrest any person or persons offending, and turn them over to the sheriff of the proper county, and immediately upon delivering the…

Commissioners; performance of duties; requests for regulation. Each water commissioner shall perform his duties under the general direction and supervision of the superintendent of his water division. Any holder of a Wyoming water right may request that the source of supply for h…

Commissioners; salaries and expenses. Water commissioners shall be paid a salary recommended by the state engineer and the division superintendent and approved by the governor. Water commissioners shall be paid by the state according to the procedures established by the human res…

Commissioners; reports. (a) All water commissioners, when on duty, shall make reports whenever called upon to do so, by the division superintendent of their division. Said reports shall contain the following information: (i) The amount of water actually coming into the district t…

Commissioners; disqualification for personal interest or prejudice. Whenever an affidavit is filed with the state engineer by a water user stating that the water commissioner of a district has a personal interest or prejudice in the use of water from a stream and that the person …

Commissioners; authority and duties of substitute. The substitute commissioner shall thereby be invested with the authority and duties possessed by the disqualified commissioner as to the portion of the stream in which the conflict of interest or prejudice is involved, subject to…

Commissioners; assistants. Subject to legislative appropriation, a division superintendent may, in cases of emergency, employ suitable assistants to aid a water commissioner in the discharge of his duties. Assistants shall take the same oath as the water commissioner, shall obey …

Rotation among water users; approval of commissioner. (a) To bring about a more economical use of the available water supply, it is lawful for water users owning lands to which are attached water rights, to rotate in the use of supply to which they may be collectively entitled, o…

Headgates, flumes or measuring devices; owners to construct and maintain; failure to comply. The owner or owners of any ditch or canal shall maintain, to the satisfaction of the division superintendent of the division in which the irrigation works are located, a substantial headg…

Well, headgate or waterbox; prohibited acts; penalty for violation. It shall be unlawful for any person to willfully use or possess water which has been lawfully denied by the water commissioner or other competent authority or to open, close, change or interfere with any well, pu…

Approval of diversion dam plans. Plans for any diversion dam across the channel of a running stream, above five (5) feet in height, or of any other diversion dam intended to retain water above ten (10) feet in height, shall be submitted to the state engineer for his approval, and…

Penalties for violation of water laws. (a) Unless otherwise provided, any person violating any of the provisions of W.S. 41-3-112, 41-3-208, 41-3-301, 41-3-614, 41-3-914, 41-3-919, 41-3-938, 41-4-501, 41-4-504, 41-5-107, 41-5-108 or 41-5-110 after receipt of a written notice of v…

Purpose. (a) It is hereby declared that to provide for the conservation of the water resources of the state of Wyoming and for the greatest beneficial use of water within this state, the organization of water conservancy districts and the construction of works as herein defined b…

Short title; definitions. (a) This act may be known and cited as "Water Conservancy Act"; the districts created hereunder may be termed "water conservancy districts"; and the bonds which may be issued hereunder may be called "water conservancy bonds", and such designation may be …

Effect of improper notice of judicial proceeding. In any and every case where a notice is provided for in this act, if the court finds for any reason that due notice was not given, the court shall not thereby lose jurisdiction, and the proceeding in question shall not thereby be …

Hearings on validity of districts. All cases in which there may arise a question of the validity of the organization of a water conservancy district, or a question of the validity of any proceeding under this act shall be advanced as a matter of immediate public interest and conc…

Liberal construction. This act being necessary to secure and preserve the public health, safety, convenience and welfare, and for the security of public and private property, it shall be liberally construed to effect the purposes of this act.

Power of district court. The district court sitting in and for any county in this state, or any judge thereof in vacation is hereby vested with jurisdiction, power and authority when the conditions stated in W.S. 41-3-721 are found to exist, to establish water conservancy distric…

Petition for creation; conditions affecting inclusion of city or city and county. (a) Before any water conservancy district shall be established under this act, a petition shall be filed in the office of the clerk of the court vested with jurisdiction, in a county in which all or…

Bond for expenses of proceedings. At the time of filing the petition or at any time subsequent thereto, and prior to the time of hearing on said petition a bond shall be filed, with security approved by the court, sufficient to pay all expenses connected with the proceedings in c…

Hearing procedure generally. (a) Immediately after the filing of such petition, the court wherein such petition is filed or a judge thereof in vacation, shall by order fix a place and time, not less than sixty (60) days nor more than ninety (90) days after the petition is filed, …

Protesting creation. (a) At any time after the filing of a petition for the organization of a conservancy district, and not less than thirty (30) days prior to the time fixed by the order of court for the hearing upon said petition, and not thereafter, a petition may be filed in …

Filing of decree and copies of findings. Within thirty (30) days after the said district has been declared a corporation by the court, the clerk of the court shall transmit to the secretary of state, to the state engineer, and to the county clerk and recorder in each of the count…

Procedure for organizing subdistricts. Subdistricts may be organized upon the petition of the owner of real property, within or partly within and partly without the district, which petition shall fulfill the same requirements concerning the subdistricts as the petition outlined i…

Appointment and qualifications; number; term; election of successors; vacancies; bond. (a) Within thirty (30) days after entering the decree incorporating said district, the court shall appoint a board of directors of the district consisting of not less than five (5) or more than…

Oath; election of officers; seal; records; compensation and expenses. (a) Each director, before entering upon his official duties, shall take and subscribe to an oath before an officer authorized to administer oaths, that he will support the constitution of the United States and …