Title 41 — Title 41 — Water

Exemptions. All property of whatever kind and nature owned by the state and by towns, cities, school districts, drainage districts, irrigation districts, park districts, water districts, or any other governmental agency or agencies within the said district, shall be exempt from a…

Nonpayment. If the taxes and/or assessments levied are not paid as herein provided, then the real property shall be sold at the regular tax sale for the payment of such taxes and assessments, interest and penalties, in the manner provided by the statutes of the state of Wyoming f…

Petition for establishment; notice of election; qualifications of voters; conduct of election. A flood control district may be established under the procedures for petitioning, hearing and election of special districts, and subsequent elections shall be held, as set forth in the …

Election of board of directors; number; term; quorum; bond; powers and duties generally; election of officers. (a) If the formation of the district is approved the board of county commissioners shall enter a finding to that effect upon its records after which the district shall b…

Special tax authorized; power of board to enter into cooperative agreements; authority to make rules and hire employees. (a) The board of county commissioners of the county wherein each district is situated shall, at the time of the annual levy of general taxes, levy an additiona…

Definitions. (a) As used in this act, unless the context plainly otherwise requires: (i) "Person" means a natural person, partnership, association, corporation, municipality, irrigation district, the state of Wyoming, any agency or political subdivision thereof, and the United St…

limitation. Spring waters; perfection of right to use; All springs and spring waters where the yield does not exceed twenty-five (25) gallons per minute and where the use is for domestic or stock purposes only, shall be considered as groundwater. Perfection of the right to use sp…

By-product water; definition. By-product water is water which has not been put to prior beneficial use, and which is a by-product of some nonwater-related economic activity and has been developed only as a result of such activity. By-product water includes, but is not limited to,…

limitation. By-product water; appropriation; conditions and (a) Any person intending to appropriate by-product water for beneficial use shall file an application with the state engineer on the forms and in the manner prescribed for groundwater applications. By-product water shall…

Application; generally; registration of vested rights; permit to construct well; registration of formerly exempted wells. Nothing herein contained shall be construed so as to interfere with the right of any person to use water from any existing well where such water is economical…

Application; rights subject to preferences; rights of municipal corporations. Rights to underground water shall be subject to the same preferences as provided by law for surface waters, and rights not preferred may be condemned and changed to a preferred use in the manner provide…

Application; preferred right of appropriations for stock or domestic use. Appropriations of underground water for stock or domestic use, the latter being defined as household use and the watering of lawns and gardens for noncommercial family use where the area to be irrigated doe…

Division advisory committee; appointment; removal; duties; expense allowances. (a) In each of the water divisions of the state, as defined in W.S. 41-3-501, there shall be established a division advisory committee on underground water. Each committee shall consist of three (3) pe…

State engineer; powers generally. (a) In the administration and enforcement of this act and in the effectuation of the policy of the state to conserve its underground water resources, the state engineer is authorized and empowered on advice and consent of the board of control: (i…

State engineer; power to determine area and boundaries of districts. The state engineer is authorized and directed to determine the area and boundaries of districts overlying the various aquifers yielding underground waters in this state and to assign to each district a distincti…

Authority to order interfering appropriator to cease withdrawals of water; hearing complaints by appropriators. (a) Whenever a well withdrawing water for beneficial purposes shall interfere unreasonably with an adequate well developed solely for domestic or stock uses as defined …

Control areas; board member districts; designation; redesignation; duty of state engineer; hearings. (a) "Control area" means any underground water district or subdistrict that has been so designated by the board of control. The board of control may designate a control area for t…

Control areas; election of control area advisory board; mileage and expense allowances. (a) When an underground water district or subdistrict is declared to be a control area, when the board of control geographically redesignates a control area or when the board of control approv…

Adjudication of waters within control area. (a) After the boundaries of any control area have been determined by the board, the appropriate superintendent shall proceed with the adjudication of unadjudicated wells within the control area. After completing the adjudication, the su…

Control areas; hearing to determine adequacy of water for all appropriators; corrective controls generally; agreements in lieu of controls. (a) After designation of an area as a control area by the board, the state engineer may temporarily adopt any of the corrective controls pro…

Priority of rights when 1 source of supply. Where underground waters in different aquifers are so interconnected as to constitute in fact one source of supply, or where underground waters and the waters of surface streams are so interconnected as to constitute in fact one source …

Change of location of well without loss of priority; appeal from action of state board of control or state engineer. (a) An appropriator of underground water may change the location of his well to a point within the same aquifer in the vicinity of the original location, without l…

Appeals. Any person aggrieved by an order of the board or of the state engineer concerning underground water, or by their or his failure to act, may appeal in the manner provided by W.S. 41-4-517, and the Wyoming Administrative Procedure Act.

Prohibited acts; penalty for violation. Any person who withdraws underground water or who fails to stop or reduce the flow of underground water in violation of any order of the state engineer made pursuant to this act, or any person who does not have a permit, certificate or vest…

Application; who required to file; filing; contents; use of water from existing well; statement of claim. (a) Any person who intends to acquire the right to beneficial use of any underground water in the state of Wyoming, shall, before commencing construction of any well or other…

Application; when granted generally; denial subject to review; defects and corrections generally; cancellation. An application for a permit for a well in any areas not designated as a critical area shall be granted as a matter of course, if the proposed use is beneficial and, if …

Public notice of application or petition; hearing before state engineer and control area advisory board; cost. (a) Upon the filing of a petition to amend an existing water right or an application to appropriate underground water for any use other than domestic, stockwatering or m…

Express conditions limiting rights of appropriator; additional conditions. It is an express condition of each underground water permit that the right of the appropriator does not include the right to have the water level or artesian pressure at the appropriator's point of diversi…

Time limits to complete construction; extensions; cancellation generally. If the permit is granted, the applicant shall complete the construction and apply the water to beneficial use before the date specified in the conditions of approval, which shall not be more than three (3) …

Adjudication procedure. (a) Any person constructing any well under a permit shall, within thirty (30) days after the completion or abandonment of such work, report to the state engineer the data required relating to such well, on forms furnished by the state engineer. A well shal…

Priority of appropriation. The priority of appropriation of underground water obtained prior to April 1, 1947, shall date from time of completion of the well. The priority of appropriation of underground water obtained subsequent to April 1, 1947, and prior to March 1, 1958, shal…

certificates. Cancellation or suspension of permits or Whenever, after notice to and opportunity to be heard, the state engineer finds that the holder of any permit is willfully violating or has willfully violated any provision of such permit or any provision of this act or of an…

Penalty. Any person who drills, digs or constructs any works for the securing of underground water without having obtained a permit is guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be punished under W.S. 41-3-616.

Groundwater study to assess corrective controls within groundwater control areas. Subject to available funding, not less than once every ten (10) years the state engineer shall conduct a groundwater study in each county that has a control area designated by the board of control u…

Waters stored for instream flows a beneficial use of water; natural stream flows allowed for instream flows. (a) The storage of water in any drainage in Wyoming for the purpose of providing a recreational pool or the release of water for instream flows to establish or maintain ne…

Instream flows to be by stream segment; waters for instream flows may be sold, transferred or otherwise conveyed under certain restrictions; ownership restricted. (a) All waters used for the purpose of providing instream flows shall be applied only to that segment of the stream f…

Game and fish commission; construction of measuring devices; recommendations; permits; fees and costs. (a) The game and fish commission shall construct any measuring device the state engineer considers necessary for the administration of an instream flow right. (b) The state game…

Water development commission to determine storage feasibility; report to the game and fish commission and the legislature. (a) Immediately after permits have been applied for under W.S. 41-3-1003(c), the water development commission shall determine the feasibility of providing in…

Approval of storage project. If the water development commission determines that storage of water to provide instream flows is feasible and in the interest of the state of Wyoming, it shall request authority from the legislature to proceed with the design and construction of stor…

Appropriation of unappropriated waters for direct instream flows. (a) Any application for a permit to appropriate direct flow waters for the purpose of providing instream flows shall be by stream segment, as defined in W.S. 41-3-1002. (b) If the water development commission, unde…

flow purposes. Acquisition of existing rights for instream (a) The state of Wyoming may acquire any existing water rights in streams of Wyoming by transfer or gift for the purpose of providing instream flows, provided that a change in use of the right acquired shall be in accorda…

Regulation of streams. (a) The game and fish commission shall report to the water development commission the need to regulate a stream to protect the priority of an instream flow right. The report shall include information establishing present or future damage to the fishery if t…

Statement regarding condemnation and impairment of existing water rights. This act does not grant, nor shall it operate or be so construed to grant the power of condemnation to the game and fish department for acquisition of existing water rights for the purpose of providing inst…

Litigation costs. If any other appropriator in a drainage where waters are allowed for instream flows proves in district court that his right to use appropriated waters has been impaired or diminished by the allowance for instream flows, the costs of litigation, including reasona…

Abandonment. No right to water for the purposes of providing instream flow may be acquired through the process of abandonment nor shall any beneficiary of instream flow rights granted under this act be qualified under W.S. 41-3-401 and 41-3-402 to file for abandonment.

Ingress and egress. Nothing in this act shall grant, nor shall it be construed to grant the right of ingress or egress through or upon private property to reach streams where instream flows are maintained, nor shall it operate or be so construed as to grant any right of eminent d…

Condemnation for municipal water purposes. Notwithstanding W.S. 1-26-505, a city or town may condemn any portion of a water right authorized and acquired under this act for municipal water purposes in the manner provided by law.

court decree. Interstate compact and United States supreme Nothing in this act shall be construed to supersede, impair or abrogate the right of the state of Wyoming to fully utilize and appropriate to consumptive beneficial use, those quantities of water allocated to the state of…

Legal standard of measurement. A cubic foot of water per second of time shall be the legal standard for the measurement of water in this state, both for the purpose of determining the flow of water in natural streams, and for the purpose of distributing water therefrom.

Copies of records as evidence. Copies of papers, books, records and maps, on file and deposited by virtue of any law, in the office of the state engineer or state board of control, and certified by the state engineer or secretary of the state board of control, shall be competent …