73-4-1. By engineer on petition of users -- Upon request of Department of
Environmental Quality.
(1) Upon a verified petition to the state engineer, signed by five or more or a majority of
water users upon any stream or water source, requesting the investigation of the relative rights of
the various claimants to the waters of such stream or water source, it shall be the duty of the state
engineer, if upon such investigation he finds the facts and conditions are such as to justify a
determination of said rights, to file in the district court an action to determine the various rights. In
any suit involving water rights the court may order an investigation and survey by the state
engineer of all the water rights on the source or system involved.
(2) (a) As used in this section, "executive director" means the executive director of the
Department of Environmental Quality.
(b) The executive director, with the concurrence of the governor, may request that the
state engineer file in the district court an action to determine the various water rights in the
stream, water source, or basin for an area within the exterior boundaries of the state for which any
person or organization or the federal government is actively pursuing or processing a license
application for a storage facility or transfer facility for high-level nuclear waste or greater than
class C radioactive waste.
(c) Upon receipt of a request made under Subsection (2)(b), the state engineer shall file
the action in the district court.
(d) If a general adjudication has been filed in the state district court regarding the area
requested pursuant to Subsection (2)(b), the state engineer and the state attorney general shall join
the United States as a party to the action.
Amended by Chapter 107, 2001 General Session
Download Code Section Zipped WordPerfect 73_04_000100.ZIP 2,407 Bytes
Sections in this Chapter|Chapters in this Title|All Titles|Legislative Home Page
Last revised: Thursday, May 28, 2009