48-4882. Augmentation administration fee

A. From and after the date on which the district is initially organized under section 48-4802, the state treasurer shall transfer all unencumbered monies for the purpose of augmentation of the water supply of the active management area levied pursuant to section 45-611, subsection A, paragraph 2 and received after January 1, 1990 pursuant to section 45-615, paragraph 1, with accrued interest, to the secretary-treasurer of the district for deposit in the general fund of the district.

B. From and after the date on which the permanent board assumes office under section 48-4831, the active management area is exempt from the groundwater withdrawal fee for augmentation under section 45-611, subsection A, paragraph 2, but the state treasurer shall continue to transmit to the district all such monies that continue to be collected for periods preceding the permanent organization of the board. The exemption provided by this subsection terminates if the district is dissolved under section 48-4807.

C. From and after the date on which the permanent board assumes office, the board may levy an annual groundwater withdrawal fee for augmentation of the water supply from each person withdrawing groundwater in the active management area in an amount not greater than two dollars per acre-foot of groundwater withdrawn and beneficially used. The director of water resources shall collect the augmentation fee levied under this subsection.

D. The permanent board shall set the augmentation fee under subsection C of this section not later than October 1 of each year for the following calendar year. Within thirty days after the permanent board sets the augmentation fee, the board shall give written notice of the fee to:

1. The clerk of the board of supervisors of the counties in the active management area and to the mayor of each city or town, to each water company and to the presiding officer of each political subdivision established pursuant to chapter 17, 18, 19 or 20 of this title in the active management area.

2. All holders of grandfathered rights and groundwater withdrawal permits in the active management area.

E. A person who, under section 45-604, subsection B, is not required to use and does not use a water measuring device to measure withdrawals made pursuant to a type 2 non-irrigation grandfathered right or a groundwater withdrawal permit shall pay an amount equal to the augmentation fee set by the board for the calendar year multiplied by the number of acre-feet of the grandfathered right or the groundwater withdrawal permit.

F. The augmentation fee under subsection C of this section shall be paid to the director of water resources at the time the person withdrawing groundwater files a report on annual groundwater withdrawals pursuant to section 45-632. If a person who is required to pay the fee for any calendar year fails to pay the fee for the calendar year in question on or before March 31 of the following year, the director of water resources may assess and collect a penalty of ten per cent of the unpaid fee, without compounding, for each month or portion of a month that the fee is delinquent. The total penalty assessed under this subsection shall not exceed sixty per cent of the unpaid fee. The director of water resources shall transmit all monies collected under this section to the secretary-treasurer of the district for deposit in the general fund of the district.