42-222A. TEMPORARY CHANGES DURING DROUGHT CONDITIONS. (1) Upon declaration of a drought emergency for an area designated by the director of the department of water resources and approved by the governor of the state of Idaho, the director of the department of water resources is authorized to allow temporary changes to the use of water rights consisting of temporary transfers to change point of diversion, place and purpose of use of valid existing water rights or temporary exchanges of water authorized to be diverted under water rights, as provided in section 42-240, Idaho Code, when the director of the department of water resources determines that such change(s) can be accomplished in accordance with the provisions of this section.

(2) Application for a temporary change shall be made upon forms provided by the department of water resources and shall be accompanied by an application fee of fifty dollars ($50.00) per application.

(3) The director of the department of water resources is not required to publish notice of the proposed change pursuant to the provisions of section 42-211, 42-222(1) or 42-240, Idaho Code, and is not required to make findings as provided in said sections. A temporary change may be approved upon completion of the application form, payment of the filing fee and a determination by the director of the department of water resources that the proposed change can be properly administered and there is no information that the change will injure any other water right. If the water right to be changed is administered by a watermaster within a water district, the director of the department of water resources shall obtain and consider the recommendations of the watermaster before approving the temporary change application.

(4) All temporary changes approved pursuant to the provisions of this section shall expire on the date shown in the approval which shall not be later than December 31 of the year in which the emergency transfer approval is made and thereafter the water right shall revert to the point of diversion and place of use existing prior to the temporary change. Nothing herein shall be construed as approval to authorize the construction of a new well as a new point of diversion.

(5) The recipient of an approved temporary change issued pursuant to this section shall assume all risk that the diversion and use of the water may cause injury to other water rights, that the change constitutes an enlargement in use of the original right, that the use is not consistent with the conservation of water resources within the state of Idaho and that such use is not in the local public interest. Any applicant for a temporary change who is aggrieved by a denial by the director of the department of water resources of a temporary change pursuant to this section may request a hearing pursuant to the provisions of section 42-1701A(3), Idaho Code, and may seek judicial review of the final order of the director pursuant to the provisions of section 42-1701A(4), Idaho Code.

(6) Temporary changes shall only be approved for the purpose of providing a replacement water supply to lands or other uses which normally have a full water supply except for a drought condition. Temporary changes may not be approved to provide water for new projects or to allow expansion of the use of water under existing water rights. If the right to use the water, the diversion works or the water delivery system is represented by shares of stock in a corporation or if such right, diversion works or delivery system is owned or managed by an irrigation district, no change in point of diversion or place or nature of use of such water shall be made or allowed without the written consent of such corporation or irrigation district.

History:

[42-222A, added 1993, ch. 161, sec. 1, p. 411; am. 2001, ch. 126, sec. 1, p. 447.]