The Utah Senate approved a version of a stream access bill that restricts wading in public waters that cross private lands, but it preserves a right to float on those waters if they're deep enough for it.

The floating provision is a Senate addition to HB141, which means the bill now must go back for House approval.

The bill responds to a Utah Supreme Court ruling in 2008, which asserted a public right to fish and otherwise use public streams that cross private lands. It would offer a new interpretation to constitutional rights to stream access, one that requires proof of a 10-year pattern of consistent public use. It would allow recreationists to float past private lands, so long as they don't have to get out or walk in the stream except to free their crafts from a snag or for safety.

Backers say private property rights take precedence over public access, and Sen. Dennis Stowell, R-Parowan, said it's needed to head off disputes that have arisen with recreationists asserting their rights after the court ruling.

"It's important that we bring to a close the escalating confrontations between the property owners and the recreationists," Stowell said.

The prohibition on walking led Sen. Brent Goodfellow, D-West Valley City, to ask what happens when a floating angler hooks a lunker.

"Sometimes those fish are pretty big, and sometimes you need to pull over to land [them]," Goodfellow said.

"If a fish is attached with a fishing line it'll usually follow you as you float," Stowell said to laughter from a gallery that was largely filled with landowners seeking the bill's approval.

The bill puts off for a year, until May 10, 2011, the provision that allows public access in streams with a 10-year pattern of use, and in so doing puts off any lawsuits asserting such a pattern. Several senators said they hope to use the interim to study which streams are likely to be closed, and seek public funding to purchase access rights.

The bill passed the Senate 19-10.