A panel of experts appointed after unusually hostile water-law debates during the 2008 legislative session has crafted a proposal that would, in state Department of Natural Resources chief Mike Styler's words, "clear up the tangled confusion of water-rights owners."
The bill Rep. Ben Ferry, R-Corinne, plans to sponsor would add a bit of paper to every real-estate transaction spelling out exactly whether any water right accompanies the sale and if so, what it is.
"It would make life much less litigious," Styler said during a report on the state's Executive Water Task Force during a Capitol meeting Tuesday of the state Water Development Commission.
As envisioned, the water-rights transfer or acknowledgement of no transfer or sale would be part of the deed of sale. County recorders would store the record and inform the Utah Division of Water Rights and state engineer of the particulars.
Right now, there is no requirement to tell the state when water rights shift, a routine matter with other properties, such as homes or cars. The state cannot even tell if some crook is selling the same right repeatedly; only when the fleeced try to get state approval to use the water they thought they owned would the problem come to light.
The task force met 11 times between April and October on matters including how cities can secure their water rights over several decades and how to ease court cases involving water-rights disputes. The panel included water lawyers, state officials and representatives of water agencies.
When the group first set out, Styler said the members hoped to bring 19th-century water law into the 21st century.
phenetz@sltrib.com
» State Engineer Jerry Olds has left the building.
» Olds retired last week after seven years in the appointed office.
» Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. has named Olds' deputy, Boyd Clayton, as interim water boss until the governor makes a new appointment.
» The state engineer's terms run concurrently with the governor's.
