HomeMy WebLinkAbout5b DNRC Exempt Well Approval Memo1
Laura Dornberger
Subject:NWX Exempt Wells
From: Strasheim, Kerri <kstrasheim@mt.gov>
Sent: Friday, March 27, 2020 4:50 PM
To: Laura Dornberger <ldornberger@LocatiArchitects.com>
Cc: Brian Heaston <bheaston@BOZEMAN.NET>
Subject: RE: NWX Exempt Wells
Laura –
Thank you for the opportunity to review your project. Per the information provided in your emails, the
proposed exempt groundwater use for the proposed new NWX development will not exceed 10 acre-feet
(AF) per individual well exemption. The proposed groundwater use is for irrigation not to exceed 10 AF
per well, up to six individual wells spaced at least 1,320 feet apart to meet the distance
requirement. One well is currently existing and has use protected under water right 41H 115493-00 for
up to 1.63 AF of domestic and lawn and garden use. This irrigation use does not exceed 10 AF per well,
so no water right permitting is required for this use. Each groundwater well cannot exceed a diversion
rate of 35 (GPM). No water right permitting is required ahead of time for the irrigation. The City of
Bozeman will be providing water for indoor use and has water rights in place.
Standard Language:
In Clark Fork Coalition, et. al. v. DNRC, et. al., 2016 MT 229, 384 Mont. 503, 380 P.3d 771, the Montana
Supreme Court concluded that the definition of “combined appropriation” in Admin. R. Mont.
36.12.101(13) was invalid. The Court reinstated the Department’s 1987 Rule defining “combined
appropriation” as: “An appropriation of water from the same source aquifer by means of two or more
groundwater developments, the purpose of which, in the department’s judgment, could have been
accomplished by a single appropriation. Groundwater developments need not be physically connected
nor have a common distribution system to be considered a “combined appropriation.” They can be
separate developed springs or wells to separate parts of a project or development. Such wells and
springs need not be developed simultaneously. They can be developed gradually or in
increments. The amount of water appropriated from the entire project or development from these
groundwater developments in the same source aquifer is the “combined appropriation.”
Under this Rule, the Department interprets subdivisions that are pending before the Department of
Environmental Quality for approval on October 17, 2014 or filed after that date to be a single project
that can be accomplished by a single appropriation. Consequently, all wells in such a subdivision will
be considered a “combined appropriation” for the purposes of Mont. Code Ann. 85‐2‐306. The only
exception to this interpretation is that a subdivision which has received preliminary plat approval prior
to October 17, 2014 will not be considered a project under the “combined appropriation” 1987 Rule;
individual lots will still be evaluated under the 1987 Rule at the time of an application to the
Department. 2015 Mont. Laws § 1, Ch. 221.
2
This communication does not serve as a pre‐approval for a water right.
Have a good day,
Kerri
___________________
Kerri Strasheim
Regional Manager – Gallatin, Madison, and Park Counties
MT DNRC Water Resources
2273 Boot Hill Court, Suite 110
Bozeman, MT 59715
Ph: 406-556-4504
Fax: 406-587-9726
kstrasheim@mt.gov