HomeMy WebLinkAboutAppendix Y - DNRC Letter1
Tyler Steinway
From:Derek Williams <derek@bridgerdevelop.com>
Sent:Tuesday, August 9, 2022 11:40 AM
To:Tyler Steinway
Cc:Rob Pertzborn; Courtney; kci@tds.net
Subject:FW: Buffalo Run Project - DNRC Review
Attachments:008 S7 -ILLUSTRATIVE SITE PLAN -11122021.pdf
Hey Tyler,
Look what we finally got. The very last thing we need to resubmit. See email below from Kerri Strasheim at DNRC. How
soon do you think we can get everything in to the City? Thanks!
Derek
Derek Williams, P.E. | Owner/Founder
5400 Fowler Lane
Bozeman, Montana 59718
303-887-4045
derek@bridgerdevelop.com
From: Strasheim, Kerri <kstrasheim@mt.gov>
Sent: Tuesday, August 9, 2022 11:18 AM
To: Abby Brown <abbybrown@parsonsbehle.com>; Derek Williams <derek@bridgerdevelop.com>
Cc: courtney@zerosixthree.com; lhageman@m-m.net; bheaston@bozeman.net; Ann Olson
<AOlson@parsonsbehle.com>; Griffin Nielsen <GNielsen@BOZEMAN.NET>
Subject: Buffalo Run Project - DNRC Review
Abby –
Thank you for the opportunity to review the Buffalo Run Project. This project has a two-part exempt
groundwater well review:
1) Neighboring Park Well
a. Meadow Creek Subdivision is immediately east of the proposed project. An existing park with
an existing well has been developed prior to 2014, allowing for the 1993 rule to apply to this well
(geocode: 06-0798-23-2-02-01-6501) . An easement is in place for the City of Bozeman to
access adjacent acreage (east of Buffalo Run Ave) as City Park, and this park well will also
irrigate the new parkland on the adjacent Buffalo Run property. The proposal specifies that this
park well will irrigate up to 2.1 acres up to 3.22 AF (acre-feet). This well cannot exceed 35
2
gallons per minute (GPM) diversion or 10 AF total use. No water right permitting is required for
this project.
2) Buffalo Run Property Groundwater Use
a. The Buffalo Run property (geocode: 06-0798-23-3-01-07-0000) has an existing Statement of
Claim for domestic water use out of a well with some lawn and garden irrigation up to 1.5
AF. This claim does not count towards the exempt groundwater total. Proposed additional use
out of this well is for lawn and garden use up to 2.3 acres up to 3.5 AF to irrigate land west of
Homestead Avenue. This well cannot exceed 35 GPM. This well cannot exceed 5AF (or some
combination up to 10 AF with the proposed pond) of post-1973 groundwater use. No water right
permitting is required for this project.
b. The pond on the property is groundwater (final design may include both well use and natural
groundwater use), and this will be a groundwater exempt use when the final design is
completed. Based on pond dimensions, this groundwater use shouldn’t exceed 5 AF (shared
total of 10 AF with the landscaping well). No water right permitting is required.
The City of Bozeman is providing all indoor uses and landscaping uses between Buffalo Run Avenue and
Homestead Avenue. The City is responsible for ensuring that this use fits within existing water rights.
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.
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