HomeMy WebLinkAbout014.03 - Appendix L.5 - Meadow Bridge re water rights Letter201 East Broadway Street, P.O. Box 104
Helena, Montana 59624
Main 406.410.5050
Fax 801.536.6111
A Professional Law Corporation
Abigail R. Brown
Attorney at Law
Direct 406.410.5022
abbybrown@parsonsbehle.com
PARSONSBEHLE.COM
4932-4225-9230
February 26, 2025
Via Email Only
Meadow Bridge LLC
ATTN: Derek Williams
derek@bridgerdevelop.com
Re: Meadow Bridge LLC Site Plan: Impacted Water Rights and Agricultural Water
User Facilities
Dear Derek,
The purpose of this letter is to identify (1) any water rights appurtenant to the Meadow Bridge
LLC Project property located generally in the W2SE of Section 23 T 2S R 5E, Gallatin County
(hereinafter “Project”), and (2) potential agricultural water users whose agricultural water user
facilities (i.e., ditches, culverts, pipelines) might be affected by the Project who are required to
receive notice and opportunity to comment in order to comply with Bozeman Municipal Code
38.360.280 and 38.220.060(A)(8).
Identification of Water Rights. In Montana, all valid water rights are recorded in a publicly
accessible centralized database maintained by the Montana Department of Natural Resources &
Conservation (DNRC) Water Rights Query System (WRQS). See Bozeman Municipal Code
38.360.280(2)(d). To identify (1) water rights appurtenant to the Project property and (2)
potentially impacted water users, I reviewed the Project Site Plan that you provided to me and
then conducted the following searches the DNRC WRQS for water rights:
(1) owned by Meadow Bridge LLC;
(2) identifying a Geocode of 06-0798-23-1-01-15-0000;
(3) with a Place of Use on the Project parcel (W2SE Section 23 T2S R5E);
(4) with a Place of Use on parcels within 100 feet of the exterior boundaries of the Project;
(5) with a Point of Diversion on the Project parcel (W2SE Section 23 T2S R5E);
(6) that identify the unnamed watercourse flowing through the Project as a means of
conveyance in Section 23 T2S R5E; and
(7) that identify a point of diversion in Sections 23 and 26 T2S R5E on the unnamed
watercourse flowing through the Project, which appears from a desktop review to arise in
Section 26.
Meadow Brige LLC
February 26, 2025
Page Two
4932-4225-9230
In addition to the WRQS, I reviewed available irrigation maps from the Gallatin County Water
Resources Survey (State Engineer’s Office, 1953) and information on the Montana Cadastral
Map.
Identifying Appurtenant Water Rights. The result of the above-described searches in the WRQS
returned no water rights that are appurtenant to the Project’s real property. Unfortunately, the
WRQS does not provide a report when a search returns no water rights – there simply are no
water rights listed on the search results.
The Project is within Middle Creek Ditch Company’s place of use, both on MCDC’s abstracts
(41H 119958-00 et seq.) and as shown on the 1953 WRS Map. However, I understand from
conversations with you that Meadow Bridge LLC does not hold shares in any irrigation or ditch
companies.
Identifying Potentially Impacted Water Users. Comparing the results of above-described
searches with the 1953 WRS Map, my determination is that the Project is within Middle Creek
Ditch Company’s place of use and the Project proposes a pedestrian bridge to cross an unnamed
watercourse that runs from south to north through the Project, which is labeled as a “lateral” of
MCDC on the 1953 WRS Map.
There is no way in a desktop review for me to determine if that watercourse is, in fact, a lateral
of MCDC. Similarly, I made no determination whether this unnamed watercourse is a natural
watercourse or a ditch; that determination is outside the scope of this work. Regardless, I
recommend that you provide notice of the Project to MCDC required by BMC 38.360.280.
My searches did not return any additional potentially impacted agricultural water users. The
Project is not within any other water users’ place of use and the only water right that claims a
point of diversion on the unnamed watercourse flowing through the Project is an upstream water
right owned by Real Red LLC (41H 16788-00). However, 41H 16788-00 is a waste & seepage
groundwater right and the place of use for this water right is limited to Section 26, which is
upstream from the Project.
Please let me know what questions or additional information you may need related to water
rights for this Project.
Sincerely,
Abigail R. Brown
Attorney at Law