STATE OF OKLAHOMA

2nd Session of the 53rd Legislature (2012)

SENATE BILL 1334	By:	Ellis

AS INTRODUCED

An Act relating to transfer of water; authorizing Oklahoma Water Resources Board to permit transfer of water; stating requirements for application and procedures; requiring certain information from applicants; requiring public meetings; requiring notice to certain persons; stating information required for notice; requiring publication; stating requirements for Board consideration; authorizing Board to grant whole or partial applications; authorizing Board to specify certain terms and conditions; limiting transfer period relating to contracts; authorizing parties to provide for compensation and mitigation; defining basin; providing penalty for violations; authorizing rulemaking; providing for codification; providing for noncodification; and providing an effective date.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1.     NEW LAW     A new section of law to be codified in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 105.2A of Title 82, unless there is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
A.  No person may take or divert any water from a basin of origin in this state and transfer such water to any other basin, located within or outside this state, without first applying for and receiving a permit from the Oklahoma Water Resources Board authorizing the transfer.
B.  The application shall include:
1.  The contract price of the water to be transferred if applicable;
2.  A statement of each general category of proposed use of the water to be transferred and a detailed description of the proposed uses and users under each category;
3.  The cost of diverting, conveying, distributing, and supplying the water to, and treating the water for, the proposed users; and
4.  The projected effect on user rates and fees for each class of ratepayers.
C.  The applicant shall provide the information described in subsection B of this section to any person on request and without cost.
D.  Prior to taking action on an application for an interbasin transfer, the Board shall conduct at least one public meeting to receive comments in both the basin of origin of the water proposed for transfer and the basin receiving water from the proposed transfer.  Notice shall be provided pursuant to subsection G of this section.  At the meeting any person may present relevant information and data on the criteria which the Board is to consider related to the interbasin transfer.
E.  In addition to the public meetings required by subsection D of this section, if the application is contested in a manner requiring an evidentiary hearing under the rules of the Board, the Board shall give notice and hold an evidentiary hearing, in accordance with Board rules and applicable state law.
F.  Notice of an application for an interbasin transfer shall be mailed to the following:
1.  All holders of  water permits located in whole or in part in the basin of origin;
2.  Each county judge of a county located in whole or in part in the basin of origin;
3.  Each mayor of a city with a population of one thousand (1,000) or more located in whole or in part in the basin of origin;
4.  All groundwater conservation districts located in whole or in part in the basin origin; and
5.  Each state legislator in both basins.
G.  The applicant shall cause the notice of application of an interbasin transfer to be published once a week for two consecutive weeks in one or more newspapers having general circulation in each county located in whole or in part in the basin of origin and the receiving basin.  The published notice shall be at least fifteen (15) square inches in size.  The notice of application and public meetings shall be combined in the mailed and published notices.
H.  The notice of application must state how a person may obtain the information described by subsection B of this section.
I.  The applicant shall pay the cost of notice required by this section.  The Board may establish by rule procedures for payment of those costs.
J.  In addition to other requirements of law or Board rules relating to the review of and action on an application for a new or amended water permit, the Board shall weigh the effects of the proposed transfer by considering:
1.  The need for water in the basin of origin and in the proposed receiving basin based on the period for which the water supply is required, but not to exceed fifty (50) years;
2.  Factors identified in the applicable approved regional water plans which address the following:
a.	the availability of feasible and practicable alternative supplies in the receiving basin to the water proposed for transfer,
b.	the amount and purposes of use in the receiving basin for which water is needed,
c.	proposed methods and efforts by the receiving basin to avoid waste and implement water conservation and drought contingency measures,
d.	proposed methods and efforts by the receiving basin to put the water proposed for transfer to beneficial uses,
e.	the projected economic impact that is reasonably expected to occur in each basin as a result of the transfer, and
f.	the projected impacts of the proposed transfer that are reasonably expected to occur on existing water rights, instream uses, water quality, aquatic and riparian habitat that must be assessed in each basin pursuant to law or Board rules.  If the water sought to be transferred is currently authorized to be used under an existing permit, such impacts shall only be considered in relation to that portion of the permit proposed for transfer and shall be based on historical uses of the permit for which amendment is sought;
3.  Proposed mitigation or compensation, if any, to the basin of origin by the applicant;
4.  The continued need to use the water for the purposes authorized under the existing permit, if an amendment to an existing water right or permit is sought; and
5.  The information required to be submitted by the applicant.
K.  The Board may grant, in whole or in part, an application for an interbasin transfer only to the extent that:
1.  The detriments to the basin of origin during the proposed transfer period are less than the benefits to the receiving basin during the proposed transfer period; and
2.  The applicant for the interbasin transfer has prepared a drought contingency plan and has developed and implemented a water conservation plan that will result in the highest practicable levels of water conservation and efficiency achievable within the jurisdiction of the applicant.
L.  The Board may grant new or amended water permits under this section with or without specific terms or periods of use and with specific conditions under which a transfer of water may occur.
M.  If the transfer of water is based on a contractual sale of water, the new water right or amended permit authorizing the transfer shall contain a condition for a term or period not greater than the contract term.
N.  The parties to a contract for an interbasin transfer may include provisions for compensation and mitigation.
O.  For purposes of this section, “basin” shall be designated as identified and described in the Oklahoma Comprehensive Water Plan, adopted on October 17, 2011, and as updated.  A basin may not be redesigned in order to allow a transfer or diversion of water otherwise in violation of this section.
P.  Any person who takes or diverts water in violation of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction is subject to punishment by a fine of not more than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) or by confinement in the county jail for not more than six months.  A person commits a separate offense each day he or she continues to take or divert water in violation of this section.
SECTION 2.     NEW LAW     A new section of law not to be codified in the Oklahoma Statutes reads as follows:
The Oklahoma Water Resources Board is authorized to promulgate rules necessary to implement the provisions of this act.
SECTION 3.  This act shall become effective November 1, 2012.

53-2-2664	MJM	1/18/2012 10:25:29 AM