Current through Register Vol. 18, September 20, 2024
(1) A management
plan shall accompany all reservation applications for diversionary uses. Plans
for diversionary uses shall contain the technical information needed to
adequately define project size and function. The plan must be accompanied by
maps or drawings showing the project locations, including, where applicable,
point(s) of diversion, place(s) of storage, main delivery systems, and place(s)
of water use, indicated to an accuracy of the nearest 1/4
1/4
1/4 section. Such maps shall include section, township, and range numbers.
All project plans shall demonstrate a consideration of water conservation
measures.
(a) Plans for storage facilities
shall include prefeasibility studies estimating firm yield of the proposed
reservoir. If the reservoir is planned to supply the demand on a non-firm
basis, information shall be included to estimate how often the demand is
successfully met. Consideration of Montana dam safety laws and federal dam
safety funding requirements shall also be demonstrated in the storage facility
plans. Ownership of lands that would be inundated by a proposed storage
facility must be indicated.
(b) The
management plan shall include an analysis of the financial feasibility of the
project(s) . The ability to finance project costs through bond sales,
commercial loans, project revenues, or other means must be addressed. If the
project is not financially feasible using these means, the application shall
contain a discussion of how financial feasibility might be achieved. Among the
factors to be considered are the availability of subsidies, or changes in
interest rates, commodity prices, and production and installation
costs.
(c) For applications
involving irrigation, the following must be clearly identified:
(i) north arrow;
(ii) scale bar;
(iii) section corners and numbers;
(iv) township and range numbers;
(v) all proposed points of
diversion;
(vi) all proposed places
of use;
(vii) proposed reservoir
locations;
(viii) proposed water
distribution systems;
(ix) proposed
drainage systems;
(x) the location
of irrigated and irrigable lands in the project areas. For irrigable lands, the
map shall delineate soil classifications using the U.S. Soil Conservation
Service's soil mapping units, the department's land classification standards,
or other methods acceptable to the department. A narrative describing the
criteria used for selecting irrigable lands shall be included in the
application. Soil suitability for irrigation must be based on standards
acceptable to the department; and
(xi) the ownership of land proposed to be
irrigated with reserved water and lands underlying project of facilities. A
table that lists ownership locations may be substituted for this requirement.
Additional maps must be submitted if the information on one map cannot convey
the required information clearly and must be of the same scale so that they can
be overlain.
(d)
Municipal applicants must submit preliminary engineering feasibility plans that
define the service area, project design, water system capacity, and location.
The plan must include preliminary plans or designs for metering the
system.
(e) Capability of
proceeding with reasonable diligence must be documented by presenting a
schedule of activities needed to apply reserved water to beneficial use
including target dates or years when financing will be available, facilities
built, and the water applied to beneficial use.
(f) Where individual users or groups of users
will be responsible for applying reserved water to beneficial use, the
applicant must present a set of administrative procedures that describes who
shall qualify to use the reserved water, the steps such users must take to
apply the reserved water to beneficial use and, as appropriate, the means by
which the reserved waters would be allocated during shortages.
(2) A management plan shall
accompany all reservation applications for instream use(s), as defined in ARM
36.16.102(14),
and shall include an explanation of how reserved instream flows will be
protected from future depletions by later priority users.
AUTH:
85-2-113, MCA; IMP:
85-2-316,
85-2-331,
85-2-605,
MCA
