Take Action
Wyoming Legislative Information
Make
Your Voice Heard to Protect Wyoming’s Streams
Urge key legislators to support In-Stream Flow reforms
Joint Interim Agriculture, Public Lands and Water Resources Committee
Time: 8:30
a.m., Wednesday, Sept. 3
Room 302, State Capitol
Cheyenne, Wyo.
On Wednesday, September 3rd, a subcommittee of the Wyoming State Legislature’s Joint Interim Agriculture, Public Lands and Water Resources Committee will meet to discuss four possible bills that would change Wyoming’s water law for the benefit of fisheries and water-right holders. Please take a moment to familiarize yourself with the issue and let lawmakers know you support greater protection for Wyoming’s streams.
What
are In-Stream Flows?
In 1986, the Wyoming Legislature created a system meant to conserve
the state’s fisheries by preventing streams from drying up, while
still protecting private parties’ existing water rights. The law,
dubbed “In-Stream Flow,” allowed the state to designate a
minimum amount of water to be left in a given stream to maintain fish
habitat.
Why
is an In-Stream Flow law needed at all?
Without an In-Stream Flow statute, Wyoming water law would not recognize
the benefits of leaving even minimal flows in our rivers to protect
fisheries from dewatering due to diversions for agricultural irrigation.
States throughout the West have passed In-Stream Flow laws to balance
out the environmental impacts of 19th Century water laws. Such laws
give the owner of the earliest water right on a stream the power during
shortages to deny water to holders of water rights with later “priority
dates”; they also require water-right holders to continue using
all their allocated water or else risk having their right taken away.
These laws combine to ensure that many streams will be completely dried
up by irrigators in all but the wettest years.
Wyoming water law gives the state government ownership of all the water
in our rivers. Anyone wishing to use it must file for a water right
from the state and demonstrate a “beneficial use” of that
water. Unfortunately, leaving water in the river to prevent destruction
of fisheries is not considered a “beneficial use” for private
water-right holders and is therefore not permitted. The Legislature’s
1986 action only partially addressed this, by allowing the state to
hold a water right explicitly for In-Stream Flow.
What’s
wrong with the current In-Stream Flow law?
The Legislature passed the 1986 In-Stream Flow statute in haste in order
to fend off a citizen ballot initiative that would have protected Wyoming’s
waterways much more broadly. The Legislature crafted its bill to resemble
the voter initiative, but added so many additional complications to
the stream-protection process that, nearly 20 years later, less than
1% of eligible stream miles have been protected.
There are three main problems with Wyoming’s current In-Stream Flow law:
-
Only the state may apply for and hold an in-stream flow water right, thereby preventing concerned landowners from rehabilitating streams on their lands by using their own private water rights, which often have very early priority dates. Landowners who wish to protect their streams must surrender their water right – a valuable property interest – to the state. Unsurprisingly, no one has done so in the entire 17-year history of the law.
-
Secondly, the process the state government must use to protect an in-stream flow is needlessly complex, expensive, and weak. Numerous government agencies are involved, conducting duplicative studies, before finally issuing an in-stream flow water right that carries a modern “priority date” ensuring every earlier water-right holder can ignore the in-stream flow protection anyway.
-
Finally, the current In-Stream Flow law can only be used to maintain fisheries, and only to provide a bare minimum of water that is insufficient for quality habitat. In-Stream Flow cannot be used to maintain or improve aesthetic values, public health, water quality, local economies or recreational opportunities, even though it could advance all of those goals.
How
should we fix the In-Stream Flow law?
Thankfully, many Wyoming landowners are more than ready to protect the
streams that flow through their property, and need only modest changes
to the law to be able to act.
Simply put, people who hold private water rights should be allowed to temporarily designate their original priority water rights for in-stream flows. This is sometimes called “in-channel storage.” Giving water-right holders this tool will not only benefit fisheries and the environment, but will also allow landowners to earn much-needed income from leasing out access to anglers. Current draft legislation would help them to do just that.
Over the longer term, Wyoming lawmakers should further improve the laws by recognizing in-stream flow as a “beneficial use” for private right-holders, and by expanding the law beyond fisheries protection to encompass all the other potential benefits to the public of keeping more water in the stream channel.
What
has happened so far in 2003?
In the 2003 Legislative session, Sen. Cale Case (R-Lander) introduced
an innovative bill that would have streamlined applications and reduced
costs for in-channel storage. Several other bills dealt piecemeal with
aspects of the current system; unfortunately, none of these bills passed.
However, the Joint Interim Agriculture, Public Lands and Water Resources
Committee has launched a formal study of the topic. Committee members
will discuss at least four draft bills Sept. 3 in Cheyenne.
What
can I do?
If possible, attend the meeting! Wyoming’s Legislature is a citizen’s
Legislature. The men and women who serve the state do so at your request
(through your vote). Please let them know that you support increased
flexibility for private property rights holders and the state to protect
our streams. If you do not have time to attend the meeting, please send
a polite, concise letter to all subcommittee members. Listed at the
end of this message are the names, addresses, telephone numbers and
e-mail addresses for all the subcommittee members.
Points
to Ponder
Need some help with points to make to members of the subcommittee? Here
are three good reasons In-Stream Flow laws are important and worth improving:
-
The Game & Fish Department has used the existing In-Stream Flow law to help keep Wyoming’s native species of cutthroat trout off the Endangered Species List. Some of the state’s most popular trout streams, such as the Clark’s Fork of the Yellowstone and the Shoshone River, have In-Stream Flow designations, and several feeder streams around Meeteetse are currently being proposed. Broader application of the law would further reduce the likelihood of species becoming endangered and triggering federal regulation.
-
Properties with live streams (ones that hold fish and flow year-round) are worth up to $1 million more per river mile, vastly increasing resale values for landowners and property tax bases for local communities.
-
Creating in-stream flows is a great way for landowners to supplement their income. For example, a rancher with three miles of private stream running through his land could bring in $135,000 in just six months, by charging $50 a day as a rod and trespass fee, and only allowing 15 anglers per day on his stream. With ever-increasing pressure on public lands, many anglers gladly pay fees for the chance to fish on private lands.
Whom should I contact?
Rep.
James C. Hageman (Republican) (Subcommittee chairman)
HC 72 Box 340
Ft. Laramie, WY 82212
307-837-2890
E-mail: hageman@actcom.net
Rep.
Layton Morgan (Democrat)
1704 Division Avenue
Cheyenne, WY 82007
307-632-8204
E-mail: morgans@cheyennehomes.com
Rep.
Ed Prosser (Republican)
P.O. Box 14
Cheyenne, WY 82003
(307) 632-6068
E-mail: eprosser@house.wyoming.com
Rep.
James J. Slater (Republican)
1727 Rainbow Avenue
Laramie, WY 82070
(307) 742-6378
E-mail: slater@wyoming.com
Sen.
Laness D. Northrup (Republican)
736 Lane 13
Powell, WY 82435
(307) 754-4472
E-mail: lnorthrup@senate.wyoming.com
Thank you for your interest in Wyoming’s streams and fisheries!
For
additional information, contact:
Ben Lamb, Wyoming Conservation Voters – wyoconservation@bresnan.net
Patricia Dowd, Wyoming Chapter of the Sierra Club – patricia.dowd@sierraclub.org
Michele Barlow, Wyoming Outdoor Council – mbarlow@lariat.org
This action alert is distributed by the Wyoming Conservation Network, a cooperative project of Wyoming Conservation Voters, the Wyoming Chapter of the Sierra Club and the Wyoming Outdoor Council. You have received this mailing as a member or mailing-list recipient of one of the above organizations.Your e-mail address has not been exchanged with any organization to which you do not belong.
If you have received this message in error or against your wishes, please send an e-mail to WyoConservation@aol.com with the word "unsubscribe" in the subject line.