41-2-114(a)(ii), the commission shall after giving public notice

41-2-114(a)(ii), the commission shall after giving public notice hold a public hearing within the affected water division. Any interested person, association or state or federal agency may appear and participate as a party. Following the hearing, the commission shall make public a report of their findings relative to whether the project is in the public interest, stipulating if the proposed project functions and services can be served by any person, association or corporation engaged in private enterprise, or if private enterprise has refused to provide the functions and services identified as being required by the proposed project. The commission shall then proceed as set forth in subsections (b) and (c) of this section. Nothing in this section shall be construed to interfere with the duties of the state engineer or the state board of control.

(b) The commission shall within ninety (90) days following the public hearings transmit its findings and recommendations to the governor and legislature pursuant to W.S. 41-2-114(a). Within thirty (30) days following receipt of the findings and recommendations of the commission, the governor shall submit separate recommendations concerning the projects to the legislature. If the recommendations of the governor differ from those of the commission, the governor shall state the reasons for nonconcurrence with the recommendations of the commission.

(c) If the commission finds that a project is desirable and in the public interest, and that some other governmental agency, public district or private corporation or association is desirous and capable of constructing, operating and maintaining the project and accomplishing the public interest to be served thereby, the commission, with the approval of the governor and the legislature, shall transfer or assign the project and any property or rights connected therewith to the agency, district, corporation or association upon agreed terms for reimbursement of the expense of predevelopment costs, payment for property and assurances of construction, operation and maintenance.

41-2-116. Water rights.

(a) The director of the Wyoming water development office shall, at the direction of the governor, file applications in the name of the state of Wyoming for permits to appropriate water, to construct dams and other works, and to take the steps necessary to acquire, maintain or preserve the priority of any right essential to any project which is or may become a project of the Wyoming water development program, except that nothing in this subsection shall be construed to authorize or empower the director of the Wyoming water development office to acquire water rights through the power of eminent domain.

(b) All laws of the state relating to the appropriation and use of water shall apply to any projects of the Wyoming water development program.

41-2-117. Wyoming water development commission; membership; removal; terms.

(a) The Wyoming water development commission is created to consist of ten (10) members. The membership shall include:

(i) Nine (9) persons, two (2) shall be residents appointed from each water division of the state as defined in W.S. 41-3-501, at least one (1) will be a person having an adjudicated water right. One (1) resident of Wyoming shall be appointed at large and one (1) shall be an enrolled member of the Eastern Shoshone or Northern Arapaho tribes who is resident on the Wind River Indian Reservation:

(A) They shall be appointed by the governor, after consultation with the superintendent of each water division and approval of the senate, and may be removed by the governor as provided in W.S. 9-1-202;  (B) Not more than seventy-five percent (75%) of the members shall be of the same political party;

(C) Appointments are for a term of four (4) years;

(D) Five (5) of the first appointees shall serve two (2) year terms and four (4) appointees shall serve four (4) year terms;

(E) No person shall be appointed for more than two (2) consecutive terms;

(F) If any member ceases to reside in or is absent from the division from which appointed for a continuous period of six (6) months or more, the governor shall declare his office vacant and shall appoint a successor from the same division for the unexpired term;

(G) The governor shall fill a vacancy for an unexpired term in a like manner to subparagraph (F) of this paragraph;

(H) The commission shall annually select one (1) of its members as chairman and one (1) of its members as secretary;

(J) To serve as consultants without vote the following are designated:

(I) The state engineer or his designee;

(II) The chief executive officer of the Wyoming business council or other person designated by the council; and

(III) A person with interest, training and expertise in water resource matters from the University of Wyoming or the Wyoming Water Resource Research Institute, appointed by the president of the university with the approval of the board of trustees.

(b) Members from the four (4) water divisions, the at-large member and the tribal member shall be voting members of the commission. Six (6) members constitute a quorum for the transaction of commission business.  (c) All grant and loan programs over which the commission has authority shall be administered by the Wyoming water development office.

41-2-118. Powers, duties, salaries and expenses of commission.

(a) The commission shall:

(i) Repealed by Laws 1992, ch. 42, § 4.

(ii) Have authority to contract for legal counsel upon approval of the governor to assist in matters related to water resource development as directed by the commission. By request of the commission and upon approval of the governor, the legal counsel shall be entitled to use monies appropriated for legal matters relating to water development. Legal counsel shall consult with the commission, director of the Wyoming water development office, state engineer and attorney general on a regular basis;

(iii) Submit an annual report of its activities, expenses, recommendations and other items to the governor and the joint agriculture, state and public lands and water resources interim committee by December 31;

(iv) Meet quarterly and as necessary and as the governor may direct;

(v) Biennially on or after March 1 elect a chairman from the nine (9) persons;

(vi) Establish and adjust priorities for water development projects;

(vii) Adopt rules and regulations to implement the provisions of W.S. 41-1-106 through 41-1-108 and 41-2-107 through 41-2-118, including establishment of qualifications for the administrator;

(viii) Perform other duties as directed by law;

(ix) As nearly as possible represent and assist all interests advocating water development and conservation in the state;  (x) Have the duty and the authority to conduct studies, develop plans, and recommend legislation which may be enacted for the purpose of securing full utilization of the waters of the state of Wyoming, giving priority to projects for utilization of waters not now being beneficially used in Wyoming;

(xi) Repealed by Laws 1992, ch. 42, § 4.

(xii) Establish an application fee not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) which shall be paid by potential project beneficiaries prior to commission consideration of a project for inclusion in the water development program. Application fees shall be deposited into water development account I;

(xiii) Represent or advocate the state's interests in negotiations and construction of water projects assigned by the legislature or the governor;

(xiv) Have authority to temporarily defer the principal amount due on debt service payments for money loaned to an irrigation district, watershed improvement district, conservation district or a conservancy district for construction of water development projects whenever the governor has declared that a drought emergency exists within the affected district's service area. The district shall be eligible for the temporary deferral of the principal amount due, provided the interest payments on the remaining principal amount are paid and current. The commission shall amend the amortization schedule to reflect the length of time from the date the affected district seeks the temporary deferral to the date the governor declares the emergency drought condition no longer exists;

(xv) With the approval of the governor, have the authority to enter into contracts and agreements with the United States of America or its duly authorized representative agency to accept federal funds through grants or matching funds or from other sources for project costs pertaining to the utilization of Wyoming's water resources; and

(xvi) Have authority to promulgate rules to delegate administrative duties to the Wyoming water development office to facilitate the effective operation of the commission.

(b) Commission members shall receive a salary of one hundred twenty-five dollars ($125.00) per day and actual and necessary traveling expenses while away from home while engaged in the performance of commission duties.

41-2-119. Groundwater studies.

(a) The Wyoming water development commission may grant not to exceed eight million eight hundred thousand dollars ($8,800,000.00) to incorporated cities and towns, water and sewer districts and improvement and service districts in Wyoming for exploration for and feasibility studies of the use of underground water for municipal and rural domestic purposes, not to exceed four hundred thousand dollars ($400,000.00) for any one (1) exploration or study. The grants shall be made from revenues from water development account I and those revenues are hereby so appropriated. Any city or town, water and sewer district or service and improvement district receiving a grant pursuant to this section shall provide at least twenty-five percent (25%) of the cost of the exploration or study from its own funds. The commission shall adopt rules and regulations governing application procedures for the grants.

(b) The commission may expend from the funds appropriated under subsection (a) of this section for exploration and for feasibility studies of the use of underground water for municipal and rural domestic purposes subject to the following conditions:

(i) The exploration or study shall be conducted in conjunction with an incorporated city or town, water and sewer district or service and improvement district in Wyoming under an agreement;

(ii) Not more than four hundred thousand dollars ($400,000.00) in state funds shall be expended for any one (1) exploration or study under this subsection;

(iii) The incorporated city or town, water and sewer district or service and improvement district shall provide at least twenty-five percent (25%) of the cost of the exploration or study from funds other than under this subsection;

(iv) The incorporated city or town, water and sewer district, or improvement and service district shall apply for participation in this program under procedures established by rules and regulations adopted by the commission.  41-2-120. Approval of loans, construction or water contracts and agreements.

All loans, construction or water contracts and agreements to which the state is a party, entered into pursuant to this act or W.S. 41-2-114, shall be submitted to the select [water] committee for thirty (30) days for its review and recommendation and approved and executed by the governor and the head of the agency, commission or board.

41-2-121. Criteria for water development projects; disclosure of personal interests by commission.

(a) The water development commission shall establish criteria for evaluation and administration of water development projects. Criteria shall include but not be limited to the following:

(i) All water development proposals submitted to the legislature shall be reviewed by and accompanied by the recommendation of the water development commission;

(ii) The commission's recommendation shall:

(A) Emphasize projects developing unappropriated water;

(B) Give preference wherever possible to projects developing new storage capacity;

(C) Consider the potential for development of hydroelectric power in any project through Level II;

(D) Include a summary of the commission's findings under W.S. 41-2-112(b);

(E) Include financing methods subject to the following:

(I) Any water development project may be financed by grants not to exceed seventy-five percent (75%) of the total cost of the project;

(II) Storage projects may be financed by grants for the full cost of the storage capacity but not to exceed public benefits as computed by the commission;  (III) Loans may be made for domestic, municipal, agricultural, industrial, recreational or fish and wildlife enhancement purposes;

(IV) The term of a loan shall not exceed fifty (50) years after substantial completion of a project;

(V) Payment of interest and principal on loans may be deferred for not more than five (5) years after substantial completion of the project;

(VI) Loan contracts for project construction shall include provisions to ensure [that] the project shall be operated and maintained during the term of the loan;

(VII) The state may elect to own all or a part of a project and enter into water service repayment contracts with project developers;

(VIII) A project involving a transbasin diversion shall address the impact of the diversion and recommend measures to mitigate any adverse impact identified in the basin of origin;

(IX) Interest on a loan should provide a reasonable return to the state but shall not be less than four percent (4%) except when the commission recommends a lower interest rate because of public benefits;

(X) Loan contracts for project construction shall provide for payment of interest on defaulted payments at a rate of ten percent (10%) per annum.

(iii) Repealed by Laws 1986, ch. 109, § 3.

(iv) The commission may disqualify from consideration or give lower priority to a project proposed to correct problems identified in a review performed by the department of environmental quality under W.S. 18-5-306(c) where the board of county commissioners approved a subdivision application notwithstanding the department's recommendation that the application be disapproved.

(b) Any member of the commission who has a personal or private interest in any matter proposed or pending before the commission shall publicly disclose this fact to the commission and shall not vote thereon.

(c) Within sixty (60) days after the effective date of this subsection or within sixty (60) days following appointment and annually on or before January 1, each member of the commission shall file written disclosures relative to all interests held by the member or the member's spouse, including interests in partnerships and corporations, with the secretary of state, of:

(i) Any water rights, permits or applications held, whether for direct flow, reservoirs or underground water;

(ii) Any interests in engineering or construction firms which engage in designing or constructing water projects.

(d) The promulgation of operating procedures and program criteria by the commission under this section and decisions of the commission relating to the recommendation, prioritization or disqualification of projects are specifically exempt from all provisions of the Wyoming Administrative Procedure Act including provisions for judicial review under W.S. 16-3-114 and 16-3-115.

(e) Prior to authorizing a water development project, the commission shall require each project sponsor to demonstrate that the entity has the authority to adequately assess fees or collect funds to cover operation and maintenance expenses related to the water development project. Any entity that does not have the authority or ability to collect sufficient funds for the operation and maintenance of the project may be required by the commission to establish an operations and maintenance account as provided in this section. The commission shall develop criteria related to the establishment of an operations and maintenance account which shall include:

(i) An operations and maintenance account shall only be required for project sponsors that have taken out a loan for any portion of the project expense and shall not be required after the loan has been repaid;

(ii) The funds required in any operations and maintenance account shall not exceed ten percent (10%) of the project cost.

41-2-122. Protection and rights of landowner.  (a) The Wyoming water development commission shall include in the planning process at Level I notification to a landowner whose lands may be flooded or otherwise physically affected, as determined by the administrator. The commission shall include in the planning process at Level II consultation with any landowner whose land may be flooded or otherwise physically affected by a proposed water project and shall include a report on the proposed mitigation of landowner impacts as jointly identified by the commission and the landowner.

(b) The Wyoming water development commission shall consult with and supply copies of reports and studies to any landowner whose land will be flooded or physically affected by any proposed water development project. The commission and any employees or other persons under the control of the commission shall mitigate any damages and disruption of the landowner's operations during the study phase including prevention of public nuisances and shall enter on private property only in the manner provided by W.S. 1-26-506 and shall also be subject to W.S.