Title 41 · WY
41-3-301, together with the approximate location and area of the
Citation: Wyo. Stat. § 41-3-301
Section: 41-3-301
41-3-301, together with the approximate location and area of the lands to be irrigated and approximate capacity of each of the reservoirs to be constructed. It shall be the duty of the state engineer to approve any such application made in conformity herewith which contemplates the application of the water of a drainage basin to the beneficial use of a major irrigable portion thereof where the proposed use does not tend to impair the value of existing rights, or to be otherwise detrimental to the public welfare; provided, however, that any permit for appropriation of waters for beneficial uses upon the irrigable lands designated in such a drainage basin project application, must be conditioned for the submission to the state engineer of detailed maps, plans and specifications applicable to a single subdivision of the project and the approval thereof by the state engineer, prior to the commencement of the construction of any such subdivisions; provided further that such subdivision maps, plans and specifications shall conform to the requirements hereinafter set forth as applicable to other applications not embracing the major irrigable portion of an entire drainage basin.
(b) Except for applications made pursuant to subsection (a) or (c) of this section, every other application for a permit to appropriate water for beneficial uses must be accompanied by a map or plat, showing accurately the location and extent of the proposed work. The maps or plats must be on a scale to conform to the regulations of the state engineer and be made by or under the responsible charge of a professional engineer or professional land surveyor and be signed by and bear the seal of the professional engineer or professional land surveyor; they must show the location of the headgate or point of diversion by courses and distances from some government corner; they must show the actual location of the ditch or canal, or water line of the reservoir, and must show, wherever section lines are crossed, the distance to the nearest government corner. The map or plat must show the course of the river, stream or other source of supply; the location and area of all lands proposed to be reclaimed; the position and area of all reservoirs or basins intended to be created for the purpose of storing water; the location of the intersection with all other ditches, canals, laterals or reservoirs which are caused by this work, or with which connections are made. These maps must contain the name of the proposed work, and, where possible, the number of the permit. They must in addition, have the name or names of the applicant or applicants and the certificate of the engineer or surveyor, giving the date of survey, his name and address.
(c) Notwithstanding subsections (a) and (b) of this section, an application and accompanying maps, plans, plats and designs filed in the state engineer's office shall comply with the requirements of W.S. 33-29-801(a)(ii) through (iv) and subsections (d) and (e) of this section when the application is to:
(i) Construct small reservoirs for stock or other beneficial uses where the capacity of the reservoir does not exceed twenty (20) acre feet or twenty (20) feet in dam height;
(ii) Develop springs for any beneficial use up to twenty-five (25) gallons per minute; or
(iii) Construct flood water detention dams storing fifty (50) acre feet or less and not to exceed twenty (20) feet in height provided the dam has a minimum outlet of eighteen (18) inches diameter and the dead storage does not exceed twenty (20) acre feet.
(d) An application made pursuant to subsection (c) of this section shall be signed by the applicant or an agent acting for him and shall be accompanied, at a minimum, by aerial photographs, digital imagery or United States geological survey quadrangle maps, of a scale provided by Wyoming board of professional engineers and professional land surveyors rule, with designation of the township, range, section and section corner or quarter corner and the location of the installation designated in the quarter section on the photographs or United States geological survey quadrangle maps and a description of:
(i) The dam including height, width, depth, construction materials, depth to be submerged and height of the free board; and
(ii) The reservoir including length, width, average depth, submerged area and capacity. (e) Aerial photographs, digital imagery or United States geological survey quadrangle maps accompanying an application made pursuant to subsection (c) of this section shall comply with the following requirements:
(i) Two (2) aerial photographs, digital images or United States geological survey quadrangle maps shall accompany each application;
(ii) The scale on the aerial photographs, digital imagery or United States geological survey quadrangle maps shall not be less than two (2) inches to the mile;
(iii) An identified section corner or quarter corner shall be shown on each aerial photograph, digital image or United States geological survey quadrangle map;
(iv) The entire section in which the facility is located shall be shown on each aerial photograph, digital image or United States geological survey quadrangle map along with subdivision lines showing forty (40) acre tracts; and
(v) The location of the facility shall be shown within the proper forty (40) acre subdivision.
(f) The state engineer may adopt rules and regulations which provide exceptions to the filing requirements of subsections (a) and (b) of this section for projects for which, because of the size, nature or location, an exception would not impede upon public safety or the integrity of a water right. The exceptions provided pursuant to this subsection shall be in addition to the exceptions provided in subsection (c) of this section.
41-4-508. Maps and plats; examination; approval; filing; return of copy.
It shall be the duty of the state engineer to examine these maps or plats and to ascertain if they agree with the description contained in the application, and when found to agree, or made to agree, to approve the same, file one (1) copy in his office and return the other, approved, to the party filing them. These maps or plats may be received and maintained by the state engineer in an electronic format. 41-4-509. Maps and plats; additional information; longitudinal profiles of ditches.
In case of ditches or canals carrying more than fifty (50) cubic feet of water per second, the engineer may require, in addition to the maps or plats above described, the following: a longitudinal profile of the ditch showing the bottom and proposed water line; the horizontal scale of this line shall not be less than one (1) inch to one thousand (1,000) feet, and the vertical scale not less than one (1) inch to twenty (20) feet. If submitted electronically, the file shall be capable of reproduction at these scales.
41-4-510. Maps and plats; additional information; cross section plans; plans of obstructions; reservoir specifications; field notes.
The engineer may require, in addition to the maps and plats above described, a plan showing cross sections at a sufficient number of points to show the different forms which the ditch, when completed, will take, and showing what proportion of the water is to be conveyed in excavation and what proportion to be conveyed in fill. These plans shall be drawn, or be capable of being drawn and printed if submitted electronically, on a horizontal and vertical scale of one (1) inch to twenty (20) feet. Plans of any dams, cribs, embankments or other proposed work to obstruct any river, stream, lake or pond, or other source of water supply, shall be drawn on a longitudinal scale of not less than one (1) inch to two hundred (200) feet, and for cross sections on a scale of not less than one (1) inch to twenty (20) feet; and shall show what material is intended to be used and placed in such work. Timber, brush, stone or other material except earth used in such works shall be shown in detail on a plan, the scale of which shall not be less than one (1) inch to four (4) feet. The maps of all proposed reservoirs shall show the surface of the ground under water, and a sufficient number of lines of level shall be shown so that the contents of the reservoir or basin may be approximately determined. If the levels shall be shown by contour lines they shall be on a scale sufficiently large to show vertical levels not exceeding five (5) feet, and with all such reservoir plans there shall be furnished a plan, on a scale of not less than one (1) inch to four (4) feet, showing the method of providing a wasteway for such reservoir, and method of drawing off the water from such reservoir or basin. If the state engineer deems it necessary he may require the submission of complete plans and specifications for his approval. He may also require the filing of field notes of canal and reservoir surveys.
41-4-511. Final proof of appropriation; procedures generally.
Whenever an appropriation of water has been perfected in accordance with any permit issued by the state engineer, the appropriator may submit final proof of appropriation of water at any time within the time specified by W.S. 41-4-506, to the superintendent of the water division in which the water right involved is situated, or, when more expedient, before the superintendent of another water division or the state engineer, or before a water commissioner in accordance with the provisions of W.S. 41-4-308. Proof shall be made by appropriators under oath upon forms furnished by the state board of control. The superintendent shall collect for each proof taken a fee not to exceed one hundred dollars ($100.00), which fee shall be transmitted to the secretary of the board of control together with the several proofs taken. The secretary of the board of control shall use the fee to pay the appropriate amount for the county recording fee for the recording of the certificate of appropriation in the office of the county clerk of the county in which the water right is situated and the newspaper advertising fee for advertising the several proofs as provided in this section. The remainder of the fee shall be remitted to the state treasurer to the credit of the general fund. If the board of control rejects any proof, the fee shall be returned to the person, association or corporation submitting such proof. At least thirty (30) days prior to any regular meeting of the state board of control the superintendent of each water division shall cause all proofs taken by him to be advertised in at least one (1) issue of a newspaper having general circulation in the community where the water right involved is situated, such advertisement to contain in each case the permit number, the date of priority, the name of the ditch, canal or reservoir, the name of the appropriator, the name of the stream from which the appropriation is made, and the amount of the appropriation expressed in acres for ditches designed for the irrigation of lands and in acre-feet for reservoirs, or in cubic feet per second or gallons per minute when the appropriation is for domestic, stock, municipal, industrial, manufacturing, fish hatchery or power purposes. Advertisements shall state the time when, and the place where, the proofs of appropriation of water taken by the superintendent will be open for public inspection for a period of not less than one (1) or more than five (5) days, and the last day of the period shall not be less than fifteen (15) days prior to the meeting of the board. Any party claiming an interest in any water right from the stream or streams to which the advertised proofs refer, shall have the right to contest the proposed adjudications according to the provisions of W.S. 41-4-312 through 41-4-315. Upon the completion of the taking of proofs of appropriation and the advertising, the superintendent of each water division shall transmit to the office of the state board of control in Cheyenne the several proofs taken, together with fees collected, and shall accompany the same with affidavits of publication as evidence of the required advertisement. At its next regular meeting the board shall consider all proofs of appropriation received from the division superintendents and if satisfied that there are no conflicts and that any appropriation involved has been perfected in accordance with the permit issued by the state engineer, the state board of control by the hand of its president, attested under seal, shall issue a certificate of appropriation of water as described in W.S. 41-4-325 and send the certificate to the county clerk of the county in which the use of water has been made to be recorded by the clerk as provided in W.S. 41-4-325.
41-4-512. Final proof of appropriation; date of priority.
The priority of such appropriation shall date from the filing of the application in the engineer's office.
41-4-513. Adjudication of underground water rights.
After issuance of a permit, or recording of a statement of claim, or registration of a well, under the procedures provided for by law, and completion of the work according to the terms of the permit, as certified to by the state engineer or his authorized representative following an inspection of the work, and the recording of such information as is deemed necessary concerning the works, and an inspection of the lands irrigated or of the other uses being made of the water, the board of control may adjudicate such underground water rights upon proof of beneficial use being submitted as provided for by W.S.