State of Montana Newsroom
Superintendent Arntzen Pledges Support for Private Property Rights
HELENA – Land Board Commissioner and State Superintendent Elsie Arntzen listened to passionate public comment on water rights issues during the State Land Board meeting on Monday, April 15. The Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC) was asked to present information on its delegated responsibilities for state trust land management specific to private water rights in relation to state trust land leases after several concerns were raised by members of the Montana agriculture community. During the 2019 legislative session, HB 286, authored by Representative and rancher Alan Redfield, revised water rights in connection to state land leases stating that “the state may not obtain an ownership interest in a water right or the groundwater development works of a water right that is diverted from a well or developed spring located on private land exclusively based on trustee obligations for state trust land.”
“I will always protect our Montana farmers and ranchers from bureaucratic overreach,” said Superintendent Elsie Arntzen. “The lack of transparency from DNRC on legislative action is clear. Water is the lifeblood of agriculture. I urge my fellow Land Board commissioners to recognize and reverse the antiquated delegation of authority that harms private property rights.”
“As a property owner and someone who utilizes state trust lands, I worry that my water rights could be seized next,” said Carl DeVries, member of the board of directors of the Rock Creek Water Users Association and board member of the Senior Ag Water Rights Alliance. “The state Land Board has the authority to end these overreaching DNRC actions. The elected members of the board — the governor, the auditor, the attorney general, the secretary of the state, and the superintendent of public instruction — have the authority to reverse the DNRC's course.”
DNRC asserts that private water rights used during state trust land leases for livestock grazing and growing crops become state property when the agricultural lease is over. This issue began in 1996 when the Land Board authorized DNRC to manage these decisions. HB 286 relates to § 85-2-306, MCA, which states that “groundwater may be appropriated only by a person who has a possessory interest in the property where the water is to be put to beneficial use and exclusive property rights in the groundwater development works.”
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