The bill amends section 61-04-03.1 of the North Dakota Century Code to establish a limitation on the amount of water that can be held under conditional water permits for irrigation. Specifically, it stipulates that an applicant cannot hold more than seven hundred twenty acre-feet of water from a single surface or ground water source that has not been applied to beneficial use. If an application exceeds this limit, it will not be assigned a priority date and must be returned to the applicant by the department of water resources.

Additionally, the bill clarifies that this limitation does not apply to water permit applications from the Missouri River or to those submitted by irrigation districts organized under the relevant title. The definition of "person" in this context includes the individual, their spouse, and dependents as defined by the Internal Revenue Code.

Statutes affected:
INTRODUCED: 61-16.1-43
Prepared by the Legislative Council staff for Representative Brandenburg: 61-04-03.1
FIRST ENGROSSMENT: 61-04-03.1
Enrollment: 61-04-03.1