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 apply for permits that would allow them to hold more than seven hundred twenty acre-feet of water from a single surface or groundwater source that has not been applied to beneficial use. Applications that violate this limitation will not receive 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" for the purposes of this section is also specified to include 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