3-24 House Second Reading

• Title: 3-24 House Second Reading
• IBCC - Doc Type: Legislation

3-24 House Second Reading

Page 7 of 13

Rep. Hoppy:

Thank you Mr. Chairman. Members, I want to begin by
commending Representative Penry for advancing the bill and being
very accommodating to all those who wanted to come and talk to
him. When I saw the original draft of the bill I too was pretty
frightened, but I will say that Representative Penry has been good
about sitting down with a number of us and addressing our
concern.

In the discussion about the fiscal note, which I did approve in the
Appropriations Committee, I wanted to touch on some of the other
additional expenses that are going to be required by the
Department of Natural Resources. And I think these are really
legitimate expenses.

One of the problems that we have in our entire state, and especially
in this legislature, is the lack of communication, the lack of
education about these issues. And I see it in my own district
among some of my constituents who don't really understand what
the water loss is, what the issues are, what the problems are they're
facing. So part of the fiscal note and the part to the Department of
Natural Resources' staff, goes to public outreach, and I think that
will really help to open up communication among our constituents
in different parts of the state.

I especially like the idea of having the basin roundtables. People
within our own basin don't seem to talk to each other frequently.
So we need to understand each other's problems. I live on the
lower end of the south plat that is especially vulnerable right now
to the municipalities, and frankly we are trying very hard to work
with the municipalities to get those folks to come out and talk with
us and negotiate deals rather than to just come out and buy water
and dry up our land. But we have made big strides in that area.
And I can point to a couple of municipalities that are working well
and playing well with the mral parts of the state. So at this point, I
want to ask for your Aye vote on the bill.

Mr. Chairmall: Representative Rhodes

Rep. Rhodes: Thank you Mr. Chairman. Members, this bill is a simple bill. It
has no power of law when it comes to water agreements. The
water agreements will still be adjudicated through the normal
process. It will go through the court process. This bill simply
allows a roundtable discussion to take place where everyone can
come to the table and say here's what I have, but here's what I need
from these negotiations. And come to an agreement, if possible,

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