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National Water Rights Digest
Reference
Wyoming
Your source for information about water rights from coast to coast

Type of state	Prior appropriation.
Water supply	Limited; this is in general one of the most arid states, though some areas have ample supply.
Water use
Controlling law	In each of the State's four Water Divisions, a Division Advisory Committee on ground water has been established. Each Division Advisory Committee consists of three individuals who reside within the Water Division and who are appointed by the Governor for six-year terms. The function of the Division Advisory Committee on ground water is to advise the State Engineer and State Board of Control on matters relative to ground water development in their respective Water Division and to call and supervise the election of Control Area Advisory Boards. Board of Control - The Board administers the waters of the State of Wyoming, both surface and underground, in accordance with constitutional and statutory authority. Each superintendent appointed by the Governor must be qualified by examination and be a resident of the appropriate Water Division. The board is composed of the four superintendents and the State Engineer. No political split is required. The Surface Water and Engineering Division is responsible for reviewing permit applications for any request for putting surface waters of the state to a beneficial use. Permits are issued for, 1) transporting water through ditch or pipelines; 2) for storage in reservoirs; 3) storage in smaller (under 20 acre-feet of capacity and a dam height less than 20 feet) reservoir facilities for stockwater or wildlife purposes; 4) enlargements to existing ditch or storage facilities; and 5) for instream flow purposes. This Division also carries out the Safety of Dams Program for Wyoming. The State Engineer is responsible for ensuring the safety and structural integrity of water storage facilities in the state. On-site inspections of facilities are made and any new or rehabilitation construction plans must be reviewed and approved by the State Engineer's Office. The Instream Flow Law was passed by the 1986 Wyoming Legislature which allowed for the maintenance of stream flows to be considered a beneficial use. Unlike other water rights which may be applied for by the general public, only the Water Development Commission (WWDC) may apply for an instream flow water right. The Wyoming Game and Fish Department completes biological studies of a stream reach to determine what flows are required from a fisheries habitat perspective. The WWDC then completes hydrologic analyses to determine the amount of water available in that particular stream segment. The State Engineer then holds a public hearing prior to making his decision regarding the amount for the instream flow. Groundwater: -- The Ground Water Division has been registering ground water rights for all uses except stock and domestic since 1947. In 1955, legislation was passed requiring that a permit be obtained from the State Engineer's Office prior to the drilling of all wells, except stock and domestic wells. Since May 24, 1969 a permit is required prior to the drilling of any water well. Ground water rights are issued for the same beneficial uses as for surface water rights. Due to the large scale development of ground water for irrigation use in some areas of the state, three groundwater management districts called Control Areas have been established. An Advisory Group is elected in each of the Control Areas to review new permit applications, requests for water right changes, and advise the State Engineer's Office regarding such items. The State Engineer is empowered to require driller's reports, water use reports, create well spacing requirements, well construction standards, and require wells to be sealed. The Ground Water Division maintains a statewide observation well network, conducts interference investigations and water right adjudication (finalization) inspections. Cooperative investigations of the occurrence and availability of the State's groundwater resources are conducted by the Ground Water Division and the United States Geological Survey.
Water rights	The Wyoming Constitution defines that all natural waters within the boundaries of the state are declared to be the property of the state. The Wyoming State Engineer's Office is charged with the regulation and administration of the water resources in Wyoming. Wyoming water law operates under the prior appropriation doctrine, or "first in time-first in right". Those holding an earlier priority water right are allowed to receive their full portion of water before those with junior rights may receive water under their right. Water rights can be issued to anyone who plans to make beneficial use of the water. Recognized beneficial uses include: irrigation, municipal, industrial, power generation, recreational, stock, domestic, pollution control, instream flows, and miscellaneous. Water rights holders are limited to withdrawals necessary for the purpose. For example, irrigators are allowed to divert up to 1 cfs (cubic foot per second) for each 70 acres under irrigation. Water rights can be considered to be abandoned if non-use over a five-year period is shown. Wyoming recognizes various types of water rights. Supplemental water rights, according to state code, are those "from a new source of supply for application to lands for which an appropriation of water from a primary source already exists" – in other words, an extra source that serves as a backup in a dry season (and Wyoming rules prohibit the user from tapping supplemental supplies unless they are needed to meet the diversion rate of the normal water right). In one 1993 case, a water user filed a case against another water user, saying the second user's supplemental rights should be considered abandoned since they had not been used for five years. The Board of Control, noting that the user had not needed to use the supplemental right, held that it had not been abandoned; but the Wyoming Supreme Court, reading the abandonment law strictly, held that it had been forfeited.
Interstate relations	Wyoming, resting on the Continental Divide, sends water to several other states, notably to Idaho (the Snake River) and to Nebraska (the North Platte). The latter has produced extensive litigation which in mid-1997 seemed, finally, to be reaching near conclusion. The U.S. Supreme Court originally apportioned the North Platte in 1945 (allotting 75% of river flow to Nebraska), but that did not settle the issue, partly because one provision specifically said the whole situation should be revisited upon construction (then planned) of new dams, which became the Whalen Dam in Wyoming and the Tri-State Dam on the Wyoming-Nebraska border. As a headwaters state, Wyoming is party to seven interstate compacts and 2 U.S. Supreme Court decrees. In addition to participating in the Commissions that have been established to administer these compacts, the State Engineer also participates in a number of basin- or region-wide water resource groups and associations. Compacts: Colorado River Compact, 1922--Divides the basin at Lee Ferry, AZ. Provides that the upper basin states may use 7.5 million acre feet annually. Upper Colorado River, 1948--Apportions 14% of the water allocated in the Colorado River Compact to Wyoming. Amended Bear River, 1978--Provides for administration of flows and storage between Utah, Idaho, and Wyoming. Belle Fourche River, 1943--Allocates new uses after 1943, 10% to Wyoming and 90% to South Dakota. Snake River, 1949--Wyoming may divert 4% of the ID-WY stateline flow for post-1949 uses. Upper Niobrara River, 1962--Restrictions on storage in larger (over 500 acre feet) facilities. Yellowstone River Compact, 1950--Allocates the flows of the Powder, Tongue, Bighorn and Clarks Fork Rivers between Montana and Wyoming. Court Decrees: North Platte River, 1945--The Supreme Court ruled that Wyoming could irrigate up to 168,000 acres. Natural flow split at the state line 25% to Wyoming and 75% to Nebraska. Laramie River, 1911, 1922--Allows Colorado to divert up to 39,750 acre feet per year.
Litigation	Wyoming has been undergoing, for many years, two major water adjudications: The Wind River and the Big Horn River. A 1992 case showed how varied (some say incoherent) legal rules on the subject have become. The Indian Tribes in the Big Horn area wanted to transfer some of their irrigation water right to in-stream rights, basing the substance and process not on state law but on their own tribal Water Code; meanwhile, the state engineer sought the right to administer directly water in the area. The state engineer won on both counts, but barely, with all five of the Supreme Court justices issuing different opinions to support their view.
Analysis