Revise state ownership of water rights on state lands
SB 263 would revise Montana's rules about state ownership of water rights used on state trust lands. It directly affects water right owners and land lessees who divert water from private land to benefit state lands under a lease. Key provisions require the state department to seek board authorization before claiming ownership of such water rights, provide 180 days' notice to affected owners, and hold a public hearing where owners can present arguments against the claim. The bill also mandates the department report all water rights it has claimed since 1982 to the board. The bill died in committee in May 2025 and did not become law.
Bill status
died
3 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Feb 2025
Committee Review
Mar 2025
Senate Passage
Feb 2025
House Passage
Governor
Introduced Feb 4, 2025
Last action May 23, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 4 comparisons
What changed between versions
SB0263_2(5).pdf
→
SB0263_2(6).pdf
·
1 edit
MINOR
The bill adds the word 'OF' to clarify that the Board must notify the lessee or water right owner about the time and place of the hearing. This is a minor grammatical correction that improves clarity without changing the substantive requirements of the law.
TECHNICAL
Added the word 'OF' to line 18 to complete the sentence structure, clarifying that the notification must include the time and place for the hearing.
Floor votes · Senate Feb 28, 2025
How they voted
26–23
Passed · 1 other
Total votes 50
Feb 28, 2025
D
Democratic18
100% Nay
R
Republican32
81% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea
All Nay
Mixed
No data
Full legislative history
Actions timeline
Total actions
26
Key actions
3
Committee
4
Amendments
1
Apr 16, 2025
Amended
(H) Tabled in Committee - (H) Natural Resources
lower
Mar 1, 2025
Committee
(H) Referred to Committee - (H) Natural Resources
lower
Feb 28, 2025
Senate · Passed
Senate Vote: pass (26-23-1)
senate
Feb 18, 2025
Upper · Passed
(S) Committee Report - (S) Natural Resources
upper
Feb 17, 2025
Upper · Passed
(S) Committee Executive Action - (S) Natural Resources
upper
Feb 5, 2025
Committee
(S) Referred to Committee - (S) Natural Resources
upper
Feb 4, 2025
Introduced
(S) Introduced
upper
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors
Sponsors
Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Becky Beard
RRepublican
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