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15-22-909. Water rights — Initiation of regulatory authority within critical groundwater areas.
Arkansas Code — all titles (historical 2020) · legal_authorities
15-22-909. Water rights — Initiation of regulatory authority within critical groundwater areas.
(a)(1) When the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission determines such action to be necessary within a critical groundwater area, it will declare that water rights are required for groundwater withdrawal.
(2) Before initiation of the regulatory program, the commission shall describe the proposed action, the reasons therefor, and the recommended boundaries if they differ from the previous critical groundwater area designation.
(3) Public hearings shall be held in accord with the Arkansas Administrative Procedure Act, § 25-15-201 et seq., and shall be held in each county within the proposed critical groundwater area.
(4) After such a declaration, no person shall withdraw groundwater from an existing well or construct a new well within the critical groundwater area without first obtaining a water right.
(5) All determinations for the current water year shall have been made by March 1 of the preceding water year.
(b) There will be no reduction or limitation for a period of four (4) years of the withdrawal of groundwater from an existing well or a well constructed during the first year following initiation of the regulatory authority and for which a water right is issued under the provisions of § 15-22-910(a).
Source: Arkansas Code — historical release 78 (November 6, 2020) · 15-22-909
Stored review status: Historical 2020-11-06 source release; later amendments not reconciled; machine-extracted, not independently legally reviewed; source heading status: text_in_historical_source. A text match is a research starting point; applicability is not established.
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Stable record: arkansas_code:legal_authorities:15-22-909
Source file: gov.ar.code.title.15.odt
Pages: Not recorded – Not recorded
Passage SHA-256: 90edb608730cf96e3d752a5fb50183a158d970125b24e33147248e97bf0a15f4
Source location: content.xml paragraph 16292
Stored source content
15-22-909. Water rights — Initiation of regulatory authority within critical groundwater areas.
(a)(1) When the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission determines such action to be necessary within a critical groundwater area, it will declare that water rights are required for groundwater withdrawal.
(2) Before initiation of the regulatory program, the commission shall describe the proposed action, the reasons therefor, and the recommended boundaries if they differ from the previous critical groundwater area designation.
(3) Public hearings shall be held in accord with the Arkansas Administrative Procedure Act, § 25-15-201 et seq., and shall be held in each county within the proposed critical groundwater area.
(4) After such a declaration, no person shall withdraw groundwater from an existing well or construct a new well within the critical groundwater area without first obtaining a water right.
(5) All determinations for the current water year shall have been made by March 1 of the preceding water year.
(b) There will be no reduction or limitation for a period of four (4) years of the withdrawal of groundwater from an existing well or a well constructed during the first year following initiation of the regulatory authority and for which a water right is issued under the provisions of § 15-22-910(a).
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Arkansas Code — all titles (historical 2020) · legal_authorities
15-22-910. Water rights — Issuance.
(a) Grandfathering Existing Wells.
(1)(A) Within one (1) year of initiation of the regulatory authority as provided under § 15-22-909, the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission, upon application, shall issue to an applicant within the critical groundwater area a water right for existing wells equal to the average quantity of groundwater withdrawn for beneficial use over the past three (3) water years.
(B) For wells with reported use levels significantly below normal use levels, prior water year use reports may be used to determine the three-year average in subdivision (a)(1)(A) of this section.
(2) For new wells constructed during the first year of initiation of the regulatory authority as provided under § 15-22-909, the commission, upon application, shall issue to an applicant within the critical groundwater area a water right equal to the quantity of groundwater necessary for beneficial use.
(3)(A) Failure to apply within this period shall create a conclusive presumption of abandonment of use.
(B) If the landowner desires to receive a water right, he or she must apply for a water right pursuant to subsection (b) of this section.
(4) Water rights issued pursuant to this subsection shall be exempt from the public notice requirements described in subsection (b) of this section.
(b)New Groundwater Rights Applications.
(1) To obtain a water right, application must be made in a form satisfactory to the commission.
(2) The application shall contain information reasonably necessary to assist the commission in making a determination as to issuance of a water right.
(3) Upon receipt of the application, the commission shall cause to be published a notice of application for water rights in a newspaper with statewide circula
Source: Arkansas Code — historical release 78 (November 6, 2020) · 15-22-910
Stored review status: Historical 2020-11-06 source release; later amendments not reconciled; machine-extracted, not independently legally reviewed; source heading status: text_in_historical_source. The source passage cites 15-22-910. This identifies an authority to review, not proof of applicability.
Arkansas Code — all titles (historical 2020) · legal_authorities
25-15-201. Title.
This subchapter shall be known and cited as the “Arkansas Administrative Procedure Act”.
Source: Arkansas Code — historical release 78 (November 6, 2020) · 25-15-201
Stored review status: Historical 2020-11-06 source release; later amendments not reconciled; machine-extracted, not independently legally reviewed; source heading status: text_in_historical_source. The source passage cites 25-15-201. This identifies an authority to review, not proof of applicability.