Administrative Rules of Montana › Department 36 - NATURAL RESOURCES AND CONSERVATION › Chapter 36.12 - WATER RIGHTS BUREAU › Subchapter 36.12.10 - Petitions for Rule Closure in Highly Appropriated Basins › Rule 36.12.1017 - SHARROTT CREEK BASIN CLOSURE

Current through Register Vol. 13, July 5, 2024
(1) Sharrott Creek
				Basin means the Sharrott Creek drainage area, a tributary of McCalla Creek
				located in the Bitterroot River hydrologic basin, 76H, in Ravalli County,
				Montana. The Sharrott Creek Basin designated as the closure area is all that
				drainage and head waters originating in the Bitterroot Mountains, Township 9
				North, Range 21 West, MPM, and flowing easterly through Sections 19, 20, 28
				& 29, Township 9 North, Range 20 West, MPM to its confluence with McCalla
				Creek at a point in Section 28, Township 9 North, Range 20 West, MPM Ravalli
				County, Montana. The entire Sharrott Creek drainage, from its headwaters to its
				confluence with McCalla Creek, including all tributaries is contained in the
				closure area, as outlined on file map labeled "1-B".
(2) The department shall reject all surface
				water applications to appropriate water within the Sharrott Creek Basin for any
				diversions, including infiltration galleries, for any consumptive uses of water
				during the period from January 1 through December 31.
(3) Applications for nonconsumptive uses
				during the closure period shall be received and processed. Any permit if issued
				shall be modified or conditioned to provide that there will be no decrease in
				the source of supply, no disruption in the stream conditions, and no adverse
				effect to prior appropriators within the reach of stream between the point of
				diversion and the point of return. The applicant for a nonconsumptive use shall
				provide sufficient factual information upon which the department can determine
				the applicants ability to meet the conditions imposed by this rule.
(4) Applications for groundwater shall be
				accepted, however the applicant shall provide sufficient factual information
				upon which the department can determine whether or not the source of the
				groundwater is part of or substantially or directly connected to surface water.
				If it is found that the proposed diversion of groundwater would cause a
				calculable reduction in the surface water flow during the closure period the
				application shall be rejected. A calculable reduction means a theoretical
				reduction based on credible information as opposed to a measured reduction. If
				the applicant fails to submit sufficient factual information as required, the
				application shall be considered defective and shall be processed pursuant to
				85-2-302, MCA.
(5) Emergency appropriations of water as
				defined in ARM
				36.12.101(3) and
				36.12.105 shall be exempt from
				this rule.
(6) This rule applies
				only to applications received by the department after the date of adoption of
				this rule.
(7) The department may,
				if it determines changed circumstances justify it, reopen the basin to
				additional appropriations and amend this rule accordingly after public notice
				and hearing.
Sec.
					 85-2-112 and
					 85-2-319, MCA; IMP, Sec.
					 85-2-319,
					 MCA;