Administrative Rules of Montana › Department 36 - NATURAL RESOURCES AND CONSERVATION › Chapter 36.16 - WATER RESERVATIONS WATER RESOURCES DIVISION › Subchapter 36.16.1 - Water Reservations › Rule 36.16.106 - APPLICATION CONTENT - MANAGEMENT PLANS

Current through Register Vol. 13, July 5, 2024
(1) A management
				plan shall accompany all reservation applications for diversionary uses. Plans
				for diversionary uses shall contain the technical information needed to
				adequately define project size and function. The plan must be accompanied by
				maps or drawings showing the project locations, including, where applicable,
				point(s) of diversion, place(s) of storage, main delivery systems, and place(s)
				of water use, indicated to an accuracy of the nearest ¼
									¼
									¼ section. Such maps shall include section, township, and range numbers.
				All project plans shall demonstrate a consideration of water conservation
				measures.
(a) Plans for storage facilities
				shall include prefeasibility studies estimating firm yield of the proposed
				reservoir. If the reservoir is planned to supply the demand on a non-firm
				basis, information shall be included to estimate how often the demand is
				successfully met. Consideration of Montana dam safety laws and federal dam
				safety funding requirements shall also be demonstrated in the storage facility
				plans. Ownership of lands that would be inundated by a proposed storage
				facility must be indicated.
(b) The
				management plan shall include an analysis of the financial feasibility of the
				project(s) . The ability to finance project costs through bond sales,
				commercial loans, project revenues, or other means must be addressed. If the
				project is not financially feasible using these means, the application shall
				contain a discussion of how financial feasibility might be achieved. Among the
				factors to be considered are the availability of subsidies, or changes in
				interest rates, commodity prices, and production and installation
				costs.
(c) For applications
				involving irrigation, the following must be clearly identified:
(i) north arrow;
(ii) scale bar;
(iii) section corners and numbers;
(iv) township and range numbers;
(v) all proposed points of
				diversion;
(vi) all proposed places
				of use;
(vii) proposed reservoir
				locations;
(viii) proposed water
				distribution systems;
(ix) proposed
				drainage systems;
(x) the location
				of irrigated and irrigable lands in the project areas. For irrigable lands, the
				map shall delineate soil classifications using the U.S. Soil Conservation
				Service's soil mapping units, the department's land classification standards,
				or other methods acceptable to the department. A narrative describing the
				criteria used for selecting irrigable lands shall be included in the
				application. Soil suitability for irrigation must be based on standards
				acceptable to the department; and
(xi) the ownership of land proposed to be
				irrigated with reserved water and lands underlying project of facilities. A
				table that lists ownership locations may be substituted for this requirement.
				Additional maps must be submitted if the information on one map cannot convey
				the required information clearly and must be of the same scale so that they can
				be overlain.
(d)
				Municipal applicants must submit preliminary engineering feasibility plans that
				define the service area, project design, water system capacity, and location.
				The plan must include preliminary plans or designs for metering the
				system.
(e) Capability of
				proceeding with reasonable diligence must be documented by presenting a
				schedule of activities needed to apply reserved water to beneficial use
				including target dates or years when financing will be available, facilities
				built, and the water applied to beneficial use.
(f) Where individual users or groups of users
				will be responsible for applying reserved water to beneficial use, the
				applicant must present a set of administrative procedures that describes who
				shall qualify to use the reserved water, the steps such users must take to
				apply the reserved water to beneficial use and, as appropriate, the means by
				which the reserved waters would be allocated during shortages.