Opinion ID: 2569316
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Groundwater or Stream Water

Text: ¶ 6 A preliminary issue in this dispute is whether the permit proceeding should have been conducted under the stream water use statutes, Okla. Stat. tit. 82, §§ 105.1-105.18 (1991 & Supp.1999). Title 82 defines Groundwater as fresh water under the surface of the earth regardless of the geologic structure in which it is standing or moving outside the cut bank of any definite stream. Okla. Stat. tit. 82, § 1020.1(1) (Supp.1995). A definite stream is a watercourse in a definite, natural channel, with defined beds and banks, originating from a definite source or sources of supply. Okla. Stat. tit. 82, § 105.1 (Supp.1995). The significance of the classification is that [t]he owner of the land owns water standing thereon, or flowing over or under its surface but not forming a definite stream. Okla. Stat. tit. 60, § 60 (Supp. 1988). Thus, groundwater and diffuse surface water are owned by the surface landowner subject to beneficial use. See Okla. Stat. tit. 82, § 1020.7 (Supp.1993) (Any person intending to use groundwater shall make application to the Board for an appropriate permit. . . .). Stream water on the other hand, is public water and is subject to appropriation for the benefit and welfare of the people of the state as provided by law. The landowner may use [such] water for domestic uses. Okla. Stat. tit. 82, § 105.1A (Supp. 1993). ¶ 7 Landowners argue that when the Kronseder application was filed the Water Board should have determined whether there were natural springs in the area and whether granting the permit would affect water running under the surface or the natural springs themselves. They base their argument on the construction of title 60, section 60 found in Oklahoma Water Resources Board v. City of Lawton, 580 P.2d 510 (Okla.1978) There, a surface landowner wanted to encase a prolific spring and divert the water for recreation, housing development, and commercial development. The water which flowed from the spring ran into a nearby creek and ultimately into Lake Lawtonka, the major source of water for the City of Lawton. Id. at 511. The issue was whether the spring water should be classified as stream water or groundwater for purposes of an appropriation permit from the Water Board. On appeal, this Court held that when natural spring water forms a definite stream, the water in the stream and the spring itself, from its inception, is to be classified as stream water and appropriated as such. Id. at 513. The opinion noted that this was true despite the fact that the source of all springs is groundwater. Id. at 511. The Water Board in this matter determined that the water applicant [Kronseder] intends to use is clearly groundwater. Landowners' expert opined that numerous wells on Kronseder's land would draw down the water table to the extent that the natural springs on neighboring land would go dry. Kronseder's expert testified that the watertable would not be lowered by Kronseder's use of water to the extent the springs would go dry. The Water Board's order stated that the premise that the Applicant's use will cause a spring to go dry has not been established as a matter of fact. The Water Board also rejected Landowner's legal argument that by taking so much water that the springs go dry, Kronseder is in effect taking stream water and therefore must proceed under the stream water statutes. The Water Board specifically found the water to be fresh water under the surface of the earth regardless of the geologic structure in which it is standing or moving outside the cut bank of any definite stream. Okla. Stat. tit. 86, § 1020.1 (Supp. 1995). Therefore, it proceeded under the groundwater statutes. ¶ 8 The Water Board properly determined that the groundwater statutes apply. This Court's holding in City of Lawton was that when natural spring water forms a definite stream, the spring from its inception is to be classified as stream water and appropriated as such. The point of inception referred to the point at which the spring, and thus the stream began, not to the ultimate source of all spring water which is a groundwater formation. This understanding is consistent with the definition provided by Landowners' expert that a spring is the point at which the water table surfaces. Thus, when the groundwater surfaces as a spring and forms a stream, it is at that point that the stream water statutes apply. ¶ 9 Here, Kronseder was not making application to withdraw water from a spring or a stream. It sought a permit to drill several new wells and utilize existing wells to drain water directly from the groundwater basin. As the Water Board determined, the water to be withdrawn by the Kronseder wells is groundwater subject to regulation by the Oklahoma Groundwater Law. The remaining issues in this appeal involve the permit proceedings under the groundwater statutes.