Opinion ID: 1219144
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Requirement of Determination of Existing Aquifer Conditions at the Time of Permit Application

Text: Section 37-90-103(10.5) requires that a determination that ground water is nontributary shall be based on aquifer conditions existing at the time of permit application.... AWDI asserts that the trial court's order is not so based and that therefore the judgment must be reversed and remanded with directions to apply the statutory standard. AWDI did not present evidence directed at the conditions of the aquifer as they existed in 1986 when AWDI first filed its permit application. Rather, an expert witness for AWDI testified that conditions during the 1970s were representative of conditions at the time of the application. The objectors introduced evidence that conditions in the 1970s were not representative but that such period was untypically dry. [34] The trial court held that it need not resolve this controversy because it was satisfied, applying the statutory standard, that the ground water sought by [AWDI] is tributary even if the period 1970-1979, or any period thereafter is used. [35] Again, the evidence was conflicting, the court made findings resolving the material conflicts, and therefore the findings of the trial court must be sustained on review.