Opinion ID: 2520075
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: does the water conservancy act confer standing on the washington county water conservancy district?

Text: ¶ 7 As an entity charged to promote the public interest in matters of water use, the Conservancy District argues that it has been granted special statutory standing to assert forfeiture of private water rights regardless of whether it satisfies traditional standing requirements. This issue is one of statutory interpretation, which we review for correctness. State v. Bohne, 2002 UT 116, ¶ 4, 63 P.3d 63. ¶ 8 Section 17A-2-1401 of the Utah Code enumerates the purposes for which water conservancy districts were created. [3] It is true that water conservancy districts have been charged to serve the public interest. It is also true that the public generally may benefit from the forfeiture of water rights when water is not being put to beneficial use. Nevertheless, the broad statements of purpose to be served by water conservancy districts are insufficient to establish statutory standing to seek to overturn approved change applications or to press forfeiture claims in cases where a district's own uses would not be affected. ¶ 9 Our conclusion in this regard is buttressed by the structure of the Water Conservancy Act. The general statements of purpose in section 17A-2-1401 of the Act are followed in section 17A-2-1413 by a specific enumeration of powers granted to water conservancy districts. These powers include, inter alia, the power to appropriate and otherwise acquire water and water rights within or without the state, Utah Code Ann. § 17A-2-1413(2)( l ) (2003), and to exercise the power of eminent domain to take any property necessary to exercise powers granted to the district. Utah Code Ann. § 17A-2-1413(1)(a)(ii) (2003). They do not, however, include an express grant of power to enforce the beneficial use of water through the use of the water forfeiture statute, nor do they include an express grant of power to appeal the state engineer's decisions on change applications. ¶ 10 The Conservancy District asserts that a member of a class that is intended to be benefitted by a statute necessarily has standing to enforce the requirements of the statute. We are, however, unpersuaded by this argument. Many statutes are intended to benefit the public generally, yet we do not construe them as conferring enforcement standing on the general public. This principle is illustrated by the forfeiture statute at issue in this case, section 73-1-4 of the Utah Code. The purpose of the forfeiture statute is to benefit the public generally by promoting the beneficial and efficient use of water. Nevertheless, we have never interpreted the forfeiture statute to confer on all members of the general public statutory standing to file forfeiture actions. Consistent with this approach, we decline to infer from the legislature's description of the general purposes to be served by water conservancy districts an intent to confer on such districts statutory standing to assert forfeiture of private water rights.