DEFINITIONS

Rule 2(a). Adjudication definitions. Unless the context requires otherwise, the following definitions apply in these rules. (1) “Abstract” means the computer printout of each claim of an existing water right showing the information submitted on the original or amended statement of claim, any changes authorized by these rules or by the water court, remarks noting any obvious factual or legal issues presented by the claim, and other remarks explaining the nature and extent of the claimed water right. (2) “Acreage” means the number of irrigated acres. (3) “Adjudication” means the judicial determination of water rights that existed prior to July 1, 1973, including the total or partial abandonment of existing water rights occurring at any time before the entry of the final decree. 4 (4) “Amended Claim” means the contents of a submitted claim as altered or changed by the claimant as to any matter contained in the original claim and as allowed by the water court. (5) “Animal Unit” means a measurement of livestock numbers. For example, one cow and calf pair is one animal unit, three pigs are one animal unit, five sheep are one animal unit, and one horse is 1.5 animal units. (6) “Appropriate” means to divert, impound or withdraw a quantity of water for a beneficial use. (7) “Associated Rights” means more than one water right used at a common point of diversion, place of use or place of storage. (8) “Basin Code” means the respective number/letter combination used to identify each of the 85 basins in Montana (e.g. 43QJ) according to the Atlas of Water Resources of Montana prepared by the Montana water resources board. (9) “Beneficial Use” means a use of water recognized as beneficial prior to July 1, 1973 and used for the benefit of the appropriator, other persons, or the public and may include but not be limited to irrigation, stock, domestic, fish and wildlife, industrial, mining, municipal, power generation, and recreational uses. (10) “Centralized Record System” means the original, electronic, microfilm or scanned records of all claims of existing rights, permits, certificates, applications, ownership updates, and other documents filed with the department. (11) “Change in Appropriation Right” means a change made in accordance with § 85-2-402, MCA. 5 (12) “Claim” or “Statement of Claim” means a sworn statement of claim for an existing water right, as defined in § 85-2- 224, MCA, filed with the department upon order of the Montana supreme court. (13) “Claimant” means any individual, association, partnership, corporation, state agency, political subdivision, Tribe, the United States or any agency of the United States, or any other entity, who has filed a statement of claim or is successor in interest to a statement of claim as identified in the centralized records system. (14) “Claimant Contact” means communication between the department and a claimant or claimant's authorized representative regarding the claimed water right. (15) “Clarification” means the process by which elements of a water right are made more complete, clear, concise and interpretable without changing the intent of the claimed information. (16) “Climatic Area” means areas defined by differing climatic and geographic conditions containing similar crop consumptive use data as delineated by the United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resource Conservation Service. (17) “Decree Abstract” means the abstract that is part of a water court issued decree. The decree abstract contains the original or amended claim information, changes authorized by these rules or the water court, and water court ordered data, changes and remarks. (18) “Decreed Right” means a claimed water right determined in a judicial decree prior to the commencement of this 6 adjudication or after commencement of this adjudication as provided in § 85-2-216, MCA. (19) “Department” means the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation. (20) “Enforceable priority date” means a priority date of June 30, 1973, or later, which is administratively assigned to late claims that are subordinate to valid, timely filed claims and certain permits in accordance with § 85-2-221(3)(f), MCA. (21) “Examination” means the process under these rules of examining, gathering information, and reporting data, facts, and issues pertaining to the claims of existing water rights. Prior to the adoption of the Water Right Claim Examination Rules on July 15, 1987, this process was referred to as “verification”. (22) “Exempt Water Right” means an existing water right for which a statement of claim did not have to be filed pursuant to § 85-2-222, MCA. (23) “Existing Water Right” means a right to the use of water that would be protected under the law as it existed prior to July 1, 1973. The term includes federal non-Indian and Indian reserved water rights created under federal law and water rights created under state law. (24) “Field Investigation" means an on-site inspection, under § 85-2-243, MCA, of physical evidence and features relating to the individual elements of a claimed water right. (25) “Filed Appropriation Right” means a water right which has been filed and recorded in the office of the county clerk and recorder as provided by statute prior to July 1, 1973. 7 (26) “Final Decree” means the final water court determination of existing water rights within a basin or subbasin, as described in § 85-2-234, MCA. (27) “Flow Rate” means the rate at which water has been diverted, impounded, or withdrawn from the source for beneficial use. (28) “Groundwater” means any water under the surface of the land including the water under the bed of any stream, lake, reservoir, or other body of surface water. Section 89-2911, R.C.M. 1947 (1961 Groundwater Code). (29) “Guideline” means an estimate of reasonable use to be used as the benchmark for initiating further department review or claimant contact under these rules. The estimate of reasonable water use is derived from technical data and recommendations of the department and adopted by the water court. (30) “Historical Irrigation” means irrigation that took place for the first time before July 1, 1973. (31) “Historical Right” means an existing water right claim. (32) “Household” means the dwelling, house, or other domestic facilities where a person, family or social unit lives. (33) “Implied Claim” means a claim authorized by the water court to be separated and individually identified when a statement of claim includes multiple rights. (34) “Interior Drainage” means an area in which water drains into a depression from which water only escapes by evapotranspiration or subsurface drainage. The scale varies from a small kettle in a glaciated area to a large playa lake, such as the Great Salt Lake in Utah. 8 (35) “Irrigation” means the application of water to the land to eliminate the moisture limitation to crop production. (Soil Conservation Service, 1979.) (36) “Irrigation District” means a statutory district created pursuant to Title 85, Chapter 7, MCA. (37) “Lake” means a naturally occurring inland body of water. (38) “Late Claim” means a claim to an existing water right forfeited pursuant to the conclusive presumption of abandonment under § 85-2-226, MCA. (39) “Legal Land Description” means the description given to a parcel of land in terms of, but not limited to, quarter section, section, township, range, and county. (40) “Means of Diversion” means the structures, facilities, or methods used to appropriate water from the source of supply. For instream or inlake appropriations, the means of diversion is “instream.” (41) “Microfilm Record” means a photographic film record on a reduced scale of all paper documents related to a water right. (42) “Multiple Use” means the same appropriation used for more than one purpose by a single owner. (43) “Natural Overflow” means the water that results in the flooding of land adjoining a stream during high flow with no man- made diversion involved. (44) “Natural Subirrigation” means a naturally occurring high water table condition that supplies water for crop use. 9 (45) “Non-consumptive” means a beneficial use of water that does not cause a reduction in the source of supply. (46) “On-site visit” means a field investigation conducted at a claimant’s invitation. (47) “Other Uses” means all uses of water for beneficial purposes other than stockwater, domestic, and irrigation uses. (48) “Owner” means any person, according to § 85-2-102, MCA, who has title or interest in water rights or properties. (49) “Ownership Update” means the updating of the department’s water right ownership records by the filing of an Ownership Update Form, Form #608, formerly known as a water right transfer certificate, pursuant to §§ 85-2-421 through 85-2- 426, MCA. The department’s form does not transfer water rights or legally determine water right ownership. It updates the department’s centralized record system to reflect the ownership identified on the legal documents that actually transfer water rights. (50) “Period of Diversion” means the period in a calendar year when water is diverted, impounded or withdrawn from the source. (51) “Period of Use” means the period in a calendar year when water is used for a specified beneficial use. (52) “Place of Use” (POU) means the lands, facilities, or sites where water is beneficially used. (53) “Point of Diversion” (POD) means the location or locations where water is diverted from the source. For instream or inlake appropriations, the point of diversion is the portion of the source in which the instream or inlake use occurs. 10 (54) “Preliminary Decree” means the preliminary water court determination of existing water rights within a basin or subbasin as described in § 85-2-231, MCA, which precedes the final decree. (55) “Priority Date” means the allocation date associated with a beneficial use of water which determines ranking among water rights, usually expressed by day, month, and year. (56) “Regional Office” means a branch office established by the department to provide water right information and assistance to the public or public agencies. (57) “Remarks” means statements added to the decree abstract by the department or the water court to limit or define a water right, to explain unique aspects of the water right, and to identify potential factual and legal issues. Remarks that limit, define, or explain unique aspects of a claim are “clarifying” or “information” remarks. Remarks that identify potential factual and legal issues are “issue” remarks. (58) “Reserved Water Rights” means a right to use water that is expressly or impliedly reserved by treaty, an act of Congress, or an executive order. (59) “Reservoir” means a storage facility, created or augmented by manmade means that impounds and stores water for beneficial use. (60) “Scanned Record” means a digitally scanned record of paper documents related to a water right. (61) “Service List” means the list of persons notified of all future hearings or proceedings relevant to a specific claim or case. This list may include the claimants and their representatives, any objectors and their representatives, any persons filing a notice of 11 intent to appear and their representatives, any counterobjectors and their representatives, any intervenors and their representatives, and other persons receiving courtesy notification. (62) “Source” means the specific supply from which water is taken for a beneficial use. (63) “Split Claim” means the division of one water right claim into two or more separate claims. When a claim is split, one portion of the claim maintains the original claim number and the other separated portions are assigned new claim numbers. (64) “Spring” means a naturally occurring extrusion of groundwater upon the land surface. (i) “Developed Spring” means a spring with some man- made development at or below the point of extrusion that brings additional flow to the surface which would not naturally be available for use and is classified as groundwater. (ii) “Undeveloped Spring” means the flow from the spring is not increased by some development at its point of extrusion from the ground and is classified as surface water. (65) “Subbasin” means a designated area that drains surface water to a common point within a basin. (66) “Summary Report” means the department’s report to the Montana water court consisting of individual abstracts, the claimed and clarified data and a summary of the department's examination findings for each claim within a basin or subbasin. (67) “Supplemental Rights” means separate water rights for the same purpose, owned by the same claimant, and used on overlapping places of use. 12 (68) “Surface water” means water occurring at or on the surface of the ground, including but not limited to any river, stream, creek, ravine, coulee, undeveloped spring, lake and other source of water. (69) “Temporary Preliminary Decree” means a water court decree, prior to the issuance of the preliminary decree, as necessary for the orderly administration of existing water rights pursuant to § 85-2-231, MCA. (70) “Type of Historical Right” refers to the historical basis of an existing water right as a decreed right, filed appropriation right, reserved right or use right. (71) “Use Right” means a claimed existing water right perfected by appropriating and putting water to beneficial use without written notice, filing, or decree. (72) “Volume” means the amount of water which has been diverted, impounded, or withdrawn from the source over a period of time for beneficial use, usually measured in acre-feet per year. (73) “Water Court” means the water division of the state courts, presided over by water judges responsible for adjudicating existing water rights in Montana, as provided for in Title 3, Chapter 7, MCA. (74) “Water Judge” means a judge responsible for adjudicating existing water rights as provided for in Title 3, Chapter 7, Part 2, MCA. (75) “Water Master” means a person appointed by a water judge to assist in the adjudication of existing water rights as provided for in Title 3, Chapter 7, Part 3, MCA, and Rule 53 of the Montana Rules of Civil Procedure. 13 (76) “Water Resources Survey” (WRS) means a survey of water resources and water rights in Montana on a county basis by the former state engineer's office or water resources board, predecessors of the department. (77) “Water Spreading” means surface flood irrigation involving the diversion of occasional (flood or runoff) surface water from natural, usually nonperennial, watercourses by means of dams, dikes, or ditches, or a combination of these. It differs from conventional irrigation because it is totally dependent on and regulated by the availability of water, not crop needs. (78) “Well” means any artificial opening or excavation in the ground, however made, by which groundwater can be obtained or through which it flows under natural pressure or is artificially withdrawn. Section 89-2911, R.C.M. 1947(1961 Groundwater Code). Rule 2(b). Non-adjudication definitions. For additional definitions concerning post June 30, 1973 terms, see § 85-2-102, MCA.