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Stockwater and/or Domestic Claims

Livestock Water Rights on Federal Grazing Allotments Pamphlet

If you deferred filing a claim for de minimis domestic and/or stockwater use in the SRBA, you must now file a Motion for Determination of Deferred De Minimis Domestic or Stock Water Use to receive a decreed water right.

The process and requirements to support your claim when for filing a Motion for Determination of Deferred De Minimis Domestic or Stock Water Use depends on if you are claiming only stockwater use and if that stockwater use is located on federally owned land.

Listed below are items to submit when filing domestic and/or stockwater claims on non-Federal owned land.

Listed below are items to submit when filing stockwater claims for use within Federal grazing allotments.

  • Complete and submit a Motion for Determination of Deferred De Minimis Domestic or Stock Water Use form.
  • Complete and submit a Notice of Claim to a Water Right form.
  • Identify and submit the base property information.
    • The base property is the land the person or entity owned at the time the water right was perfected. See the FAQs page for an explanation of why the base property needs identified.
  • Submit a document that establishes that an owner of the base property perfected a stock water right on federal land.
    • If the stockwater use on federal land predates the Taylor Grazing Act (June 28, 1934), you must submit evidence of grazing on federal land in support of the claimed priority date.
    • If the stockwater use on federal land first occurred after the Taylor Grazing Act, you must submit evidence of authority to graze stock on federal land—either a copy of the original grazing permit associated with the base property for the place of use claimed, or, if a copy of the original grazing permit cannot be located, the earliest grazing permit available.
    • See the FAQs page for an explanation of the purpose for providing a copy of the original grazing permit.
  • Submit a chain of title for the base property establishing that the water rights were not reserved or severed from the base property, starting with the person who perfected the stockwater right on federal land and ending with you (such as a warranty deed, court decree, contract of sale, land patents, and so forth).
    • If the water rights were severed from the base property, however, provide documentation showing when and how you obtained ownership of the water rights and identify the new base property to which they are appurtenant.
    • See the FAQs page for an explanation of why a chain of title is required.
  • Submit a copy of the current grazing permit associated with the base property for the place of use claimed.
    • See the FAQs page for an explanation of why a copy of the current grazing permit is required.
  • Submit a map of the grazing allotment.
  • If you are aware of water rights appurtenant to the place of use you are claiming (the grazing allotment) that were decreed to a federal agency in the SRBA, submit a list of the water right numbers for those decreed rights.

Listed below are the process steps when you file a deferred de minimis domestic and/or stockwater use claim.

  • You file a Motion for Determination of Deferred De Minimis Domestic or Stock Water Use form along with a completed Notice of Claim to a Water Right form.
    • To claim a deferred de minimis domestic and/or stockwater use in the SRBA, you must file with the SRBA Court a motion for determination of the claim along with a completed notice of claim. Each claim requires a separate motion. Contact IDWR to obtain the water right claim numbers before filing the motion and notice of claim. To complete the service process for this step, send a copy of the motion and notice of claim as specified by mail to the parties listed on the Certificate of Mailing section of the motion (page 3).
    • In addition to the motion and the notice of claim, you must pay a filing fee. As of July 1, 2017, for claims in which stockwater is the sole purpose of use claimed and the use is less than 13,000 gallons per day, the filing fee is $25.00 each for the first four claims. If you file additional stockwater-only claims, there are no additional filing fees for the additional claims.
  • You publish or IDWR publishes a Notice of Pendency and Purpose of the Motion in the local newspaper.
    • You:
      If the water use claimed is domestic, or if the water uses claimed are domestic and stockwater, you must publish a Notice of Pendency and Purpose of the Motion once per week for no less than three (3) weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the county in which the point of diversion is located or otherwise required by the SRBA Court.
    • IDWR:
      If the water use claimed is stockwater only, IDWR publishes a Notice of Pendency and Purpose of the Motion once a week for no less than three (3) weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the county in which the point of diversion is located or otherwise required by the SRBA Court.
  • You submit or IDWR submits the Affidavit of Publication to the SRBA court.

    An Affidavit of Publication is evidence that the Notice of Pendency and Purpose of the Motion was published in the appropriate newspaper for the specified time period.

    • You:
      If the water use claimed is domestic, or if the water uses claimed are domestic and stockwater, you must file the Affidavit of Publication with the SRBA Court. Once received, the Court sets a hearing on the motion for determination of the claim.
    • IDWR:
      If the water use claimed is stockwater only, IDWR files the Affidavit of Publication with the SRBA Court. Once received, the Court sets a hearing on the motion for determination of the claim.
  • Everyone observes the Objection Period.

    Any person may file an objection form within 45 days of the notice’s first publication date. Using the SRBA Court’s standard objection form, the objector states the reasons for the objection. The objector completes the service process by sending a copy of the objection form to you, to the State of Idaho, to the IDWR Director, to the United States, and to all persons who have appeared in response to the motion.

  • IDWR files a Notice of Examination.

    IDWR’s Director notifies the SRBA Court within 30 days of the Objection Period’s expiration that IDWR will conduct an examination of the claim and prepare a Director’s Report for submission to the SRBA Court.

    • If the water use claimed is domestic, or if the water uses claimed are domestic and stockwater, IDWR provides you with an estimate of the costs for conducting the examination and preparing the report. You are required to pay IDWR the estimated costs for conducting the examination and preparing the report. Prior to filing the report with the SRBA Court, you must pay the balance of IDWR’s verified costs or be refunded any unused estimated costs that you paid to IDWR. In the event that you contest IDWR’s costs, the SRBA Court determines a reasonable cost that you must pay to IDWR.
    • If the water use claimed is stockwater only, you do not pay any costs for conducting the examination and preparing the report.
  • IDWR files a Director’s Report.

    Upon completion of the examination, IDWR files the Director’s Report with the SRBA Court. To complete the service process for this step, IDWR sends a copy of the report to the United States, to the State of Idaho, to all parties who filed objections, and to all persons against whom relief is sought. Objections to the Director’s Report, responses to the objections, and the hearing upon the objections are in accordance with Idaho Code § 42-1412.

For all complete list of Adjudication claim forms and instructions, visit the Forms page.
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