45-254

45-254. Statement of claimant; filing;
information to be included; verification; failure to file;
fees

A. Each potential claimant who is served shall present in writing the particulars
of his claim on the court-approved statement of claimant form and shall file the
statement of claimant form with the court within ninety days of the date of service,
unless otherwise ordered by the court. The court may extend the time for good cause. A
duplicate of each statement of claimant shall be made available by the clerk of the court
to the director.

B. The statement of claimant form may be filed by a person on behalf of its members
or users and shall constitute the required filing of its members or users.

C. The statements of claimant shall include the following information, where
appropriate:

1. The name and mailing address of the potential claimant.

2. The name of the specific river, stream, tributary, wash or other source from
which the right to divert or make use of water is claimed.

3. The quantities of water and the periods of time during the year for which use is
claimed.

4. If distributing works are used or required, the date of beginning and completion
of construction or of enlargements and the dimensions of the ditch as originally
constructed and as enlarged.

5. If the use is for irrigation, the amount of land reclaimed the first year and in
subsequent years, and the amount and general location of the land, the character of the
soil and the kind of crops cultivated.

6. The legal description of the point or points of diversion and place of use of
the waters to the nearest forty-acre tract or by other appropriate description and such
map or plat showing the relative points of diversion and place of use as may be required.

7. The purpose and extent of use.

8. The time of the initiation of the right and the date when water was first used
for beneficial purposes for the various amounts and times claimed in paragraph 3 of this
subsection.

9. The legal basis for the claim.

D. The statement of claimant shall be verified by the claimant or the person
authorized to file as provided in subsection B of this section.

E. After the date by which statements of claimant are required to be filed as set
forth in the summons or in an order of the court, the filing of a statement of claimant
or an amendment is permitted under the following circumstances:

1. At any time up to ninety days before the publication of the director's final
report pursuant to section 45-256, subsection B for a subwatershed or federal reservation
within the river system and source, a person may file a statement of claimant or an
amendment to a statement of claimant with the director without leave of the court.

2. After the expiration of the ninety day period prescribed by paragraph 1 of this
subsection and before the conclusion of hearings by the master for a subwatershed or
federal reservation within the river system and source, a person may assert a claim for a
water use within the subwatershed or federal reservation without leave of the court by
filing the original of the statement of claimant or amended statement of claimant with
the director and a notice of filing with the court. After the conclusion of hearings on
an existing claim, an amendment to that existing statement of claimant may only be
permitted as prescribed by paragraph 3 of this subsection. If a statement of claimant or
an amendment to a statement of claimant is filed after the expiration of the ninety day
period and except as provided in section 45-258, other parties may object to the elements
of the claim or amended claim.

3. After the master has completed hearings on a subwatershed or federal reservation
within the river system and source and has filed a report with the court for the entire
subwatershed or federal reservation pursuant to section 45-257, a person may not assert a
late claim for a water right within that subwatershed or reservation as a matter of
right. A person may request the court's permission to intervene in the adjudication and
file a statement of claimant with the director. The court may grant the motion if it
finds that the intervention would not unduly delay or prejudice the adjudication of the
rights of the original parties. An amendment to an existing statement of claimant after
the filing of the master's report for the entire subwatershed or federal reservation is
permitted only by leave of the court in its discretion and on motion of the party seeking
an amendment. Except as provided in section 45-258, other parties may object to the
elements of a claim or an amended claim filed pursuant to this paragraph.

F. On entry of the final decree pursuant to section 45-257, any potential claimant
who is properly served and who failed to file a statement of claimant as prescribed by
this article for any water right or whose motion for permissive intervention was finally
denied by the court is barred and estopped from subsequently asserting any right that was
previously acquired on the river system and source and that was not included in a
statement of claimant and forfeits any rights to the use of water in the river system and
source that were not included in a properly filed statement of claimant.

G. On the effective date of this amendment to this section, all statements of
claimant previously filed in an adjudication pending under this article are deemed to be
timely filed. An objection to the timeliness of any statement of claimant that was filed
before the effective date of this section in an adjudication pending under this article
is not permitted.

H. The fee for filing a statement of claimant by an individual is twenty dollars
and by a corporation, municipal corporation, the state or any political subdivision, an
association or partnership is two cents for every acre-foot of water claimed, or twenty
dollars, whichever is greater. The director shall review the statements of claimant and
the amount of fees paid as to each and report to the court or master the sufficiency of
the fees paid with respect to each statement of claimant. A claim shall not be
considered by the court or the master unless all fees with respect to such claim have
been fully paid in accordance with the provisions of this article. Fees shall not be
imposed upon any Indian tribe, community or allottee personally appearing in the general
adjudication to assert claims to water.