Bill > SM17

This Memorial urges the State Engineer to clearly define what constitutes a "detrimental to the public welfare" decision when considering new applications to appropriate water, especially from groundwater sources that are being depleted faster than they recharge (mined aquifers). The Memorial highlights that many communities rely on these limited groundwater supplies for essential services and that current policies, which allow new water use applications even when aquifers have less than a 40-year supply remaining, can harm existing water rights holders. Therefore, it requests the State Engineer to establish clear criteria for determining public welfare impacts, stop accepting new applications that deplete such limited aquifers until these criteria are defined, and pause action on pending applications unless specific justifications are provided for why granting them would not be detrimental to the public welfare.