Water Rights Restricted Account
HB 174 modifies Utah's Water Rights Restricted Account, which funds the Division of Water Rights. The bill explicitly allows the division to use account funds for legal support costs related to water rights adjudications, a provision previously omitted from the code. It also maintains a $8 million annual cap on the account balance, requiring excess funds to be transferred to the Water Resources Conservation and Development Fund. No new money is appropriated; the changes clarify existing fund usage for water rights management.
Bill status
signed
all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2025
Committee Review
Feb 2025
House Passage
Feb 2025
Senate Passage
Feb 2025
Signed into Law
Mar 2025
Introduced Jan 21, 2025
Signed Mar 20, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison
What changed between versions
Introduced
→
Enrolled
·
5 edits
·
Mar 20, 2025
MODERATE
This bill modifies the Water Rights Restricted Account to clarify funding uses, reorganize cost categories, and add a new provision for legal support expenses not tied to adjudication areas. The changes streamline how the Division of Water Rights can spend restricted funds while maintaining the $8 million annual cap.
Scope change
The scope of allowable expenditures was expanded to include legal support costs outside adjudication areas, while reorganizing the list of eligible costs for clarity.
FISCAL
Reorganized the list of allowable expenditures under the Water Rights Restricted Account to separate adjudication-related costs from general data analysis and legal support costs.
Added a new provision allowing up to 5% of prior year deposits to be used for acquiring, managing, and analyzing surface and groundwater data regardless of adjudication areas.
Added a new provision allowing funds to be used for legal support costs not limited to geographic areas of adjudication.
TECHNICAL
Removed redundant legal support language from the adjudication-related costs list to avoid duplication with the new standalone legal support provision.
Reordered and relabeled cost categories (i through v) for improved readability and consistency in the bill text.
Floor votes
How they voted
This bill passed the Senate by voice vote (no roll call recorded).
Full legislative history
Actions timeline
Total actions
32
Key actions
8
Committee
5
Mar 20, 2025
Signed into law
Governor Signed
executive
Feb 25, 2025
Legislature · Passed
House/ signed by Speaker/ sent for enrolling
legislature
Feb 25, 2025
Lower · Passed
Senate/ signed by President/ returned to House
lower
Feb 25, 2025
Upper · Passed
Senate/ passed 3rd reading
upper
Feb 19, 2025
Upper · Passed
Senate Comm - Favorable Recommendation
upper
Feb 14, 2025
Committee
Senate/ to standing committee
upper
Feb 12, 2025
Introduced
Senate/ 1st reading (Introduced)
upper
Feb 11, 2025
Upper · Passed
House/ passed 3rd reading
upper
Feb 4, 2025
Lower · Passed
House/ committee report favorable
lower
Feb 3, 2025
Lower · Passed
House Comm - Favorable Recommendation
lower
Jan 29, 2025
Committee
House/ to standing committee
lower
Jan 21, 2025
Introduced
House/ 1st reading (Introduced)
lower
1 primary · 1 co-sponsor
Sponsors
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