HB 494 Utah House · 2026 General Session

Transfer of Water Interests

HB 494 updates Utah's rules for transferring water company shares and water rights. It clarifies that shares in water companies are not automatically tied to land (not "appurtenant") and ownership records are maintained by the water company itself, not the state engineer. The bill also requires water rights transfers to follow real estate deed procedures, including recording deeds in specific counties and submitting reports to the state engineer. This directly affects water company shareholders, landowners buying property with water rights, and entities managing water rights transfers.

Bill status passed 4 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2026

Committee Review

Mar 2026

House Passage

Feb 2026

Senate Passage

Feb 2026

Governor

Introduced Feb 5, 2026 Last action Mar 7, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons

What changed between versions

Amended 2/23/2026 13:02:252 → Substitute #1 · 5 edits

MODERATE

This bill substitutes a new version of HB 494 that clarifies how water rights and water company shares are transferred, recorded, and related to land ownership. The changes primarily address the relationship between water company shares and land, establish that share ownership is tracked by the water company rather than the state engineer, and update procedures for transferring water rights via deeds.

Scope change

The bill's scope remains focused on water rights transfers and water company shares, but clarifies that water company shares are not appurtenant to land and are not maintained on state engineer records.

DEFINITION

Clarified that water company shares are not appurtenant to land and are not considered water rights themselves, separating share ownership from land-based water rights.

REQUIREMENT

Changed the requirement for recording water right deeds from being recorded in both the county of diversion and the county of use to only requiring recording in the county where the water is used.

Established that water company share ownership is determined by the water company's records rather than the state engineer's records.

TECHNICAL

Removed redundant language about water rights being transferred by deed in substantially the same manner as real estate, as this was already covered in other sections.

TIMELINE

Maintained the effective date of May 6, 2026, with no changes to the implementation timeline.

Floor votes · House Feb 27, 2026

How they voted

This bill passed the Senate by voice vote (no roll call recorded).

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Amendments

Mar 4, 2026

Upper · Passed

Senate/ committee report favorable [Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee]

upper

Mar 4, 2026

Upper · Passed

Senate Comm - Favorable Recommendation [Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee]

upper

Feb 27, 2026

Committee

Senate/ to standing committee [Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee]

upper

Feb 27, 2026

Introduced

Senate/ 1st reading (Introduced)

upper

Feb 27, 2026

Upper · Passed

House/ passed 3rd reading

upper

Feb 23, 2026

Lower · Passed

House/ comm rpt/ amended [House Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environment Committee]

lower

Feb 23, 2026

Lower · Passed

House Comm - Favorable Recommendation [House Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environment Committee]

lower

Feb 23, 2026

Introduced

House Comm - Amendment Recommendation [House Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environment Committee]

lower

Feb 18, 2026

Committee

House/ to standing committee [House Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environment Committee]

lower

Feb 5, 2026

Introduced

House/ 1st reading (Introduced)

lower

1 primary · 1 co-sponsor