Statute and case law require that, after the statewide water adjudication concludes, the state conduct a petition process to allow owners of water rights decreed in the adjudication to petition DNRC to reduce, modify, or revoke provisional permits that have been issued by DNRC while the adjudication was pending completion. This petition process is needed to eliminate the divided system of water administration in Montana so pre- and post- 1973 water rights are administered in a unified way.
House Bill 441
Until 2025, the details on how Water Court-adjudicated rights would be reconciled with DNRC-issued permits and change authorizations were undeveloped. However, House Bill 441, passed in the 2025 Legislative Session, provides these details and creates a process for issuing certificates of water right for provisional permits and change authorizations. This process will remove the “provisional” status of these permits and change authorizations and confirm that they hold the same weight as an adjudicated water right. Permit and change reconciliation will occur two ways.
- DNRC will conduct a reconciliation petition process in basins that have reached a final decree. This reconciliation petition process provides pre-1973 water right holders an opportunity to petition for the reduction, modification, or revocation of a provisional permit. Limitations on standing, petition criteria, and timelines are intended to keep the process efficient and time bound.
- Once the reconciliation petition process is complete, both provisional permits and change authorizations will undergo the water right verification process. House Bill 441 expands verification to ensure that provisional permits and change authorizations are consistent with both the final decree and the results of the reconciliation petition process.
Timing and Participation
Reconciliation Petition Process
By January 31, 2026, DNRC will send notices of opportunity to petition for all basins with a final decree already issued. All other basins will be noticed within 60 days of final decree issuance.
Notices will be sent to:
- All owners of pre-1973 water rights and provisional permits in the decreed basin
- Any person who requests notice. To request notice, select your basin(s) of interest and submit your contact information through the sign up form at the bottom of this webpage.
To check the status of the adjudication and reconciliation petition processes and access related documents, visit the Basin Status and Information webpage.
Verification
Upon completion of the reconciliation petition process, DNRC will begin verification of permits to appropriate water and changes in appropriation rights, pursuant to 85-2-315, MCA and 85-2-402, MCA, respectively.
Frequently Asked Questions
Only owners of a pre-1973 water right in the final decree may submit a petition. However, anybody can sign up to be noticed that the petition process is beginning in a given basin. To request notice, select your basin(s) of interest and submit your contact information through the sign up form at the bottom of this webpage.
The petition must show that a provisional permit needs to be reduced, modified or revoked based on information in the final decree. To do this, the petitioner must prove all three criteria:
- Reduction, modification, or revocation of the provisional permit is necessary to protect their existing water right.
- The provisional permit would have been denied or modified if the final decree had been available to the department.
- Based on the findings of the final decree, water could not be considered legally available at the time of issuance of the permit.
Adjudication is the judicial determination of water rights that existed prior to July 1, 1973. Adjudication concludes with a final decree, which is the final Water Court determination of pre-1973 rights within a basin or subbasin. The Reconciliation Petition process comes after adjudication is completed. This petition process will allow pre-1973 water right holders to petition to reduce, modify, or revoke provisional permits.
Visit the Basin Status and Information webpage to see a live map with the status of each basin, as well as related adjudication and reconciliation documents. To request notice when the reconciliation process begins in your basin(s) of interest, submit the sign up form at the bottom of this webpage.
A provisional permit may be reduced, modified, or revoked if a petitioner can prove that it is necessary to protect their existing water right, the permit would have been denied or modified if the final decree had been available when the provisional permit was issued, and legally available water did not exist at the time the provisional permit was issued. Any owner of a provisional permit will have the opportunity to respond to a correct and complete petition before DNRC makes a decision. If the DNRC decision is to reduce, modify, or revoke the provisional permit, the provisional permit owner will have the opportunity for a show cause hearing.
Once a decision to reduce, modify, or revoke a provisional permit is issued, you will have a chance to defend your provisional permit in a show cause hearing. If the show cause hearing concludes with an order to reduce, modify, or revoke your provisional permit, one of the following will occur. For an order to revoke, DNRC will process the revocation of your provisional permit. For an order to reduce or modify, you will need to complete your provisional permit in substantial accordance with the terms of the order.
If your provisional permit is not yet completed, you can complete the project in substantial accordance with the order by the existing project completion deadline. If your provisional permit is completed, DNRC will set a deadline for you to submit a Project Completion Notice (Form 617) showing you are in substantial accordance with the order. If your project is not completed in substantial accordance with the order, you will have until this deadline to bring your project into compliance. DNRC will communicate this deadline to you upon issuance of the order.
Any change authorization on a revoked provisional permit will be revoked. Any change authorization on a reduced or modified provisional permit will need to be completed in substantial accordance with the reduced or modified provisional permit.
If your change authorization project is not yet completed, you can complete the project in substantial accordance with the reduced or modified provisional permit by the existing project completion deadline. If your change authorization project is completed, DNRC will set a deadline for you to submit a Project Completion Notice (Form 618) showing you are in substantial accordance with the reduced or modified provisional permit. If your project is not completed in substantial accordance with the reduced or modified provisional permit, you will have until this deadline to bring your project into compliance. DNRC will communicate this deadline to you upon issuance of the order to reduce or modify the provisional permit.
REQUEST A NOTICE OF OPPORTUNITY TO PETITION FOR THE REDUCTION, MODIFICATION, OR REVOCATION OF A PROVISIONAL PERMIT
The DNRC will automatically send owners of water rights included in a Final Decree this notice of opportunity; no request is necessary by those owners.
Petitions are limited to owners of pre-1973 water rights in a Final Decree. If you are not the owner of a pre-1973 water right in the Final Decree being noticed, you may submit this form to request that DNRC mail you a notice of opportunity to petition, but you will not be allowed to petition.
Notice will be sent within 60 days of Final Decree issuance. For Final Decrees issued prior to 1/1/2026, notice will be sent by 1/31/2026. Check the Basin Status and Information webpage to see a live map with the status of each basin, as well as related adjudication and reconciliation documents.