• New law extends temporary water use rights from two to five years.
• Removes specific use restrictions, broadening potential applications.
• Ensures protections for existing water rights holders.

Wednesday, March 19, 2025 — Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon signed into law Senate File 0043, Temporary Water Use Agreements Amendments, on March 12, 2025. The legislation, effective July 1, 2025, expands the duration temporary water rights can be granted, significantly reshaping water management practices across the state.

Under previous Wyoming law, temporary water use rights were limited to two years and restricted to specified purposes. Senate File 0043 now extends these rights to five years and broadens the scope by allowing any “temporary beneficial purposes,” removing previous use limitations.

To safeguard existing water rights holders, the law explicitly prohibits the State Engineer from approving any temporary water rights transfer that would “injuriously affect the water rights of other appropriators.”

Additionally, the legislation permits the renewal of temporary water rights for consecutive terms, each not exceeding five years, with a maximum cumulative limit of ten years. Importantly, following any temporary transfer involving irrigation water rights, the legislation requires that the water right must revert to its original adjudicated or permitted purpose for at least 50% of the period it was temporarily transferred before becoming eligible again for further temporary transfers.

The legislative measure, sponsored by the Joint Agriculture, State and Public Lands & Water Resources Interim Committee, passed with bipartisan support—56-3 in the House and 23-4 in the Senate.

This new framework intends to provide greater flexibility in managing Wyoming’s water resources while maintaining the necessary protections to prevent potential harm to established water rights users.

Image:

Wind River alluvial plain. Wyoming, July 1997, by LBM1948.  Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.

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