Fish groups revive trout-protection bill

Three rare native fish species get another chance in the 2008 Legislature.

Last year, SB29 — a measure to allow fishing groups to lease water rights and leave the water in a stream for the benefit of native trout — failed by a narrow margin. It sailed through the Senate, but in the House the vote was 36 for, 32 against and two not voting. Under House rules, a bill needs support of a majority of representatives, at least 38, in order to pass.

On Monday, a new version, now dubbed HB117, was introduced and assigned to the House Rules Committee. It has some revisions compared with last year's SB29, said the sponsor, Rep. Stephen E. Sandstrom, R-Orem.

Between this and last sessions, he and other supporters of the bill met with some people who were concerned about it. "I think the biggest issue was not losing a water right."

The potential opponents were worried that if an endangered fish went into a stream where an in-stream flow right allowed a greater flow to protect the fish, an agency might then take over the water and keep it to preserve the trout, Sandstrom added.

Proponents worked with a federal agency to establish an exemption that would preserve the water right, he said. The agency accepted the idea, he said. "It's all been agreed to, and it's in the bill."

Sandstrom said Garfield and Kane county interests were concerned that water flows needed for hydroelectric power generation would be compromised by the bill. However, he said, the bill makes it clear that downstream water rights for any purpose, including hydropower plants, cannot be harmed by the change. Most of the water that fishing groups like Trout Unlimited are interested in are in stream headwaters, not downstream, he said.

Sandstrom added that, in a sense, by not taking water out of a stream such an agreement could help people downstream.

HB117 has a good chance this session because of the new stipulations, he said.

Some of the bill's key provisions are that:

• It applies only to protecting Bonneville cutthroat trout, Colorado River cutthroat trout or Yellowstone cutthroat trout.

• A fishing group may file an application for a change of water rights, based on purchase from a willing seller. The purpose of the right would be to allow water to allow in a stream that otherwise could be diverted, in order to protect or restore habitat for native trout.

• The director of the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources is to review the proposed change in rights and must approve the plan before it can be submitted to the state engineer. If the proposed change wold not be in the public interest, the director can disapprove it.

• The in-stream flow will be repealed in 10 years.

• When the lease period is ended, "the water right will automatically revert to its previous place and purpose of use."

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