HB 2478 Summary

• Amends groundwater code provisions governing subsequent irrigation non-expansion areas by defining "reasonably safe supply for irrigation" as a reliable groundwater source for 100 years.

• Establishes petition requirements for designating non-expansion areas, including minimum signatures from irrigation users (25 users or one-fourth of users in the area) and eligibility criteria based on land ownership, prior irrigation history, and future capability.

• Requires petitions to be accompanied by a numeric groundwater flow model and hydrologic report signed by a registered professional geologist or engineer, and limits submission to one year after petition form issuance.

• Makes the director's determination of petition compliance non-appealable if compliant, but appealable if found non-compliant, and limits judicial review of final designation orders to petitioners and persons who submitted evidence at the public hearing.

• Provides that if a refusal to designate is reversed on judicial review, newly irrigated acres in the proposed area may continue irrigation after final designation, and prohibits re-petitioning for the same area for three years after refusal becomes final.