UT HB0251

Amends Utah Code 73-5-13 to create a rebuttable presumption that landowners have the right to use livestock watering ponds on homestead parcels (640 acres or less conveyed by federal patent), provided annual use is less than 20 acre-feet and the pond existed before the patent was conveyed and was used before 1903

Defines key terms including "homestead parcel," "livestock," and "livestock watering pond" (a precipitation-fed pond used to water domestic animals, not formed by diverting a water source)

Allows the presumption to be rebutted by a preponderance of evidence from a person protesting based on impairment of their existing water right

Adds evidence of a homestead parcel as acceptable documentation the state engineer may require when evaluating diligence claims

Takes effect May 6, 2026, with the homestead parcel provisions applying to claims submitted on or after that date