Section 46-6-2 - Filing of vested right claim by claimant of vested right to groundwater--Hearing--Mandatory filing--Waiver of right.
46-6-2. Filing of vested right claim by claimant of vested right to groundwater--Hearing--Mandatory filing--Waiver of right. Any person claiming to be the owner of a vested right to appropriate water from any underground source for beneficial use other than for domestic use as defined by subdivision § 46-1-6(7) may file a vested right claim with the chief engineer in a form and manner prescribed by the Board of Water Management. The claim shall set forth the amount of water used, when the water was used, purpose of use, the location of the well and, if the water has been used for irrigation purposes, the legal description of the land upon which the water has been used and the name of the owner of the land. The claim shall be signed under oath, and shall be either from the claimant's own personal knowledge or on information and belief. The hearing on the vested right claim shall be conducted pursuant to the procedures contained in chapter 46-2A. If, in the course of an investigation conducted by the chief engineer pursuant to subdivision 46-2-17(1), a person asserts the existence of a vested water right, the chief engineer may require that person to file a vested right claim within ninety days pursuant to this section. Failure to file in the absence of such a requirement by the chief engineer does not constitute a waiver of a vested water right.
Source: SL 1955, ch 431, § 1; SDC Supp 1960, § 61.0403; SL 1983, ch 314, § 91; SL 1986, ch 363, § 6.