Amends existing law to revise provisions regarding the domestic use of water.

LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO Sixty-eighth Legislature Second Regular Session - 2026 IN THE SENATE SENATE BILL NO. 1222 BY RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT COMMITTEE AN ACT1 RELATING TO DOMESTIC WELLS; AMENDING SECTION 42-111, IDAHO CODE, TO RE-2 VISE DEFINITIONS AND TO DEFINE TERMS; AMENDING SECTION 42-227, IDAHO3 CODE, TO REVISE PROVISIONS REGARDING THE DRILLING AND USE OF WELLS FOR4 DOMESTIC PURPOSES; AMENDING SECTION 31-3805, IDAHO CODE, TO REVISE A5 PROVISION REGARDING THE APPLICABILITY OF LAW RELATED TO WATER DELIVERY6 WITHIN SUBDIVISIONS; AMENDING SECTION 50-1334, IDAHO CODE, TO REVISE7 PROVISIONS REGARDING THE REVIEW OF WATER SYSTEMS; AND DECLARING AN8 EMERGENCY.9

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho:10

SECTION 1. That Section 42-111, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby11 amended to read as follows:12 42-111. DOMESTIC PURPOSES DEFINED. (1) For purposes of sections13 42-221, 42-227, 42-230, 42-235, 42-237a, 42-242, 42-243, and 42-1401A,14 Idaho Code:15 (a) The phrase "domestic purposes" or "domestic uses" means:16 (a)(i) "Domestic purposes" or "domestic uses" means:17 (i) 1. The use of water for homes, organization camps,18 public campgrounds, livestock, and for any other purpose19 in connection therewith, including irrigation of up to20 one-half (1/2) acre of land, if the total use does not exceed21 thirteen thousand (13,000) gallons per day; or22 (ii) 2. The use of water for any other purpose, if the to-23 tal use does not exceed a diversion volume of two and eight-24 tenths (2.8) acre feet per year.25 (b) (ii) "Domestic purposes" or "domestic uses" shall not include26 water for the following purposes, unless the use meets the diver-27 sion rate and volume limitations set forth in paragraph (a)(i)2.28 of this subsection:29 (i) 1. Mobile home parks or recreational vehicle parks;30 (ii) 2. Apartments, condominiums, and similar developments31 with multiple dwelling units;32 (iii) 3. Except Subdivisions, except as provided in subsec-33 tion (3) of this section, subdivisions, as defined in chap-34 ter 13, title 50, Idaho Code; or35 (iv) 4. Commercial or business establishments or mixed-use36 establishments where the water is used primarily for commer-37 cial or business purposes.38 (b) "In-home use" means the utilization of water within a residence or39 household, including all activities that require water, such as drink-40 ing, cooking, bathing, and cleaning within and around the household. It41

2 does not include irrigation of lawns, gardens, landscaping, pastures,1 or other open spaces.2 (c) "Subdivision" means a tract of land divided into five (5) or more3 lots, parcels, or sites for the purpose of sale or building development,4 whether immediate or future; provided that this definition shall not5 include a bona fide division or partition of agricultural land for agri-6 cultural purposes. For purposes of this paragraph, "bona fide division7 or partition of agricultural land for agricultural purposes" means the8 division of land into lots, all of which are five (5) acres or larger and9 maintained as agricultural lands.10 (2) Except as provided in subsection (3) of this section, multiple wa-11 ter rights for domestic uses or domestic purposes shall not be established or12 exercised in a manner to satisfy a single combined water use or purpose that13 would not itself come within the definition of a domestic use or purpose un-14 der this section. The purpose of this limitation is to prohibit the diver-15 sion and use of water, under a combination of domestic purposes or domestic16 uses as defined in this section, to provide a supply of water for a use that17 does not meet the exemption of section 42-227, Idaho Code, and is required18 to comply with the mandatory application and permit process for developing a19 right to the use of water pursuant to chapter 2, title 42, Idaho Code.20 (3) Multiple water rights for domestic purposes or uses may be estab-21 lished and exercised from the same point or points of diversion if the use22 is limited to residential, in-home use. This subsection does not affect any23 other permitting requirement or other requirement that may apply to the use24 of water within a subdivision. For the purposes of this section, the term25 "in-home use" means the utilization of water within a residence or house-26 hold, including all activities that require water, such as drinking, cook-27 ing, bathing, and cleaning within and around the household. It does not in-28 clude irrigation of lawns, gardens, landscaping, pastures, or other open29 spaces.30

SECTION 2. That Section 42-227, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby31 amended to read as follows:32 42-227. DRILLING AND USE OF WELLS FOR DOMESTIC PURPOSES EXCEPTED. (1)33 Except as provided in subsection (4) of this section, excavation and opening34 of wells and the withdrawal of water therefrom for domestic purposes or uses35 as defined in section 42-111, Idaho Code, shall not be subject to permit re-36 quirements under section 42-229, Idaho Code. Rights to ground water for such37 domestic purposes may be acquired by withdrawal and use.38 (2) Wells and withdrawal devices for domestic purposes or uses shall be39 subject to inspection by the department of water resources and the depart-40 ment of environmental quality.41 (3) Well drillers shall be licensed pursuant to the licensing provi-42 sions of section 42-238, Idaho Code.43 (4) For purposes of new diversions for use within subdivisions, as de-44 fined in chapter 13, title 50, Idaho Code, section 42-111, Idaho Code, where45 the completed application to develop the subdivision is filed pursuant to46 chapter 65, title 67, Idaho Code, on or after July 1, 2025, in any area where47 the director of the department of water resources has issued a moratorium48 order on the development of new water rights or has designated a critical49

3 ground water area or ground water management area, an application for a per-1 mit, pursuant to section 42-229, Idaho Code, shall be required for the di-2 version of water for any new domestic purposes or uses, as defined in sec-3 tion 42-111, Idaho Code, other than for in-home uses, as defined in section4 42-111, Idaho Code, or watering livestock.5

SECTION 3. That Section 31-3805, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby6 amended to read as follows:7 31-3805. DELIVERY OF WATER WITHIN SUBDIVISIONS. (1) The provisions of8 this section shall apply to any proposed subdivision, as defined in chapter9 13, title 50, Idaho Code, within the state of Idaho or to a subdivision sub-10 ject to a more restrictive county or city zoning ordinance. A completed ap-11 plication to develop a subdivision filed pursuant to chapter 65, title 67,12 Idaho Code, that was filed on or before June 30, 2025, is governed by the law13 as it existed at the time of filing.14 (2) For any subdivision that lies within the service area or area of15 city impact of a municipal provider, the following requirements apply:16 (a) If a shared well or public water system is installed, it shall be17 designed to meet requirements of that municipal provider and be planned18 to integrate with and connect to the municipal provider's system when19 appropriate. The requirements of this paragraph shall not apply if an20 agreement is reached with the municipal provider;21 (b) The municipal provider shall be consulted in the design of the22 shared well or public water system to ensure proper integration; and23 (c) Upon connection to the municipal provider's system, the water24 rights associated with the subdivision's shared well or public water25 system shall be conveyed to the municipal provider.26 (3) If surface water for irrigation is reasonably available to all or27 any part of a subdivision, as provided in section 67-6537, Idaho Code, then28 no subdivision plat, amendment to a subdivision plat, or any other plat or29 map recognized by the city or county for the division of land will be ac-30 cepted, approved, and recorded unless the owner or entity has provided for31 the irrigation of lots within the subdivision using the available surface32 water.33 (4) For subdivisions using water provided by an irrigation entity, as34 required by section 67-6537, Idaho Code, the subdivision plat or with the35 plat mat as an exhibit shall include a description of the system used to de-36 liver irrigation water from the irrigation entity's point of delivery to the37 individual lots. In such cases:38 (a) For proposed subdivisions within the incorporated limits of a city,39 the irrigation system must be approved by the city zoning authority or40 the city council, as provided by city ordinance, with the advice of the41 irrigation entity charged with the delivery of water to such lands; and42 (b) For proposed subdivisions located outside an incorporated city,43 the irrigation system must be approved by the board of county commis-44 sioners, with the advice of the irrigation entity charged with the45 delivery of water to such lands.46 (5) For subdivisions receiving water from an irrigation entity, the47 subdivision plat or amendment to a subdivision plat shall contain notes48 stating the following:49

4 (a) That the subdivision or a portion of it is located within the ser-1 vice area of the irrigation entity and the name and contact information2 for the irrigation entity;3 (b) That a system for the delivery of irrigation water to lots within4 the subdivision has been provided;5 (c) That the system has been approved as required by subsection (4) of6 this section;7 (d) That the purchaser of each lot shall remain subject to all assess-8 ments levied by the irrigation entity; and9 (e) That unpaid irrigation entity assessments are a lien on the land10 within the irrigation entity.11

SECTION 4. That Section 50-1334, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby12 amended to read as follows:13 50-1334. REVIEW OF WATER SYSTEMS ENCOMPASSED BY PLATS. Whenever any14 plat is subject to the terms and requirements of sections 50-1326 through15 50-1329, Idaho Code, no person shall offer for recording, or cause to be16 recorded, a plat unless he or she shall have certified that he or she is in17 compliance with section 31-3805(2), Idaho Code, where applicable, and that18 at least one (1) of the following is the case:19 (1) The individual lots described in the plat will not be served by any20 water system common to one (1) or more of the lots, but will be served by indi-21 vidual wells.22 (2) All of the lots in the plat will be eligible to receive water service23 from an existing water system, be the water system municipal, a water dis-24 trict, a public utility subject to the regulation of the Idaho public utili-25 ties commission, or a mutual or nonprofit water company, and the existing wa-26 ter distribution system has agreed in writing to serve all of the lots in the27 subdivision.28 (3) If a new water system will come into being be developed to serve the29 subdivision, that it the entity in charge of that system has or will have suf-30 ficient contributed capital to allow the water system's wells, springboxes,31 reservoirs, and mains to be constructed to provide service without further32 connection charges or fees to the landowners of the lots required to lot own-33 ers, except for connection of laterals, meters or other plant exclusively34 for the lot owner's own use.35 Failure to comply with this section is a misdemeanor subject to the36 provisions of section 50-1329, Idaho Code. The certification must be filed37 or recorded as part of the plat document preserved for public inspection.38 Property Lot owners in the area encompassed by the plat will subdivision39 shall be entitled to the benefits of the third provision subsection (3) of40 this section when that option is chosen.41

SECTION 5. An emergency existing therefor, which emergency is hereby42 declared to exist, this act shall be in full force and effect on and after its43 passage and approval.44