Idaho Bills

Repeals and adds to existing law to prohibit the acquisition of certain stockwater rights, to provide that certain permittees shall not be considered agents of the federal government, to limit the use of certain stockwater rights, and to provide for the effect of an illegal change of ownership or transfer.

This legislation seeks to codify the findings of the Idaho Supreme Court in the case of Joyce Livestock Company v. United States of America, 144 Idaho 1, 156 P.3d 502 (2007). In this case, the court held that agencies of the federal government cannot hold stock water rights unless they put the water to beneficial use by watering livestock owned by the agency.