45-254. Statement of claimant; filing; information to be included; verification; failure to file; fees

A. Each potential claimant who is served shall present in writing the particulars of his claim on the court-approved statement of claimant form and shall file the statement of claimant form with the court within ninety days of the date of service, unless otherwise ordered by the court. The court may extend the time for good cause. A duplicate of each statement of claimant shall be made available by the clerk of the court to the director.

B. The statement of claimant form may be filed by a person on behalf of its members or users and shall constitute the required filing of its members or users.

C. The statements of claimant shall include the following information, where appropriate:

1. The name and mailing address of the potential claimant.

2. The name of the specific river, stream, tributary, wash or other source from which the right to divert or make use of water is claimed.

3. The quantities of water and the periods of time during the year for which use is claimed.

4. If distributing works are used or required, the date of beginning and completion of construction or of enlargements and the dimensions of the ditch as originally constructed and as enlarged.

5. If the use is for irrigation, the amount of land reclaimed the first year and in subsequent years, and the amount and general location of the land, the character of the soil and the kind of crops cultivated.

6. The legal description of the point or points of diversion and place of use of the waters to the nearest forty-acre tract or by other appropriate description and such map or plat showing the relative points of diversion and place of use as may be required.

7. The purpose and extent of use.

8. The time of the initiation of the right and the date when water was first used for beneficial purposes for the various amounts and times claimed in paragraph 3 of this subsection.

9. The legal basis for the claim.

D. The statement of claimant shall be verified by the claimant or the person authorized to file as provided in subsection B of this section.

E. After the date by which statements of claimant are required to be filed as set forth in the summons or in an order of the court, the filing of a statement of claimant or an amendment is permitted under the following circumstances:

1. At any time up to ninety days before the publication of the director's final report pursuant to section 45-256, subsection B for a subwatershed or federal reservation within the river system and source, a person may file a statement of claimant or an amendment to a statement of claimant with the director without leave of the court.

2. After the expiration of the ninety day period prescribed by paragraph 1 of this subsection and before the conclusion of hearings by the master for a subwatershed or federal reservation within the river system and source, a person may assert a claim for a water use within the subwatershed or federal reservation without leave of the court by filing the original of the statement of claimant or amended statement of claimant with the director and a notice of filing with the court. After the conclusion of hearings on an existing claim, an amendment to that existing statement of claimant may only be permitted as prescribed by paragraph 3 of this subsection. If a statement of claimant or an amendment to a statement of claimant is filed after the expiration of the ninety day period, other parties may object to the elements of the claim or amended claim.

3. After the master has completed hearings on a subwatershed or federal reservation within the river system and source and has filed a report with the court for the entire subwatershed or federal reservation pursuant to section 45-257, a person may not assert a late claim for a water right within that subwatershed or reservation as a matter of right. A person may request the court's permission to intervene in the adjudication and file a statement of claimant with the director. The court may grant the motion if it finds that the intervention would not unduly delay or prejudice the adjudication of the rights of the original parties. An amendment to an existing statement of claimant after the filing of the master's report for the entire subwatershed or federal reservation is permitted only by leave of the court in its discretion and on motion of the party seeking an amendment. Other parties may object to the elements of a claim or an amended claim filed pursuant to this paragraph.

F. On entry of the final decree pursuant to section 45-257, any potential claimant who is properly served and who failed to file a statement of claimant as prescribed by this article for any water right or whose motion for permissive intervention was finally denied by the court is barred and estopped from subsequently asserting any right that was previously acquired on the river system and source and that was not included in a statement of claimant and forfeits any rights to the use of water in the river system and source that were not included in a properly filed statement of claimant.

G. On March 17, 1995, all statements of claimant previously filed in an adjudication pending under this article are deemed to be timely filed. An objection to the timeliness of any statement of claimant that was filed before March 17, 1995 in an adjudication pending under this article is not permitted.

H. The fee for filing a statement of claimant by an individual is twenty dollars and by a corporation, municipal corporation, the state or any political subdivision, an association or partnership is two cents for every acre-foot of water claimed, or twenty dollars, whichever is greater. The director shall review the statements of claimant and the amount of fees paid as to each and report to the court or master the sufficiency of the fees paid with respect to each statement of claimant. A claim shall not be considered by the court or the master unless all fees with respect to such claim have been fully paid in accordance with the provisions of this article. Fees shall not be imposed on any Indian tribe, community or allottee personally appearing in the general adjudication to assert claims to water.