36-8-305. Adjudication of water right for flow of Big Horn Hot Springs.
The legislature of Wyoming, by enacting W.S. 36-8-304, appropriated and set aside for the state of Wyoming, board of charities and reform, the total flow of the Big Horn Hot Springs at Thermopolis, Wyoming, which was estimated to have been thirteen and one-tenth (13.1) cubic feet per second in 1896. That legislation was intended to be and is hereby declared to have been an application for a permit to appropriate in behalf of the board of charities and reform the total flow of Big Horn Hot Springs at Thermopolis, Wyoming, in compliance with W.S. 41-4-501 through 41-4-506 and 41-4-517. The bathing, medicinal, irrigation uses, and the maintenance of flow of water over the terrace between the springs and the Big Horn River are all beneficial uses and are hereby declared to be beneficial uses. The state board of control is directed to adjudicate a water right in favor of the board of charities and reform, its successors and assignees, for the flow of the Big Horn Hot Springs at Thermopolis, Wyoming, with a priority date of February 17, 1899. The actual flow for adjudicated purposes shall be determined by the state board of control by established procedure. The department of state parks and cultural resources is designated as successor to the state board of charities and reform and the recreation commission under this section.