Water Law & Policy

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SURFACE WATER BILLS BEFORE THE 2005 La LEGISLATURE

Louisiana Water Law and Policy as of January, 2005

"The best way to assure that water decisions are responsive to people's concerns is to assure that decision-making
remains as close as possible to the people at a level that it can be effective in implementing the decisions."
NY Times Februrary 10, 2003 (http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/10/national/10WATE.html?th)

[Note: This webpage was developed by Alice Stewart (alice.stewart@att.net). It is not officially a part of the Claiborne Parish Watershed District webpages, but is linked to that website for the benefit of readers who are interested more generally in water resources development in Louisiana.]

CONTENTS:

Louisiana Water Law History

Louisiana Ground Water Protection Regulation as of January, 2005

Act 49 of 2003 Louisiana Legislature (Ground Water Resources Act) (Ground Water Division in Office of Conservation, Water Well Regulation, Critical Area Designation, Regional Advisory Boards, Comprehensive State Water Resources Planning)

• Act 49 in Full

• Act 49 Summary

• Comparison of Act 446 of 2001 (Old Ground Water Management Act) and Act 49 of 2003 (New Ground Water Resources Act)

Local Authority over Water Resources

'Statewide Water Management Program: A Plan for Implementation'

Claiborne Parish Resolution Proposing an Alternative to the Statewide Water Management Plan of 2001

Proposed Incremental State-Parish Co-Management

Some References:

• Louisiana Water Policy

• Louisiana Water Policy History

• Sparta Status & Trends

• Water Policy Alternatives for Louisiana

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LOUISIANA WATER LAW HISTORY

Article IX of the Constitution: The natural resources of the state, including air and water shall be protected, conserved, and replenished. The legislature shall enact laws to implement this policy.

[1922, "The modern concept of ownership of oil and gas and subterranean waters was introduced in the 1922 case of Frost-Johnson Lumber Co. v. Salling's Heirs, 91 So. 207 (La. 1922), where the Louisiana Supreme Court took theories developed by earlier decisions and the United States Supreme Court in Ohio Oil Co. v. Indiana, 177 U.S. 190, to determine among other issues, that oil and gas below the surface of land are not owned by the landowner and are only owned once they are in that landowners possession above the ground."]

1942, Act 20 of Louisiana legislature: Office of Public Works (now a division within DOTD) has responsibility for coordination of water resources development in Louisiana. In a special report to the legislature, the director of the Office of Public Works stated, 'When future studies indicate the need and scope, it may be necessary to control the use of water through appropriate legislation.'

In 1963, House Concurrent Resolution 92. Rowland summarized: State owns and controls development of surface and ground waters; Goals: protection and most beneficial use; Approach: study while postponing change in water rights. Bolourchi summarized: resolution created a joint legislative committee to study the surface and ground water policy of this State, including its relationship to the several State agencies presently having responsibilities in the field of water resources, and declared important water policies:

• Surface and ground waters in the State are a natural resource.
• The ownership and control of development and use of surface and ground waters for all beneficial purposes are within the jurisdiction of the state.
• Surface and ground water resources within the state should be put to beneficial uses to the extent of which they are most reasonably capable.
• The public welfare and interest of the people of the state require the proper conservation, development, use and protection of the inseparable land and water resources.
• The state should make careful and comprehensive study of its surface and ground water resources and related problems before enacting any additional legislation affecting the water resources of the state.

[1963 La. App. 2 Cir., Adams v. Grigsby: rules governing oil and gas should be applied to subterranean water; regulation and control of water supply and use addresses itself to the legislature; rules of property governing mineral rights should not be reversed except by act of the legislature.]

1964 Act 188: created the Water Resources Study Commission. The Commission continued through1984; declared the public welfare and interest of the people of the State require the proper conservation, development, use and protection of the inseparable land and water resources.

1972 Well Protection Program (Act 535): authorized water well registration, enforcement of construction and plugging standards, plugging of abandoned wells, data collection and dissemination and, reporting of water use and pumpage figures throughout the State. (bill to regulate ground water withdrawal and issue well permits was defeated).

1974 Capital Area Groundwater Conservation District (after failure to pass state law) - Purpose: to promote orderly utilization of groundwater by efficient management & supplementation of groundwater to meet needs - Composition: 15 parish govt-appointed commissioners for 5 parishes - Model for Act 446 of 2001 & subsequent water management legislation.

[1984 La. Supreme Court:: Save Ourselves, Inc. v. Louisiana Environmental Control Commission, 452 So.2d 1152: Constitution Article IX, Sec.1 of 1974 "re-established the state's public trust doctrine over Louisiana's natural resources, including air and water, and commands protection, conservation, and replenishment of them insofar as possible and consistent with health, safety, and welfare of the people...(and) mandated that the legislature enact laws to implement this policy."]

1984, Water Resources Study Commission issued twenty-nine recommendations, including the following water policy statements on file at DOTD:

• State has primary responsibility and authority over waters; state is to provide water laws.
• Public drinking water supply is first priority use; state is to monitor its quality and quantity and plan for emergencies affecting its waters
• State is to collect & manage data and provide for sharing among public agencies.
• State is to manage waters for now & future, taking into consideration environment, economic value, and quality-of-life.
• State is to actively encourage the wise development of Louisiana's water resources.
• Conservation of the State's water resources shall be encouraged, including education and involvement of the public in water resource matters.
• Practices that encourage waste shall be eliminated.
• State is to require state permission for water diversion out-of-state.
• State is to protect coastal zone, manage coastal wetlands, and protect interstate streams and groundwater through interstate compacts.
• State is to identify and take special measures to ensure that important aquifer outcrop areas are not subject to contamination or alteration that adversely affects recharge.

[1986 La. Supreme Court: Nunez v. Wainoco Oil & Gas Co., 488 So.2d 955:

• Originally, the owner had unlimited use of property, provided that it wasn't against the law. La. Civil Code Art. 490 and other private property laws established the general concept of ownership of the subsurface by the surface owner of the land. Courts relied on Civil Code articles on ownership and the Frost-Johnson case (see above) to conclude that oil and gas could not be owned until capture;
• "The established principles of private ownership (were)...found inadequate in Louisiana to deal with the problems of subsurface fugacious minerals (Daggett, supra at 415)" ;
• Changes were made over the years to Civil Code Articles 490 and 477 and other provisions of law, allowing an owner to use, enjoy, and dispose of a thing only under the conditions established by law;
• In 1979, La. CC Art. 490's assertion that 'the ownership of a tract of land carries with it the ownership of everything that is directly above or under it' was appended 'unless otherwise provided by law' "at least in part, in recognition of the traits of subsurface minerals in liquid and gaseous form";
• re: R.S. 31:9 and 10 (La. Mineral Code) "a person's exclusive right to explore for minerals under his land is qualified by the imposition of duties with regard to others who have rights in the common reservoir";
• re: citing La. Constitution Art. I, Sec. 4: Private property rights are subject to reasonable statutory restrictions, La. Civil Code Art. 490's concept of ownership of the subsurface by the surface owner and other private property laws were in part superceded by Titles 30-31 dealing with unitization, that is, the creation of rights and interests in a pool of hydrocarbons beyond the traditional property lines, in the interest of conserving the natural resources of the state and, in effect, of protecting private property interests, or "correlative rights," of nondrilling landowners."]

1998 through 2000, Drought: saltwater encroachment, declining water levels, and proposed merchant power plants led to general public interest in water use and water policy statewide.

1999 Sparta Aquifer Conservation District formed. District was established by Louisiana law that specified composition of nineteen commissioners representing ten parishes, six municipalities, and three industries and management authority that is advisory only.

2000: Executive Order, creating the Water Policy Advisory Task Force to evaluate the policy considerations, goals and/or objectives relevant to tne the development of a comprehensive water management plan for the State of Louisiana.

2001 (Feb.): Task Force Issued Findings and Recommendations:

• Groundwater and surface water should be managed, protected or regulated as necessary, for the best interest of all citizens of the State.
• At current rates of groundwater usage, the water levels are declining in some aquifers of the state at a rate which should cause concern for future availability or impairment by saltwater encroachment. Without action, over time, the problems will increase.
• A short term water policy is necessary to begin the process of protecting the aquifers and surface waters of the State from any major threats to their sustainability, until a long term plan could be implemented.
• Legislation should be enacted to protect the aquifers from depletion and to protect the State's natural resources for the benefit of the citizens of Louisiana.
• Long-term components of a statewide comprehensive water policy should be developed by January of 2003.

2001 Act 446 (Ground Water Management Act):

• Established the Ground Water Management Commission for two years and the Water Management Advisory Task Force to begin the process of developing a statewide comprehensive Water Management Plan;
• Authorized the creation of critical groundwater areas in the state;
• Expanded well registration requirements;
• Revised Statute 38:3091 states, "The utilization of ground water resources is hereby found and declared to be a matter of public interest. It is the purpose of this Chapter to provide for the efficient administration, and the gathering of data concerning ground water resources of the State of Louisiana.

2001-2003 Ground Water Management Commission:

• Established interim rules on critical groundwater areas;
• Received the first request from the Sparta Groundwater Commission in northern Louisiana to designate certain parishes, and parts of others, as critical groundwater areas and to ultimately manage groundwater withdrawal in that area when and where necessary;
• Put into place the process for registering new water wells prior to drilling;
• Received registration of over 640 new wells in the first year. [Concurrently, the Department of Transportation has continued the practice of registering certain types of wells after drilling.];
• Received commissioned 3 volume report of consultants, C.H. Fenstermaker et al., of Lafayette, consisting of studies and recommendations;
• Having heard testimony and studied the consultants' reports, with the Task Force, submitted recommendations for permanent water policy legislation to the Commission in two stages.

2003: Act 49 (Ground Water Resources Act):

• Nullifies provisions of Act 446 of the 2001: R.S. 36:4(X) and R.S. 38:3099.1-3099.4, replacing old Ground Water Management with new Ground Water Resources Law;
• Appoints DNR's Office of Conservation (OC -- www.dnr.state.la.us/cons/gwater) to manage, protect, and conserve the state's groundwater resources;
• Sets goal: long-term sustainability of ground waters and preservation of ecology, considering economic interests (interstate commerce and the economic welfare of citizens) and efficiency (efficient administration of use and management of ground water resources, including data gathering);
• Defines "ground water" as water suitable for domestic use or any other beneficial use percolating below the earth's' surface which contains fewer than 10,000 mg/l total dissolved solids;
• Defines "critical ground water area" as an aquifer area that is nonsustainable because of a) movement of a salt water front, b) water level decline, or c) subsidence; which has adverse environmental, economic, social, or health impact or seriously impairs an aquifer areally or temporally. In contrast to Act 446 of 2001 (temporary Ground Water Management Act), Act 49 does not provide for "potential critical area" (demonstrated potential to become critical) and "stressed area" (conditions such that aquifer is not sustainable without education and conservation measures).
• Declares that state and/or local subdivisions via tax incentives, tax credits, and physical projects, and private persons seeking to to conserve ground water for public use may, in consultation with Commissioner of Conservation (CoC), provide incentives and provisions of alternate water resources.
• Establishes the Ground Water Division in OC to provide for control of ground water resources where sustainability is threatened.
• Authorizes CoC to regulate well drilling as follows:
  -- to require well drillers (exceptions: drillers of domestic and certain other wells) to notify OC 30 days before drilling (R.S. 38:3097.3C); CoC is allowed an additional 30 for review if needed; CoC is required to respond to an appeal within 45 days; review and repeal procedures are specified;
  -- to regulate withdrawal amounts and spacing, and require metering -- to apply only to "large volume" wells (defined as well with an 8" diameter or larger exterior casing or as defined by rules promulgated by CoC) or for any or all wells within a critical ground water area, considering, in a critical ground water area, the owner's efforts to develop alternate water sources;
  -- to regulate spacing only for all other wells;
• Authorizes CoC to determine critical ground water areas (38:3097.6) Re: "critical ground water area" designation:
  -- Requires public hearings
  -- Requires the CoC's Order to contain boundary delineation, a conservation plan, and management controls, which which may include: education programs, incentives to reduce use; restrictions on withdrawals, considering: human consumption, public health and safety as highest priority, all other uses with equal priority; historical use (since 1995); ability of user to relocate to an alternative source of water; user's conservation efforts
• Authorizes CoC to continue development of a statewide ground water management program, which a) prioritizes conservation; b) evaluates state's current and projected water demands; c) develops a water use conservation program, considering alternatives, such as surface water treatment and delivery and use of reclaimed water, incentives for conservation, use of alternative technologies, and education.
• Authorizes CoC to develop emergency ground water management plan.
• Creates the Ground Water Resources Commission, and places it within OC, to:
  - review and approve or reject any orders of the commissioner placing restrictions on wells upon petition by person or persons affected,
  - review rules and regulations proposed by the commissioner,
  - develop, in cooperation with the CoC, of a ground water management program, and
  - direct the CoC to develop the appointment or designation of up to five regional bodies: location based on aquifer location and water sources; composed of local stakeholders who represent current users; responsibility to"gather data and provide local input to the commission and the commissioner."
• Requires CoC to report his exercise of rule-making authority to the House and Senate Committees on the Environment and Environmental Quality, and, as for all DNR agencies, to report to the House and Senate Committees on Natural Resources.
• Provides for the Ground Water Management Task Force to advise the CoC.
• [To 'Provides for duties of the Sparta Groundwater Conservation District and the Capital Area Groundwater Conservation District' was stated as a purpose of the bill that led to Act 49, but author of this webpage did not see that such provision was included in Act 49.]

2004 (July 8): CoC issued a draft order (CGWA-1-04) declaring Monroe-West Monroe, parts of Lincoln Parish, and Jonesboro-Hodge critical ground water areas. After evaluation of the Sparta Ground Water Conservation District's application, study and public hearings in the fall of 2004, the Office of Conservation determined that in these three areas: water level declines threaten the sustainability of the aquifer; unchecked declines can lead to unacceptable environmental, economic, social, or health consequences; and water conservation is necessary for the recovery of this aquifer. The draft order calls for, in the critical area, monthly reporting on how much water is being pumped out of non-domestic water wells. Also, should any restrictions on existing or new water wells be needed, these will be made on a case-by-case basis with ground water for human consumption and public health and safety as first priority. There are no restrictions on withdrawals included in the draft order. The Sparta Commission endorsed the draft order. The Claiborne Parish Watershed District commended it as a good start. The Jackson Parish Police Jury, by Sept. 2004 resolution, opposed the order, stating that there are many unresolved issues and unexplored solutions and a "critical area" designation would make it "difficult to sustain existing industries, impossible to recruit new ones, and create undue economic hardship upon the citizens of Jackson Parish."

The Office of Conservation's Director of Ground Water Resources is Anthony Duplechin.

Sources:

"History of Water Policy," DOTD Water Resources Division Chief Bo Bolourchi. Web Page http://www2.dotd.state.la.us/wells/intro.html Tel. (225) 379-1434 BoBolourchi@dotd.state, http://www.dotd.state.la.us/intermodal/wells/history_of_water_policy.ppt 8-01}}

"Crafting Water Policy in Louisiana," Marty Rowland, Ph.D., P.E., Water Resource Engineer, Planner, Economist, New Orleans, Louisiana, Presentation at National Ground Water Association, Southeast FOCUS Conference Atlanta, Georgia September 24, 2001

"Jurisprudence on Water Issues" by K Naquin, 8/27/01 (sections in the history above that are in brackets)

Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950

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Louisiana Ground Water Protection Regulation as of January, 2005

• By order of the Office of Conservation, as of July, 2003, all owners of non-domestic (non-household) water wells, with a few exceptions, have been required to notify the office 60 days before drilling. For large volume wells and all wells within a designated critical ground water area, the Office may order allowable production, spacing, and metering. For small volume wells outside a critical area, the Office may regulate spacing. http://www.doa.state.la.us/osr/reg/0406/0406RUL.pdf#page=72

• DOTD requires well drillers to register new wells within 30 days after drilling. Chapter 13-A of Title 38 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes }}

• The Department of Environmental Quality administers the Wellhead Protection Program. The aim is to protect groundwater quality. In an aquifer recharge area, rainwater that replenishes the aquifer passes most directly into the aquifer. This area may require more aggressive precautions against overpaving and potential groundwater contaminants than is true of non-recharge areas.

Comparison of Act 446 of 2001 and Act 49 of 2003 (Old and New Ground Water Management Acts)

Act 49 of the 2003 Louisiana legislature nullified most of Act 446 of the 2001 [R.S. 36:4(X) and R.S. 38 §3099.1-§3099.4 -- the Ground Water Management Law of 2001 Act 446] and enacted all new law: R.S. 38 §3097.1-§3097.6.

Differences between the old Act 446 and the new Act 49 are informative in terms of developing Louisiana Water Law. Some of those differences are noted below.

1) PLAN FOR FUTURE. The new ACT 49 restricts planning to ground water management, not comprehensive water resource planning
Act 446 called for a Statewide Comprehensive Water Management System*; Act 49 called for a Statewide Ground Water Resource Management Program. Each Act specified that the plan must include but not be limited to specific requirements. Both Acts call for evaluation of ground water resources including current and projected demands, but then the requirements differ for the management plans called for by the two Acts as follows:
- Act 446 calls for determining data needed to manage the state's water resources; Act 49 does not require this in a plan, but in a section apart from the plan specification section, authorizes the collection of specific data via well registration;
- Act 446 calls for definition of aquifer sustainability to determine and predict critical ground water areas; Act 49 does not refer to predicting a critical area;
- Act 446 calls for development of alternatives to ground water use; Act 49 calls for development of a water use conservation program;
- Act 446 calls for development of surface water projects to meet current and future demands; incentives for conservation of surface water resources; use of alternative technologies; development of an education and conservation program; development of a program to provide mitigation for loss of ground water resources and incentives to transfer use from ground water sources to surface water sources;* Act 49 simply calls for study of alternatives to ground water use, such as surface water programs to include treatment and transmission system and reclaimed water, and education and conservation.
- Act 446 calls for development of incentives for ground to surface water use translocations;* Act 49 refers more generally to incentives for conservation;
- Act 446 calls for designating a state entity structure to manage and protect water resources; presumably Act 49 puts that structure into place.
- Act 446 makes no mention of priorites for water resource related state actions and no mention of local input into decisions; Act 49 prioritizes conservation, and requires that the commission shall also hold public hearings and consult with local governmental entities in the development of this program.

3) MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE. The new Act 49 places management, not in the Office of the Governor, but in DNR's Office of Conservation
446: R.S. 36:4(V) The Ground Water Management Commission [9 of 15 members to be the Governor and Department Secretaries]...shall be placed within the office of the governor and shall exercise its powers, duties, functions, and responsibilities as provided by law....R.S. 38:3099.3 D. The commission shall be responsible for determination of critical ground water areas in the state's aquifers...F. The commission shall adopt and promulgate rules and regulations..The commission shall cease to exist on July 1, 2003.
Act 49: R.S. 38 §3097.4. A. The Ground Water Resources Commission [6 of 19 members are Governor and Secretaries] is hereby created...R.S. 36:802.18 The Ground Water Resources Commission placed in the office of conservation, Department of Natural Resources, by R.S. 36:359(K) shall exercise and carry out all powers, duties, functions, and responsibilities as provided by R.S. 36:802, except that the commission's powers, duties, functions, and responsibilities are in the nature of policymaking and adjudication. The commission shall continue to exercise all advising powers, duties, functions, and responsibilities provided by law.

4) REGIONAL BOARDS. The new Act 49 weakens provision for local input through local or regional boards. Act 446 provided for Local or Regional boards and required they be consulted; Act 49 provides specifically for five regional boards and does not require that they be consulted.
Act 446 Section 3 "The Ground Water Management Commission is hereby authorized and encouraged to appoint or designate local or regional bodies composed of local stakeholders who are representative of current water users to function in an advisory capacity to the commissioner and the commission. Any decisions made by the commissioner or the commission which have a local impact may only be made with the advice and consultation of those local or regional bodies."
Act 49 R. S. 38 §3097.4 D(5) "The commission may direct the commissioner to promulgate rules and regulations for the appointment or designation of up to five regional bodies based on the general location of major aquifer systems and water sources of the state and composed of local stakeholders who are representative of current users. Such bodies may gather data and provide local input to the commission and the commissioner."
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Local Authority over Water Resources

As noted immediately above, the 2003 Louisiana Legislature's Act 49:
- provides no local or regional authority over ground water matters
- appears to be restricted (at this point, as Louisiana water law develops) to ground water resources, although the language in Act 49 acknowleges and, to some extent, provides for necessary associations of ground water and surface water considerations.

While emphasizing that total ground water authority is with the state, Act 49 requires that the state seek local input (there are no provisions, however, requiring the state to respond to local input):
38: §3097.1 B. The legislature hereby recognizes the need for uniformity in the establishment of a comprehensive ground water management program. Therefore, the state shall have exclusive jurisdiction over the management of ground water and this Chapter shall supersede and preempt any rule, regulation, code, statute, or ordinance of any political subdivision or other unit of local government. However, nothing contained in this Chapter shall be construed to deny such local government the authority over siting facilities pursuant to any general land use planning or zoning or to deny soil and water conservation districts powers granted pursuant to R.S. 3:1208 [Webpage Author Note: Act 49 does not mention the effect of this legislation on the authority of "water conservation districts," a generic term used by Fenstermaker et al for watershed, lake, and levy districts (Assistance in Developing the Statewide Water Management Plan by Fensermaker et al, 2002)]
38: §3097.3. A. The commissioner, through the office of conservation, is empowered and responsible for the administration of all matters related to the management of the state's ground water resources...consistent with...protection, conservation, and replenishment..(He) shall perform these functions to the extent such functions are not specifically within the jurisdiction of other state departments or agencies. The commissioner shall seek the advice and consultation of local governmental entities on any actions or decisions which may have an impact upon those entities or residents within the entities’ respective jurisdictions.
38: §3097.3. C (7) [The Ground Water Management Commission, in cooperation with the Commissioner of Conservation in developing a statewide ground water resource management program] "shall also hold public hearings and consult with local governmental entities in the development of this program."
38: §3097.4. D(5) . The [Ground Water Resources] commission may direct the commissioner to promulgate rules and regulations for the appointment or designation of up to five regional bodies based on the general location of major aquifer systems and water sources of the state and composed of local stakeholders who are representative of current users. Such bodies may gather data and provide local input to the commission and the commissioner. [No provision is made for local input into the composition of the regional bodies.]

[Webpage author's note, 2/05: One item of Claiborne Parish Watershed District's response to the Statewide Water Management Plan of 2001 -- that did not find its way into Act 49 of 2003 was that the state would assist parishes in building their capacities to manage their waters within the framework of research-based goals and objectives. This objective, the aim of which is to provide for more effective local involvement in water resources development, is absent from legislation and state task force recommendations.
It may be that regional is more effective than parish level development of water resources policy. But Act 49 provides for the creation of only five regions to be specified by the state Office of Conservation. The state Office of Conservation is to decide who is to represent the region. These representatives "may advise" (language of Act 49), but the state has no obligation to repond.
On a proposed map are five groundwater management regions. Two regions lie north of the toe section of the Louisiana boot . The northwest region encompasses the Sparta area, Bossier, and Caddo parishes. What little voice regional boards may have, rural water supplying parishes in the Sparta region will have even less, their voice reduced to a whisper by populous Caddo, Bossier, Ouachita, and Lincoln water demanding parishes.
An alternative that could be considered would be to have the state encourage, instruct, and support parishes in forming water resouces alliances based on common interests. This would help assure that all interests would have a chance to be developed for the betterment of localities and of Louisiana as a whole. Otherwise, for example, the interests of poorly populated aquifer recharge parishes, which can be critical to Louisiana's economic growth, are at risk of being neglected.]

THESE WERE THE ONLY REFERENCES IN ACT 49 THAT WEBPAGE AUTHOR DISCOVERED THAT RESPOND TO LOCAL CONCERNS ABOUT CONTROL OF WATER RESOURCES.

There are 22 "water conservation districts," including Claiborne and Webster parish watershed districts. Unlike Soil and Water Conservation districts, whose authority may not interfere with that of the Ground Water Management Commission (As of Act 49, authority is now with Office of Conservation), these local conservation districts may block state authority, according to the legal opinion: "If the Commission exercises the authority to consider whether a ground water user should relocate to an alternative surface water source for its proposed use, whether inside or outside the designated critical ground water area, then such alternative use would appear dependent on a grant of approval by the water conservation district board. This is especially true if the use is a commercial operation within the district using surface waters, which may impede drainage within the district and may place post-process waters within district streams and channels with pollutant characteristics. As also noted, the districts are not to interfere with LDW&F and LDEQ in the exercise of their jhurisdictional authority, but as to other agencies, only a general duty of cooperation is required." Fernsternmaker et al, Assistance in Developing the Statewide Water Management Plan," Presented to Louisiana Ground Water Management Comission, Dec. 2002.

The Revised Statutes for the Watershed Districts of Claiborne and Webster Parishes contain similar provisions about ground water responsibilities. The following are excerpts from Claiborne's statutes that fall under RS 38: PART IX. CLAIBORNE PARISH WATERSHED DISTRICT:
R.S. 38 §2862. The Claiborne Parish Watershed District shall be a political subdivision of the State of Louisiana and a budgetary unit of the State of Louisiana, which shall have as its purpose the conservation of soil and water, including surface and ground water; developing the natural resources and wealth of the district for sanitary, agricultural, industrial and recreational purposes, as the same may be conducive to the public health, safety, convenience or welfare or of public utility or benefit. The creation and maintenance of Lake Claiborne within the said district shall be for the purpose of conserving the soil and water, including surface and ground water and developing the natural resources and wealth of the district for sanitary, agricultural, industrial and recreational purposes, as the same may be conducive to the public health and public utility and benefit.
R.S. §§2862. Rules and Regulations A (7) To manage and control surface and groundwater levels in the district. Any rule or regulation pertaining to the management and control of groundwater levels in the district shall be subject to approval by the Groundwater Management Commission.
[Note: In Jan. 2005, AAS spoke with Tina Righteous, whom Rep. Gallot appointed to assist with water management legislation, concerning need to reword R.S. 2862: "...subject to approval by the Groundwater Management Commission Commissioner of Conservation."]
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'Statewide Water Management Program: A Plan for Implementation' by: Louisiana Ground Water Management Commission, Ground Water Management Advisory Task Force, and Commissioner of Conservation to Louisiana Legislature. Executive Summary:

Act No. 446 of the 2001 Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature established the Ground Water Management Commission in the Office of the Governor and assigned the Office of Conservation within the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources to serve as staff for the Commission. The Act also created a Ground Water Management Advisory Task Force to advise the Ground Water Management Commission, provided for the adoption of rules and regulations for the determination of critical ground water areas, authorized the limitation of access to ground water sources in those critical areas, and provided for response to emergency situations. In addition, it required development of a plan for implementation of a statewide ground water management system.

In order to make the most of available resources, the Ground Water Management Commission, through the Office of Conservation, contracted with C.H. Fenstermaker and Associates (consultant) for assistance in developing the statewide water management plan...In this implementation plan, it is recommended that:

- the delineation of subterranean waters as a mineral be affirmed;

- a statewide Water Management Commission (commission) be created;

- a new division in the Office of Conservation (agency) be created to serve as staff for that commission;

- the state be divided into regions to be managed by the division;

- the duties of the new division be identified. Registration or permitting of water wells is recommended, as are definitions for areas where the sustainability of ground water might be at issue.

- ground water management options be presented and a public outreach and education program be initiated

- the commission have authority to enter into agreements with other state agencies and with other states for purposes of better managing water resources.

- to ease the transition, all actions taken by the commission created by Act No. 446 of the 2001 Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature be continued under the authority of the new commission.

There is recognition at this point in time that the proposed Water Management Commission will primarily be responsible for the management and regulation of ground water resources. There is also recognition that ground water and surface water are inseparable and, therefore, the commission must develop a coordinated plan for the joint management of the state's water resources for presentation to the legislature at a later date.

Due to time constraints the commission was unable to adequately examine the details of the legal status of subterranean water, permitting of wells, incentive programs and use of alternative sources of water. Therefore, this report recommends inclusion of these items in the water management program but does not contain specific recommendations. It is the intention of the Ground Water Management Commission to continue to investigate these issues and make recommendations to the legislature at a later date.

Implementation Recommendations. The Ground Water Management Commission will cease to exist on July 1, 2003. It is imperative that a long-range water management program for the state of Louisiana be in place to continue the functions of the Ground Water Management Commission on that date. It is recommended that legislation be prepared for consideration during the 2003 Regular Session. The Ground Water Management Commission, The Ground Water Management Advisory Task Force and the Commissioner of Conservation recommend:

1. That the legislature affirm the legal status of subterranean water as a mineral under the Mineral Code (Title 31). The Ground Water Management Commission and Advisory Task Force will continue to work on details associated with the legal status of water.

2. That a Water Management Commission be statutorily created with membership as follows: a. The Governor, or his designee b. The Commissioner of the Office of Conservation, or his designee c. The Commissioner of the Department of Agriculture and Forestry, or his designee d. The Secretary of the Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, or his designee e. The Secretary of the Department of Economic Development, or his designee f. The Secretary of the Department of Environmental Quality, or his designee g. The Secretary of the Department of Health and Hospitals, or his designee h. The Secretary of the Department of Transportation and Development, or his designee i. The Secretary of the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, or his designee. The commission and/or agency shall be responsible for the promulgation of rules and regulations for the administration and management of the state's water resources to ensure their continued sustainability and shall promote public education and implementation of conservation measures.

3. That a state agency be statutorily designated to be the water management agency for the state. a. That the agency be a new Division in the Office of Conservation, Department of Natural Resources. b. That the state be divided into water management regions and regional water resource districts. The roles and responsibilities of the agency will be further defined but will generally be as outlined in the consultant's report on page 11-17 as a Type II structure. In addition, the geographical boundaries of the regions and districts will be defined by the Ground Water Management Commission and the Ground Water Management Advisory Task Force c. That the agency be responsible for water well permitting, water well registration and database management, water well driller's licensing, the water well construction and plugging standards program, the cooperative program with the Water Resources Division of the United States Geological Survey, ground water data collection and dissemination, water supply availability and use. Department of Transportation and Development personnel and funding currently assigned to these programs should be transferred to the agency. d. That the current water quality program remain under the jurisdiction of the Department of Environmental Quality and the current public health program remain under the jurisdiction of Department of Health and Hospitals. e. That cooperative agreements be established between all appropriate state agencies to enhance management of the state's water resources and to encourage integration of all agencies' databases. f. That the Legislature provide sufficient funding for the program. g. That the agency be granted enforcement authority including the levy of civil penalties. h. That the agency provide staff services for the Water Management Commission.

4. That there be statutorily required registration or permitting of all ground water wells in the state through the agency. The Ground Water Management Commission and Advisory Task Force will continue to work on details associated with registration and permitting.

5. That areas of the state where the sustainability of ground water is at issue be defined and identified as follows: a. Sustainability means the development and use of ground water in a manner that can be maintained for the present and future time without causing unacceptable environmental, economic, social, or health consequences. b. Ground Water Emergency shall mean an unanticipated occurrence as a result of a natural force or a man-made act that causes a ground water source to become immediately unavailable for beneficial use for the foreseeable future. c. Critical Ground Water Area (CGWA) shall mean an area in which, under current usage and normal environmental conditions, sustainability of an aquifer is not being maintained due to either movement of a salt water front or water level decline, or both, resulting in unacceptable environmental, economic, social, or health impacts, or causing a serious adverse impact to an aquifer, with the area defined by the areal and temporal extent of all such impacts. d. Potential Critical Ground Water Area shall mean an area in which, under projected or proposed usage and normal environmental conditions, sustainability of an aquifer will not be maintained due to either movement of a salt water front or water level decline, or both, resulting in unacceptable environmental, economic, social, or health impacts, or causing a serious adverse impact to an aquifer, with the area defined by the areal and temporal extent of all such impacts. e. Ground Water Stress Area shall mean an area in which sustainability of an aquifer is being less than optimally maintained under current usage and normal environmental conditions, for which such non-coercive measures as use guidelines, voluntary conservation, and ground water monitoring, may be considered. Coercive regulatory controls should not be imposed in designated Ground Water Stress Areas.

6. That management options in the above areas could include, but not be limited to, voluntary or mandatory conservation measures, permit denial, or restrictions on well spacing and/or depth and amount of ground water produced.

7. That the commission and/or agency be authorized to develop and implement a public education and information strategy consistent with new legislation and with the goals of the Outreach Subcommittee of the Ground Water Management Advisory Task Force. In brief, these goals include: a. Develop plans to reach the leadership and the broader Louisiana population informing and educating them on current and future legislation, activities and plans associated with program implementation and impacts to their community. b. Identify and facilitate cooperation between existing resources for websites, newsletters, brochures and displays, and identify other needed outreach tools. c. Develop a strategy to keep the public informed of past, current and future water needs. This could include informing the public about various conservation measures and the need for information on all wells, both domestic and non-domestic, so that water users can be made aware of future developments. d. The strategy should identify target audiences and existing resources that can be utilized for the most effective and efficient outreach. Examples of resources to be utilized include: a. Louisiana universities, government, educational and professional organizations; b. Professional education associations, and other qualified entities to develop school curricula, teacher workshops, and other types of teacher resources; and c. Videos, models, and interactive CD's as well as public service announcements.

8. That data collection relative to any water use and availability be continued and enhanced.

9. That the commission and/or agency be authorized to develop an emergency water use and contingency plan in coordination with existing authorities.

10. That the commission be authorized to enter into inter-jurisdictional relationships, such as with other states, in order to better manage water resources. These agreements shall be subject to approval by the oversight committees.

11. That the commission be authorized to create advisory committees which may be composed of appropriate public agencies, representatives of user groups and the public to work with the agency and make recommendations which may include, but not be limited to, the following: a. alternative sources of water where their proposed use does not conflict with their historical use b. incentives to transfer to alternate water sources c. dis-incentives for the continued use of ground water d. use of alternative technologies to conserve water e. feasibility of enhanced recharge f. feasibility of artificial recharge g. infrastructure development to meet the state's present and future water needs h. sources of funding to meet present and future program needs

12. That the commission work in cooperation with all existing public entities whose responsibilities include the management and conservation of surface water resources to develop a plan to manage the surface waters of the state.

13. That all actions taken by the Ground Water Management Commission created by Act No. 446 of the 2001 Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature shall be continued in effect under the jurisdiction of the commission and/or agency until such time as those actions can be reviewed by the new commission.

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Claiborne Parish Resolution Stating an Alternative to the Statewide Water Management Proposal of the Louisiana Ground Water Management Commission

Subject: 'STATEWIDE WATER MANAGEMENT PROGRAM: A Plan for Implementation by: Louisiana Ground Water Management Commission, Ground Water Management Advisory Task Force, and Commissioner of Conservation to Louisiana Legislature, per requirement of 2001 Act 446.

Claiborne Parish Watershed District Commission's Response follows. Note that the Commission Argues for More Sharing of Responsibilities and Control by State and Local Authorities. Some of the Commission's requests were implemented into law (Act 49), but others, e.g. arguing against regional boards, were not.

WHEREAS the Claiborne Parish Watershed Commission recognizes that Louisiana is entrusted to see that its waters are protected and developed for the good of its citizens and thus supports efforts to develop a state water policy; and

WHEREAS the Commission seeks a fair and effective state water policy, with adequate representation of parish interests, because water is among a parish's most important human and economic resources; and

WHEREAS in December, 2002, the Louisiana Ground Water Management Commission submitted to state legislative oversight committees the Statewide Water Management Program: A Plan for Implementation as a proposal for state legislation of water management policy; and

WHEREAS this Statewide Water Management Program contains no provisions to ensure effective parish input on matters pertaining to groundwater management, and it includes a recommendation for consideration of possibilities for shared state and regional management of surface waters; and

WHEREAS, just as Louisiana would reject national or regional management of its ground and surface waters but recognizes its share of responsibility for achieving nationally established research-based goals, accepts national-level expertise and support in developing its water management capabilities, and welcomes opportunities for interstate cooperation, parishes seek similar management structure within the state; and

WHEREAS the Statewide Water Management Program appropriately acknowledges the importance of public participation in achieving goals but proposes primarily top-down teaching, when established principles of learning emphasize the need for involvement of the learner; and

WHEREAS there is worldwide recognition of the importance of public involvement in water management and therefore a trend toward decentralized participatory management with strong centralized support; and

WHEREAS, the Statewide Water Management Program fails to respond to the following points made to the Louisiana Ground Water Management Commission by the Claiborne Parish Watershed Commission, and reinforced by resolution of the Claiborne Parish Police Jury, that:

-- parishes should manage parish waters;

-- the state should provide broad research-based goals and oversight and support parish programs to help achieve those goals;

-- the state should directly intervene only when parish management of its waters harms another parish;

-- parishes know best their needs and resources;

-- local solutions are most likely to enjoy public acceptance and participation; and\

-- an expensive new bureaucracy is unnecessary; and

WHEREAS at a December 2, 2002, conference on Water Policy in Baton Rouge, officials from surrounding states described successful approaches having the following elements in common: 1) local initiation, local design, local collaborative effort, local revenue generation, local implementation, local and state accountability; 2 ) close cooperation with the state comprehensive water management authority, which, in turn, provided advice and many types of support; and 3) local collaboration with state and federal agencies; and

WHEREAS regional decisions made by population-empowered authorities can result in diversion of rural water to urban areas without adequate compensation to rural parishes, and economically-deprived rural counties may even be required to help pay for the water demands of more affluent urban areas; and

WHEREAS, while rural parishes with quality water may have the most to lose if the Statewide Water Management Program is adopted in its present form, Louisiana will lose, too, in having a less than optimal water policy;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Claiborne Parish Watershed Commission recommends to legislative oversight committees the following changes in the Implementation Recommendations of the Louisiana Ground Water Management Commission's Statewide Water Management Program:

1. The legal status of subterranean water as a mineral under the Mineral Code (Title 31) will be affirmed after details associated with the legal status of waters have been worked out and legislation very specifically addresses whose waters may be subject to new regulations, the public and/or private economic interests that justify the new regulations, who will decide disputes as water rights change, and what will the decision process be. Considerations shall include, but not limited to, the following: a) Provisions for subterranean water may need to differ from those for oil and gas, given that, (1) as the sole source of drinking water for a majority of Louisianans, subterranean water has a critical human as well as economic value; (2) its current market value and its value to economic development widely vary from one geographic area to another; and (3) the importance of geographic proximity to the user, transport, the ramifications of depletion, and other issues are different. b) The Mineral Code may need to be clarified to fit the unique case of subterranean water, because historic interpretations for oil and gas cases may not be appropriate; provisions such as rights of landowners to extract subterranean liquid regardless of its effect upon neighboring subterranean resources if there is no negligence or intentional deprivation, correlative rights in the development and production of common source subterranean resources, and "good faith production for beneficial purpose" may need clarification. (re: Implementation Recommendation #1)

2. Until those details have been worked out, the Louisiana Ground Water Management Commission's recommendations are appropriate concerning: a) statutory registration or permitting of all ground water wells in the state for adequate monitoring of common ground water resources (re: Implementation Recommendation #4), b) definition of areas where sustainability of ground water is at issue (re: Implementation Recommendation #5), c) management options in these areas, rejecting coercive regulatory control in Ground Water Stress Areas (re: Implementation Recommendation #5 and #6)

3. The recommended Water Management Commission will be comprised of persons with pertinent expertise who are appointed by elected officials from all geographic areas of the state; (re: Implementation Recommendation #2)

4. The purpose of the Water Management Commission will be to oversee the management of the state's water resources to assure their continued sustainability, to promote their development as an economic resource, and to promote public education and implementation of conservation measures; (re: Implementation Recommendation #2)

5. Specific responsibilities of the Water Management Commission will be the following: a) Develop an emergency water use and contingency plan in coordination with existing agencies; (re: Implementation Recommendation #10}, b) Create advisory committees which may be composed of appropriate public agencies, representatives of user groups and the public to work with the agency and make recommendations to the Water Management Commission; (re: Implementation Recommendation #11}, c) Develop broad goals and specific objectives which may include, but not be limited to, the following: (1) promoting and supporting parish development of alternative sources of water where their proposed use does not conflict with their historical use; (2) providing incentives to transfer to alternate water sources; (3) providing dis-incentives for the continued use of ground water; (4) promoting and supporting parish initiatives to use alternative technologies to conserve water; (5) assisting parishes in establishing the feasibility of enhanced recharge projects; (6) assisting parishes in establishing the feasibility of artificial recharge projects; and (7) developing the infrastructure to meet the state's present and future water needs with emphasis on developing parish water management capabilities; d) Develop sources of funding to meet present and future program needs, recommending legislation when public funding is required (re: Implementation Recommendation #11}e) Recommend legislation for regulations required to meet present and future program needs; f) Enter into inter-jurisdictional relationships, such as with other states, in order to better manage water resources. These agreements shall be subject to approval by the oversight committees. (Implementation Recommendation #10, g) Provide direction and oversight for the administration of its policies by a newly created Division of Water Resources (see #3 below)

6. A Division of Water Resources will be newly created, not as a separate agency, but within the Office of Conservation, Department of Natural Resources as a consolidation of current state water resources programs and as the implementation arm of the Water Management Commission (re: Implementation Recommendation #3 and #3a) with the stipulation that: a) the Division shall include water management programs currently within the Department of Transportation and Development; (re: Implementation Recommendation #3c), b) the current water quality program shall remain under the jurisdiction of the Department of Environmental Quality; and (re: Implementation Recommendation #3d), c) the current public health program shall remain under the jurisdiction of the Department of Health and Hospitals (re: Implementation Recommendation #3d)

7. The Division of Water Resources will implement policy required of the Division by the Water Management Commission, which will include, but not be limited to, the following: a) water well registration and database management, (re: Implementation Recommendation #3c), b) water well driller's licensing, (re: Implementation Recommendation #3c), c) water well construction and plugging standards, (re: Implementation Recommendation #3c), d) cooperation with the Water Resources Division of the United States Geological Survey and other agencies for ground water data collection, including water supply and water use data. (re: Implementation Recommendation #3c), e) cooperation with local and state entities that influence water management to enhance management of the state's water resources and to encourage integration of all pertinent databases resources; (re: Implementation Recommendation #3e), f) *assisting parishes in building their capacities to manage their waters within the framework of research-based goals and objectives specified by the Water Management Commission; g) providing staff services for the Water Management Commission (re: Implementation Recommendation #3h), h) developing and implementing a public education and information strategy that includes the strategies listed in the Statewide Water Management Program with emphasis on facilitating parish outreach. (re: Implementation Recommendation #7),

8. The legislature shall provide sufficient funding for the work of the Division of Water Resources; (re: Implementation Recommendation #3f)

9. The Division of Water Resources shall be granted the authority to enforce pertinent regulations that are provided for in state legislation, icluding the levy of civil penalties; (re: Implementation Recommendation #3g)

10. There shall be no regional water management authority; rather, water management will take place at the parish level and, in critical cases when the actions of one parish may adversely affect the water resources of another parish, at the state level; (re: Implementation Recommendation #3b)

11. Actions taken by the Ground Water Management Commission created by Act No. 446 of the 2001 Regular Session of the Louisiana Legislature shall be continued until the official beginning date of the Water Management Commission's authority. To assist with the transition of authority, the new Commission may appoint members of the former Ground Water Management Commission to serve on advisory subcommittees. (re: Implementation Recommendation # 13)

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*This objective, which provides for more effective local involvement in water resources development, has never been mentioned in legislation or state task force recommendations, to the knowledge of the author of this webpage. That may not be surprising considering that all of these initiatives have issued from the state level. Thus, developing Louisiana water policy continues to lean strongly toward top down management, a model that this webpage author believes is poorly supported by water management research.

It may be that regional is more effective than parish level development of water resources policy. But Act 49 provides for the creation of only five regions to be specified by the state Office of Conservation. Who is to represent the region is defined by the state Office of Conservation. These representatives "may advise" (language of Act 49) if they wish, but the state has no obligation to repond. On a proposed map are five groundwater management regions. Two regions lie north of the toe section of the Louisiana boot . The northwest region encompasses the Sparta area, Bossier, and Caddo parishes. What little voice regional boards may have, rural water supplying parishes in the Sparta region will have even less, their voice reduced to a whisper by populous Caddo, Bossier, Ouachita, and Lincoln water demanding parishes.

Instead, with the state's encouragement, instruction, and support, parishes should form water resouces alliances based on common interests, to help assure that interests, e.g. of poorly populated aquifer recharge parishes, which are critical to Louisiana's economic growth, are not neglected. (Webpage author's note, 2/05)

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Ground Water Resources Act 49

Regular Session, 2003, SENATE BILL NO. 99 BY SENATORS CAIN, FONTENOT, HOLLIS, HOYT AND MCPHERSON AND REPRESENTATIVES BEARD AND DANIEL: AN ACT To amend and reenact R.S. 36:358(C), R.S. 38:3076(A)(introductory paragraph), and R.S. 49:968(B)(11), to enact R.S. 36:359(K) and 802.18, R.S. 38:3076(A)(24), 3087.136(4), and Chapter 13-A-1 of Title 38 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950, comprised of 3097.1 through 3097.6, and to repeal R.S. 36:4(X) and Chapter 13-C of Title 38 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950, comprised of R.S. 38:3099.1 through 3099.4,
- relative to ground water resources in the state of Louisiana
- to provide for the powers, duties, functions, and responsibilities of the commissioner of conservation relative to ground water management;
- to create the Ground Water Resources Commission; to provide for the powers, duties, functions, and responsibilities of the commission;
- to provide for determination of critical ground water areas; to provide for preservation and management of ground water resources in critical ground water areas;
- to provide for duties of the Sparta Groundwater Conservation District and the Capital Area Groundwater Conservation District;
- to provide for registration for certain water wells;
- to provide for the Ground Water Management Task Force; and to provide for related matters.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana:

Section 1. R.S. 36:358(C) is hereby amended and reenacted and R.S. 36:359(K) and 802.18 are hereby enacted to read as follows:
§358. Offices; purposes and functions
* * *
C. The office of conservation, in accordance with law, shall
exercise the functions of the state with respect to the regulation,
conservation, and use of the natural resources of the state which are not
specifically within the jurisdiction of other state departments or
agencies. Its functions shall include but not be limited to the
conservation of the oil and gas resources of the state and matters
pertaining thereto; the promotion and encouragement of exploration,
production, and refining efforts for oil, intrastate gas, and other
hydrocarbons; the control and allocation of energy supplies and
distribution; the lease or construction and operation of intrastate
pipeline systems; the implementation and enforcement of any
emergency gas shortage allocation plan and the setting of priorities; and
regulation of the minimum sale price of intrastate natural gas, and
management of ground water resources all in accordance with
applicable laws.
* * *
§359. Transfer of agencies and functions to Department of Natural
Resources
* * *
R.S. 36:359(K) is all new law.
K. The Ground Water Resources Commission as provided in
R.S. 38:3097.1 through 3097.6 shall be placed within the office of
conservation, Department of Natural Resources, and shall exercise its
powers, duties, functions, and responsibilities as provided in R.S. 36:802.18.
* * *
§802.18. Transfer; Ground Water Resources Commission
R.S. 36:802.18 is all new law.
The Ground Water Resources Commission placed in the office
of conservation, Department of Natural Resources, by R.S. 36:359(K)
shall exercise and carry out all powers, duties, functions, and
responsibilities as provided by R.S. 36:802, except that the
commission's powers, duties, functions, and responsibilities are in the
nature of policymaking and adjudication. The commission shall
continue to exercise all advising powers, duties, functions, and
responsibilities provided by law.
Section 2. R.S. 38:3076(A)(introductory paragraph) is hereby amended
and reenacted and R.S. 38:3076(A)(24), 3087.136(4), and Chapter 13-A-1 of
Title 38 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950, comprised of 3097.1
through 3097.6, are hereby enacted to read as follows:
§3076. Powers of the board
A. The board shall have authority to work with the commissioner
of conservation in his responsibilities to do all things necessary to
prevent waste of groundwater resources, and to prevent or alleviate
damaging or potentially damaging subsidence of the land surface
caused by withdrawal of groundwater within the district. The In
conjunction with the commissioner of conservation the board shall
have authority to do, as required, the following:
* * *
R.S. 38:3076(A)(24) is all new law.
(24) To advise and consult with the commissioner of
conservation and the Ground Water Resources Commission on matters
that impact water resources within the board’s jurisdiction.
* * *
§3087.136. Powers of the board
The board shall conduct a study and survey of the groundwater
resources in the district, including but not limited to consideration of
what is necessary or advisable to conserve groundwater resources and
where appropriate, prevent or alleviate damaging or potentially
damaging drawdowns, land surface subsidence and groundwater quality
degradation. For this purpose, the board shall hold hearings and may:
* * *
R.S. 38:3087.136(4) is all new law.
(4) Advise and consult with the commissioner of conservation
and the Ground Water Resources Commission on matters that impact
water resources within the board's jurisdiction.
* * *
CHAPTER 13-A-1. GROUND WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT -- all new law.
R.S. 38
§3097.1. Legislative findings; purpose; effect -- all new law.
A. As the effective management and planning in the utilization
of the state's water resources is hereby found and declared to be a
matter of public interest, the state must have a comprehensive ground
water management program. Said program must take into
consideration the requirements, needs, and obligations of all
stakeholders of water in the state of Louisiana. The program shall be
based on good management practices, sound science, and economics
according to generally accepted principles in those disciplines. It must
include as a goal the long-term sustainability of the state’s ground water
aquifers and preservation of the state’s ecological welfare, while
considering the economic value thereof to the state’s role in interstate
commerce and the economic welfare of its citizens. Further, it must
provide for the efficient administration in the utilization and
management of ground water resources, including the gathering of data
related to the state’s water resources. Thus, the state’s water resources
must be protected, conserved, managed, and replenished in an effective
manner, with due regard for the foregoing considerations and in the
best interest of all the citizens of the state.
B. The legislature hereby recognizes the need for uniformity in
the establishment of a comprehensive ground water management
program. Therefore, the state shall have exclusive jurisdiction over the
management of ground water and this Chapter shall supersede and
preempt any rule, regulation, code, statute, or ordinance of any political
subdivision or other unit of local government. However, nothing
contained in this Chapter shall be construed to deny such local
government the authority over siting facilities pursuant to any general
land use planning or zoning or to deny soil and water conservation
districts powers granted pursuant to R.S. 3:1208.
C. In accordance with the legislative intent provided herein, the
statewide ground water resource management program and any rule,
regulation, or order of the commissioner shall recognize historic use of
ground water resources in the state and may incorporate the use of
appropriate incentives to encourage conservation of ground water
resources and the appropriate utilization of alternate water supplies
where appropriate. Consistent with the provisions of this Chapter and
in consultation with the commissioner, the incentives and provisions of
alternate water resources may be provided by the state, or any local
subdivision thereof, by virtue of tax incentives, tax credits, and physical
projects transporting or providing alternate water resources to existing
ground water users and by any private person with an interest in
conserving such ground water resources for public use.
§3097.2. Definitions.
Unless the context otherwise requires, the following terms shall
have the following meanings for purposes of this Chapter:
(1) "Beneficial use" means the technologically feasible use of
ground water for domestic, municipal, industrial, agricultural,
recreational, or therapeutic purpose, or any other advantageous purpose.
(2) "Critical ground water area" shall mean an area in which,
under current usage and normal environmental conditions,
sustainability of an aquifer is not being maintained due to either
movement of a salt water front, water level decline, or subsidence,
resulting in unacceptable environmental, economic, social, or health
impact, or causing serious adverse impact to an aquifer, considering the
areal and temporal extent of all such impacts.
(3) "Commission" shall mean the Ground Water Resources
Commission, established by R.S. 38:3097.4.
(4) "Commissioner" shall mean the commissioner of
conservation.
(5) "Domestic well" shall mean a water well used exclusively
to supply the household needs of the owner, lessee, or his family. Uses
may include but are not limited to drinking, cooking, washing, sanitary
purposes, lawn and garden watering, and caring for pets. Domestic
wells shall also include wells used on private farms and ranches for the
feeding and caring of pets and watering of lawns, excluding livestock,
crops, and ponds.
(6) "Ground water" is water suitable for any beneficial use
percolating below the earth’s surface which contains fewer than 10,000
mg/l total dissolved solids, including water suitable for domestic use or
supply for a domestic water system.
(7) "Ground water emergency" shall mean an unanticipated
occurrence as a result of a natural force or a man-made act which
causes a ground water source to become immediately unavailable for
beneficial use for the foreseeable future or drought conditions
determined by the commissioner to warrant the temporary use of
drought relief wells to assure the sustained production of agricultural
products in the state.
(8) "Historic ground water production" means the average
annual production of a ground water well since the calendar year 1995.
(9) "Large volume well" means a well with an exterior casing
size of eight inches or greater in diameter, or as defined by rules and
regulations promulgated by the commissioner pursuant to the
Administrative Procedure Act.
(10) "Person" shall mean any natural person, corporation,
association, partnership, receiver, tutor, curator, executor,
administrator, fiduciary, or representative of any kind, or any
governmental entity.
(11) "Replacement well" shall mean a well located within one
thousand feet of the original well and within the same property
boundary as the original well, installed within the same aquifer over an
equivalent interval with an equivalent pumping rate, and used for the
same purpose as the original well.
(12) "Spacing" means the distance a water well may be located
in relation to an existing or proposed water well, regardless of property
boundaries.
(13) "Sustainability" means the development and use of ground
water in a manner that can be maintained for the present and future time
without causing unacceptable environmental, economic, social, or
health consequences.
(14) "User" shall mean any person who is making beneficial use
of ground water from a well or wells owned or operated by such
person.
(15) "Well" or "water well" shall mean any well drilled or
constructed for the principal purpose of producing ground water.
§3097.3. Commissioner of conservation; powers and duties
A. The commissioner, through the office of conservation, is
empowered and responsible for the administration of all matters related
to the management of the state's ground water resources by providing
for the most advantageous use of the resource consistent with the
protection, conservation, and replenishment thereof. The commissioner
shall perform these functions to the extent such functions are not
specifically within the jurisdiction of other state departments or
agencies. The commissioner shall seek the advice and consultation of
local governmental entities on any actions or decisions which may have
an impact upon those entities or residents within the entities’ respective
jurisdictions.
B. The commissioner is authorized to employ, assign, and
remove personnel, including a deputy, within the Department of
Natural Resources, office of conservation, to provide administrative
and technical staff functions the commissioner deems necessary to carry
out the powers, functions, and duties under this Chapter. Personnel
actions shall be in accordance with applicable civil service laws, rules,
and regulations, and with the policies and rules of the department, all
subject to budgetary control and applicable laws.
C. The commissioner has authority to make, after notice and
public hearings in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act,
any reasonable rules, regulations, and orders that are necessary from
time to time in the proper administration and enforcement of this
Chapter, including rules, regulations, or orders for the following
purposes:
(1) Do all things necessary to prevent waste of water resources.
(2) Prevent or alleviate damaging or potentially damaging salt
water movement or water level decline, and loss of sustainability in the
state’s aquifers in accordance with Paragraph (4) of this Subsection.
(3) Prevent subsidence of the land surface caused by the
withdrawal of ground water within the state in accordance with
Paragraph (4) of this Subsection.
(4)(a) Require registration of all new wells by the owners. Such
registration shall at a minimum require the date drilled or the estimated
date to be drilled, the name of the driller, the current ownership, and the
projected location of the well in latitude, longitude, and depth, and
casing size together with such other information as the commissioner
may reasonably require. The commissioner and the Department of
Transportation and Development shall cooperate to insure the efficient
and effective collection of well data. Registration shall be in the form
of a notice of intent to drill submitted to the commissioner at least sixty
days prior to drilling the well, except for the following types of wells
which shall be registered no later than sixty days after completing the
well:
(i) Domestic well.
(ii) Replacement well.
(iii) Drilling rig supply well, used only for the duration of the
oil and gas drilling operation at the drilling location where sited for the
immediate needs of rig operations.
(iv) Drought relief wells.
(v) All other wells the commissioner exempts for just cause.
(b) Within thirty days of receiving the well registration, the
commissioner shall review the submitted information. During the thirtyday
review period, the commissioner may either issue an order to the
owner placing restrictions on the well or requesting further reasonable
information on the well or may take no action. Prior to any order
placing a restriction on a well, the commissioner shall determine, on the
basis of good management practices and sound science, that such action
is necessary to prevent adverse impacts to the sustainability of the
aquifer from which the proposed well is to produce. An order placing
restrictions on spacing may also be issued to avoid direct adverse
impacts to existing wells. Restrictions and requests for information
shall be subject to the following:
(i) For large volume wells or wells within a critical ground water
area, the commissioner may issue to the owner of such well an order
fixing allowable production, spacing, and metering necessary to
properly manage the state’s ground water resources consistent with R.S.
38:3097.6(B)(3). Before issuing any order placing restrictions on a
well outside a critical ground water area, the commissioner shall
consider a well owner’s efforts to develop alternate water sources.
(ii) For all other wells located outside a critical ground waterarea,
an order issued by the commissioner may only fix spacing of the well.
(iii) If more information is requested, the commissioner shall
have an additional thirty days after receiving the additional information
for review. The commissioner’s request for further information may be
appealed to the commission to determine the reasonableness of the
request. Such determination shall be made within forty-five days from
the date of the appeal.
(5) Determine critical ground water areas in accordance with
R.S. 38:3097.6.
(6) Collect data with respect to water wells and water resources.
(7) Continue development of a statewide ground water resource
management program that shall include but not be limited to evaluation
of the state’s water resources including current and projected demands;
development of a water use conservation program; study of alternatives
to ground water use, such as surface water to include treatment and
transmission system, and reclaimed water; incentives for conservation;
use of alternative technologies; and education and conservation
programs. The plan should stress conservation as the primary
mechanism for the protection of the state’s ground water resources.
(8) Develop a contingency plan to respond to a ground water
emergency. Such a plan shall provide that ground water needed for
human consumption shall have the highest priority. If the
commissioner declares a ground water emergency, he shall define the
geographical extent of the area included in the emergency by rule or
order, may retain personnel or let contracts as necessary with persons
who shall operate under his direction to abate the emergency
conditions, and may fix the allowable production, spacing, and depth
for wells within the area in such a way that the combined production of
ground water will not have long-term adverse effects on the aquifer.
(9) Authorize the temporary use of drought relief wells for
agricultural use in times of drought upon a determination that sufficient
water resources are otherwise not available. The commissioner shall
fix the allowable production, spacing, and depth for such wells in the
issuance of an emergency order in such a way that the combined
production of ground water from such wells will not have long-term
adverse effects on the aquifer.
(10) Enter interagency agreements and interstate compacts in
order to manage ground water resources. Such interstate compacts
shall only be entered upon approval of the House Committee on the
Environment and the Senate Committee on Environmental Quality.
D. Any rule or regulation promulgated or any critical ground
water area declared by the Ground Water Management Commission
pursuant to authority granted by Act No. 446 of the 2001 Regular
Session shall remain in effect until July 1, 2004, or until such time as
the commissioner promulgates rules pursuant to this Section or reviews
any previously declared critical area.
§3097.4. Ground Water Resources Commission; membership; powers
and responsibilities
A. The Ground Water Resources Commission is hereby created
and shall be composed of the following members:
(1) The governor or his designee.
(2) The commissioner of conservation or his designee.
(3) The commissioner of agriculture and forestry or his
designee.
(4) The secretary of the Department of Economic Development
or his designee.
(5) The secretary of the Department of Environmental Quality
or his designee.
(6) The secretary of the Department of Health and Hospitals or
his designee.
(7) The secretary of the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries
or his designee.
(8) The secretary of the Department of Transportation and
Development or his designee.
(9) The director of the Governor's Office of Coastal Activities
or his designee.
(10) One member appointed by the governor, who is a geologist
or an engineer with expertise in ground water resource management.
(11) One member appointed by the governor from a list of four
nominations submitted jointly by the Louisiana Chemical Association,
the Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil & Gas Association, the Louisiana
Association of Business and Industry, and the Louisiana Pulp & Paper
Association.
(12) One member appointed by the governor from a list of three
names nominated by the Louisiana Farm Bureau.
(13) One member appointed by the governor from a list of three
nominations submitted by the Police Jury Association of Louisiana.
(14) One member appointed by the governor from a list of three
nominations submitted by the Louisiana Municipal Association.
(15) One member appointed by the governor from a list of three
nominations submitted by the Sparta Groundwater Conservation
District Board of Commissioners.
(16) One member appointed by the governor from a list of three
nominations submitted by the board of commissioners of the Capital
Area Groundwater Conservation District.
(17) One member appointed by the governor who resides or
works in the geographical area of the state underlain by the Chicot
aquifer.
(18) One member appointed by the governor from a list of three
nominations submitted by the Louisiana Landowners Association. [AAS note: what is this?]
(19) One member appointed by the governor from a list of three
names submitted by the Louisiana Wildlife Federation, Coalition to
Restore Coastal Louisiana, and the League of Women Voters.
B. The appointed members of the commission shall serve fouryear
terms except for the initial term, in which the governor shall
designate the terms of office so that three members shall serve a oneyear
term, three members shall serve a two-year term, and four
members shall serve a three-year term. No appointed member shall
serve more than two consecutive terms. In case of a vacancy, the
governor shall appoint a replacement to fill the unexpired term.
Appointed members shall not be compensated for their services, except
the commissioner may promulgate rules and regulations to provide for
travel expenses. Appointed members shall be considered as such, and
not elected, for the purposes of R.S. 42:1102 et seq.
C. The governor or his designee shall serve as chairman of the
commission. The commission shall meet at least once per quarter, but
may meet more often as necessary.
D. The commission shall have the authority to do the following:
(1) Review and approve or reject any orders of the
commissioner placing restrictions on wells upon petition by the owner
of the affected well or proposed well or any owner of a well in the same
aquifer which may be adversely impacted by the well in question. In
reviewing such decisions the commissioner shall not serve as a voting
member of the commission. The order of the commissioner shall be
rejected only if the commission concludes, after a review of the record,
that a reasonable factual basis does not exist for the commissioner’s
decision. Rejected orders shall be returned to the commissioner for
reconsideration. An order that has been returned to the commissioner
twice shall be considered a final decision and eligible for judicial
review pursuant to R.S. 38:3097.5.
(2) Review rules and regulations proposed by the commissioner
pursuant to the proper administration and enforcement of this Chapter.
(3) Continue the development, in cooperation with the
commissioner, of a statewide ground water resource management
program that shall include but not be limited to evaluation of the state’s
ground water resources including current and projected demands;
development of a water use conservation program; study of alternatives
to ground water use, such as surface water to include treatment and
transmission system, and reclaimed water; incentives for conservation;
use of alternative technologies; and education and conservation
programs. The plan should stress conservation as the primary
mechanism for the protection of the state’s ground water resources. The
commission shall also hold public hearings and consult with local
governmental entities in the development of this program.
(4) Review the contingency plan developed by the
commissioner to respond to a ground water emergency.
(5) The commission may direct the commissioner to promulgate
rules and regulations for the appointment or designation of up to five
regional bodies based on the general location of major aquifer systems
and water sources of the state and composed of local stakeholders who
are representative of current users. Such bodies may gather data and
provide local input to the commission and the commissioner.
(6) At their discretion, attend all public meetings called by the
commissioner pursuant to his power and duties in this Chapter.
§3097.5. Judicial review
A. The owner of the affected well or proposed well or any
owner of a well in the same aquifer which may be significantly and
adversely impacted by the well at issue may appeal devolutively a final
determination by the commissioner only to the Nineteenth Judicial
District Court. A petition for review must be filed in the district court
within thirty days after notice of the final decision being appealed has
been given. Copies of the petition shall be served upon the
commissioner. The district court shall grant the petition for review.
The commissioner shall not be required to file an answer to the petition
for review.
B. The provisions of R.S. 49:964(C), (D), (F), and (G),
including the standard of review, shall apply to petitions for judicial
review provided in this Section.
C. Judicial review regarding well restriction orders shall be
decided by the court summarily and by preference. In no case shall the
date for a final decision on the merits of such review or appeals extend
beyond the ninetieth day after receipt by the court of the record for
adjudication. The court in its discretion may issue further orders
consistent with the Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure to carry out the
summary mandate of such reviews or appeals.
§3097.6. Determination of critical ground water area
A. Any owner of a well that is significantly and adversely
affected as a result of the movement of a salt water front, water level
decline, or subsidence in or from the aquifer drawn on by such well
shall have the right to file an application to request the commissioner
to declare that an area underlain by such aquifer is a critical ground
water area. Such application shall contain a statement of facts and
supporting evidence substantiating the area may be a critical ground
water area as defined in R.S. 30:3097.2(2). On the basis of the
application, good management practices and sound science, the
commissioner shall either deny the request, in writing, or issue a draft
order which describes the proposed boundaries of the critical ground
water area. If the commissioner issues a draft order describing the
proposed boundaries of the critical ground water area, the
commissioner shall hold at least one public hearing in the locality of the
proposed boundaries.
B. After holding hearings, the commissioner shall issue a
written decision based on good management practices and scientifically
sound data gathered from the application, the participants in the public
hearing, and any other relevant information. If the commissioner has
determined that a critical ground water area exists, his decision shall be
in the form of an order that shall describe the boundaries of the area
which is determined to be a critical ground water area. The order shall
also contain a plan to preserve and manage the ground water resources
in that area which may include but is not limited to the following:
(1) Educational and conservation programs.
(2) Incentives to reduce ground water use.
(3) Restrictions on the amount of withdrawals by any or all
users in the area. If restrictions on withdrawals are imposed, the
commissioner shall consider the following:
(a) Ground water needed for human consumption and public
health and safety shall have the highest priority.
(b) Uses other than human consumption and public health and
safety shall have equal priority.
(c) Historical use.
(d) Ability, including economic ability, of a particular user to
relocate to an alternative source of water.
(e) User’s conservation efforts and actual reductions in water
usage, taking into account historic ground water production.

Section 3. R.S. 49:968(B)(11) is hereby amended and reenacted to read
as follows:
§968. Review of agency rules; fees
* * *
B. * * *
(11) The Department of Natural Resources and all of the
agencies made a part of it shall submit the report to the House
Committee on Natural Resources and the Senate Committee on Natural
Resources. However, for exercises of the commissioner of
conservation’s rule-making authority pursuant to Chapter 13-A-1
of Title 38 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950, the
department shall submit the report to the House Committee on the
Environment and the Senate Committee on Environmental Quality.
* * *
Section 4. R.S. 36:4(X) and Chapter 13-C of Title 38 of the Louisiana
Revised Statutes of 1950, comprised of R.S. 38:3099.1 through 3099.4, are
hereby repealed in their entirety.
Section 5 is all new law.
Section 5. (A) A comprehensive ground water management program
must continue to be developed and implemented. To that end, there is hereby
created a Ground Water Management Advisory Task Force with membership
as follows:
(1) A person representing the office of the governor appointed by the
governor.
(2) The president of the Louisiana Senate or his designee.
(3) The speaker of the Louisiana House of Representatives or his
designee.
(4) The chair of the Senate Committee on Natural Resources or his
designee.
(5) The chair of the House Committee on Natural Resources or his
designee.
(6) The chair of the Senate Committee on Environmental Quality or his
designee.
(7) The chair of the House Committee on Environment or his designee.
(8) The Louisiana State Conservationist, USDA Natural Resources
Conservation Service or his designee.
(9) The chancellor of the Louisiana State University Agricultural
Center or his designee.
(10) The executive director of the state soil and water conservation
committee.
(11) The Louisiana district chief, United States Geological Survey,
Water Resources Division, or his designee.
(12) The district engineer of the United States Army Corps of
Engineers, New Orleans District, or his designee.
(13) The director of the Louisiana Geological Survey or his designee.
(14) The executive director of the Louisiana Wildlife Federation or his
designee.
(15) The president of the Louisiana Farm Bureau or his designee.
(16) The president of the Louisiana Chemical Association or his
designee.
(17) The executive director of the Coalition to Restore Coastal
Louisiana or his designee.
(18) The president of the Louisiana Rice Growers Association or his
designee.
(19) The executive director of Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil and Gas
Association or his designee.
(20) The president of the Louisiana Catfish Farmers Association or his
designee.
(21) One representative of the Louisiana Rural Water Association.
(22) The president of the Cotton Producers Association or his designee.
(23) One representative of the Capital Area Groundwater Conservation
District.
(24) One representative of the Sparta Groundwater Conservation [AAS note: representative from North La.]
District.
(25) The executive director of the Louisiana Forestry Association or
his designee.
(26) One representative of the Sabine River Authority.
(27) The president of the American Sugar Cane League or his
designee.
(28) One representative of the Red River Compact Commission.
(29) The executive director of the Lake Pontchartrain Foundation or his
designee.
(30) The president of the Louisiana Soybean Association or his
designee.
(31) The president of the Louisiana Cattlemen Association or his
designee.
(32) The executive director of the Barataria-Terrebonne National
Estuary Program or his designee.
(33) The president of the Louisiana Crawfish Farmers Association or
his designee.
(34) The chairman of the Louisiana Pulp and Paper Association or his
(35) A representative of the Louisiana Ground Water Association. [AAS note: What is this?]
(36) A representative of the Louisiana Engineering Society who is a
registered engineer with reservoir experience.
(37) The dean of the Southern University College of Agriculture,
Family, and Consumer Science or his designee.
(38) A representative from Louisiana State University, Department of
Geology.
(39) A representative from Louisiana Tech University, Department of
Geology. [AAS note: representative from North Louisiana]
(40) A representative from University of Louisiana at Monroe,
Department of Geology. [AAS note: representative from North Louisiana]
(41) A representative from University of Louisiana at Lafayette,
Department of Geology.
(42) A representative of the Association of Public Utilities.
(43) A representative of the Irrigation Association.
(44) A representative of the League of Women Voters.
(45) A representative of the Citizens for a Clean Environment.
(46) A representative of Louisiana Independent Oil and Gas
Association.
(47) A representative from the Louisiana State University at Shreveport
Watershed Management Initiative. [AAS note: contact]
(48) A representative of the Municipal Water Association.
(49) A representative of the New Orleans Sewerage and Water Board.
(B) The Ground Water Management Advisory Task Force shall assist
the commissioner of conservation and the Ground Water Resource
Commission in continuing to develop a statewide ground water resource
management program. Such ground water management program shall include
but not be limited to evaluation of the state’s ground water resources including
current and projected demands on the aquifers of the state; development of a
water use conservation program; study of alternatives to ground water use,
such as surface water to include treatment and transmission system, and
reclaimed water; incentives for conservation; use of alternative technologies;
and education and conservation programs. The plan should stress conservation
as the primary mechanism for the protection of the state’s ground water
resources.
(C) The task force shall meet at least once per quarter, or more
frequently as necessary. The task force shall report to the commissioner and
the commission periodically on the activities and progress of the task force on
continuing to develop the comprehensive ground water management program.
Section 6. This Act shall become effective on July 1, 2003; if vetoed
by the governor and subsequently approved by the legislature, this Act shall
become effective on July 1, 2003, or on the day following such approval by the
legislature, whichever is later.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF LOUISIANA
APPROVED:
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Proposed Incremental State-Parish Co-Management

Should water management be a centralized, program-driven process in which parishes will obligingly align with problems and solutions identified by state board members, the state commissioner, and regional-level boards?

Or

Should water management remain a parish-based process with the state office playing a supporting role?

The answer is both

Recommendation: Incremental legislation

- Regulate now where there are defined critical or imminently critical water quality/supply problems*

- Create state-level Water Resource Office within most appropriate department

- Provide for 5-year program to develop an effective state-parish co-management structure\

- State lead in planning and implementing the process

- State, local governments, other stakeholders participate in development

Rationale:

1) States can't mandate what matters, because what matters most is parish motivation, skill, know-how and commitment

2) State and parish development are interdependent

3) State goals must connect with parish goals and initiatives for effective change to take place

4) State and parishes should together negotiate goals, develop strategies and seek pertinent data

5) Management reorganization should proceed in stages to optimize effective cooperation

- Early Stage: encourage varied state and parish initiatives

- Middle Stage: as experience brings clarity and skills, reorganize for better consistency

- Late Stage: jointly formalize a management system that has proved to work

It is much more powerful when parishes and state, working together, discover what management structure is needed than when the state rapidly implements a "comprehensive" structure. A rapidly implemented structure is likely to create ambiguity, conflict, and ultimately retrenchment.

Advantages of State-Parish Co-Management

- Avoids one-shoe-fits-all problems, capitalizing on parish similarities and differences

- Allows parishes to orchestrate state policies around their priorities

- Stimulates action when parishes perceive that state reforms can provide opportunities

- Stimulates innovation

- Creates coherence of parish and state objectives

- Maximizes the productive mix of: 1) Central direction-setting, incentives and responsiveness, 2) Local initiatives, development and accountability

Roles of State (working with parishes)

- Assure strong, capable, and responsive central staff that does not suppress parish initiatives or make parishes dependent

- Establish broad-based mission and strategy providing core foci while enabling flexibility

- Develop parish planning process to achieve growth tailored to each parish's uniqueness

- Create incentives for parishes to develop research-based projects

- Facilitate varied alliances to implement the many parts of the comprehensive system

- Monitor and disseminate information to encourage initiatives, action, and accountability

- Commit to continuous development of parish capacity through allocating parish staff development funds, conducting systemwide training, establishing a tracking-reward system

Roles of Parish (working with state)

- Assure parish staff with pertinent training and management and collaboration skills

- Set parish program rationale and direction

- Increase parish capacity, cooperating with state to develop effective processes

- Suggest projects and respond to state incentives to develop research-based projects

- Form inter-parish alliances to develop projects that meet inter-parish and state objectives

- Cooperate with state in monitoring, evaluating, and reshaping programs as indicated

When parishes seek external support and training, they become a vital part of the solution. Thus, the optimal role of the state is to motivate parishes to work cooperatively with others and the state toward common goals. This is best accomplished, not through a hierarchy, but through two-way interaction wherein state and parish managements are mutually influential.

Disadvantages of other approaches:

Of centralized reform without local involvement

- Often politically driven, such change is likely to center on restructuring rather than mission

- Promising rapid change toward an ideal end, it can be derailed by resistant parishes

- Imposition of directives that seem incompatible with parish preferences results in conflict

- Parishes may be ill-equipped to respond to state directives

- The core mission of the parish becomes ancillary to the state's, stifling parish initiative

- The state is faced with finding ways to incorporate its perspective and knowledge into parish-based

- State goals with regional decision-making are unlikely to lead to parish involvement in solutions

- No one authority can master the dynamics and complexity of the multi-faceted forces of change

Of local reform without central involvement

- Parish decision-making may make little impact on water management without capacity for implementing actions and for cooperating with other parishes

- Parish decision-making may not overcome norms of autonomy without central encouragement of interparish cooperation

- Interparish collaboration outside of a central plan may leave central objectives unmet

- Change, especially sustained change, is unlikely in the absence of external stimuli.

- Decision-making opportunities may lead to structural changes without productive action

- It is difficult to discern and maintain quality control (as with state management)

- It is too slow and ill defined to respond effectively to short-term demands

Of uncoordinated, ambivalent state and parish authorities

- Uneven development and fragmentation of effort is probable

- Conflict arises from state's lack of clear definition and from the overload of new programs

- Oppositional dynamics are set up, so that restructuring becomes contentious, not collaborative

Comparison of Management Structures & Their Consequence

- Low engagement-low bureaucracy -- no initiative, no cooperation in change

- Low engagement-high bureaucracy -- reference to rules but limited action

- High engagement-high bureaucracy -- conflict, interference, resistance

- High engagement-low bureaucracy (co-management) -- cooperation in comprehensive change

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Crafting Water Policy in Louisiana
         Marty Rowland, Ph.D., P.E.           Water Resource Engineer, Planner, Economist
         New Orleans, Louisiana
              Presentation at National Ground Water Association 
              Southeast FOCUS Conference     Atlanta, Georgia            September 24, 2001 
1 Introduction:
 -Although a water-rich state, a crisis exists in 3 of Louisiana's major aquifer systems from long-term, non-sustainable pumping 
 -Louisiana is 8 months into a 2-year process of developing an institutional framework to protect its aquifers 
 -No private property rights to groundwater 
              …state is powerless to limit major shifts from public supply/ag to electrical generation 
             ... also, powerless to improve health of aquifers toward sustainable use 
 -Political backlash led to passage of Act 446 on June 18, 2001 
              …evaluate need  to regulate groundwater 
              …prepare appropriate legislation for 2003 session 
 -Blessed with 800,000 MGD surface water flowing through the state 
              ...only 1% (8,700 MGD) is used anthropogenically 
 -Mississippi River accounts for 0.79 of 1% 
 -500 times more surface water flow than groundwater withdrawn (1,600 MGD) 
 -64% - power generation  27% - industry  5% -  public supply  4% - ag 
 -Four aquifer systems comprise 94% of total groundwater withdrawn 
 -If Arkansas' criteria for "critical area" of non-sustainable pumping the Sparta Aquifer
               were used 31% of the 64 parishes would be so identified (i.e., long-term water level decrease >1 foot/year) 
 -Four types of groundwater aquifers

• excess storage-artesian "Free flowing" water;
• stable water elevations- sustainable Inputs match withdrawals ;
• decreasing water elevations-non-sustainable Use of "banked" water;
• long-term water level lowering-aquifer mining "Cashing out" water reserves

2 Louisiana Aquifers...

3 Water Law...Water Conflicts
  -For surface water, Louisiana law follows eastern "riparian," "reasonable use" doctrine 
  -In contrast to western "prior appropriation," and "correlative rights" doctrine which encourages overuse
   (first-in-time/first-in-right, based on land acreage owned) 
 -For groundwater, Louisiana (like Texas) follows the "capture rule," or "law of the biggest pump" 
  -No private property rights to groundwater…state will not protect right of access, on condition water is not intentionally wasted by biggest pumper 19
 -Atlanta - City to restrict activities generating non-point pollution of surface water 
               …source of 80% of contaminants…only to worsen with population growth…98% of supply from surface water 
 - Colorado/Kansas - For 35 years, Colorado violated interstate compact by over drafting
              its share of groundwater; - Kansas is owed $25 million or 328,000 ac-ft of water 
 - Nebraska - To protect the Ogallalla Aquifer, a centralized well permit, pumpage control
              system is now in place 
 - West Central Florida - State could regulate groundwater, but could not supply new
   sources …cooperation led to ongoing development of new surface water sources, including desalination 
 - Conflicts are typically resolved by instituting a system of monitored control 
              - state permits
              - regional water supply authority 
              - appointment of a "water master" 
              - adjudicated prior appropriation rights 
-open access;    private managed;      state managed;    common pool 

4 Resource Management Systems (RMSs) and "Crisis"
 - To understand water conflicts, one must know of the systems available for managing resources 
 - One must also know the nature of "crisis" 
 - "Crisis" exists as hope declines; Increasing "crisis" reaches threshold of irreversible change 
 -Ron Kaiser (University of Texas at Austin) says… 
              Water policy goes through three stages when use is non-sustainable 

1. 1  Denial of resource use problem is nature of open access or private managed RMS 
2. 2  Recognition of "crisis" usually comes at state managed RMS stage 
3. 
   3 Reconciliation.  Crisis is often reconciled with the adoption of a common pool RMS 

5 Water Policy Development in Louisiana
 -In 1892, 1st recorded public supply well installed by Baton Rouge Water Company 
    -Water levels in each aquifer unit declined sharply as pumping depths shifted

 -Recent 30 years 
     - State's 1st conservation district formed in Baton Rouge area in 1970, following decades of monitoring saltwater intrusion 
     - The 5-parish "Capital Area" district formed in 1974, upon failure to pass state-wide groundwater control law 
    -  1984 effort to pass similar law failed 
              - In 1999, Sparta Aquifer district formed 
 - Power Plant Water Grab 
      -1999 legislature resolved to study long-term effects of increased groundwater withdrawals 
      - In fall 2000, State Senator Cain held public hearings concerning flood of applications from "merchant power plants" to use groundwater for cooling water 
               - November 2000, Governor sets up task force to establish water policy 
    - Act 446 of 2001 created a Ground Water Management Commission and an Advisory Task Force 
   - Since late 2000, ___ wells registered for use by power plants…___ more anticipated 
   - July 2003, Commission term expires 

6 Questions: 
              Will 2003 legislature have bill for a state- wide water management institution? 
              Will a Chicot Aquifer/Southern Hills Aquifer Conservation Districts be formed? 
              Will existing districts exert muscle? 

7 Four types of groundwater quality 
              Type a - soft, bicarbonate; low iron; no treatment required 
              Type b - locally hard, moderate iron; some treatment req'd 
              Type c - moderately hard; treatment generally required 
              Type d - high hardness, high iron; treatment required 

8 Alternate Outcomes
              Denial Result, Do nothing……………………………………..Crisis
               Study, do nothing……………………………..Crisis 
              Recognition,       -
               Establish permit system for "critical areas"...Crisis
               Establish a state-wide permit system……….Crisis
             Reconciliation
               Formation of Chicot/Southern Hills CDs……Hope
               Strengthen all CDs, acquire new water…….Hope

9 Conclusions
              Groundwater Commission -18 month task to decide to do nothing or to regulate 
              Many parishes already have non-sustainable withdrawals 
              Conservation alone isn't enough - new water needed 
              Mississippi River is a vast source of water 
              When the value of water finally realized, the institutional means will be found to increase
              supply

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Three Presentations at a Symposium on Water Police in Baton Rouge, 2001

History of Proposed Water Policies in Louisiana
Zahir "Bo" Bolourchi, P.E., Chief, Water Resources Section What is water policy and what is its purpose?  According to a DOTD publication entitled "The Louisiana Water Resources Study Commission's Report to the 1984 Legislature," water policy is a widely used term that has different meanings in different states or applications. In general, however, water policy is the broadest general statement with respect to water, which serves as the foundation for a State's water laws and institutional arrangements. Water policy recognizes the importance of water resources and sets forth a state's intentions with respect to water, whether the approach is or is not to actively manage water resources. In fact, lack of a water policy probably indicates that a state does not have comprehensive objectives for its water resources. 
What is the existing water policy in Louisiana?  A separate and comprehensive water policy does not exist in Louisiana. Water policy statements are found primarily in the Constitution and in the Revised Statutes where policy statements often precede the description of powers and duties of various water resources agencies and programs. For example, Article IX of the Constitution states: "The natural resources of the state, including air and water, and the healthful, scenic, historic and esthetic quality of the environment shall be protected, conserved, and replenished insofar as possible and consistent with the health, safety, and welfare of the people. The legislature shall enact laws to implement this policy." 
Revised Statute 38:3091 states, "The utilization of ground water resources is hereby found and declared to be a matter of public interest. It is the purpose of this Chapter to provide for the efficient administration, and the gathering of data concerning ground water resources of the State of Louisiana." 
Louisiana Revised Statute 3:1201 for setting up the Soil and Water Conservation Districts, a legislative declaration of policy expressed interest in conserving the soil resources and "...for furthering the conservation, development, utilization, and disposal of water..." 
Act No. 188 of 1964 which established the Louisiana Water Resources Study Commission, declares "the public welfare and interest of the people of the State require the proper conservation, development, use and protection of the inseparable land and water resources." 
To appreciate the complexity of adopting a State water policy, it may be prudent and, perhaps, educational to review where we have been in the past fifty years or so. 
A cursory review of water-related publications and articles indicates that it was in 1942, when Act 20 of the regular session of the Legislature charged the Louisiana Office of Public Works (now a division within DOTD) with the responsibility for coordination of water resources development in Louisiana. In 1956, in a special report to the Louisiana Legislature, the late Calvin Watts, the former Director of the Office of Public Works stated, "...inform the people of the State so they will realize that water is a limited resource and that its beneficial use must be regulated in an equitable way when the demand becomes as great as the supply. When future studies indicate the need and scope, it may be necessary to control the use of water through appropriate legislation." Seven years later, in 1963, House Concurrent Resolution 92 created a joint legislative committee to study the surface and ground waters of Louisiana. This committee, called the Louisiana Water Resources Study Committee, was composed of three House members, three Senate members, and the Director of Public Works, serving as Ex Officio. The Committee was directed to "...study the surface and ground water policy of this State, the need for revision of such policy, the method of carrying out the revised policy and the manner in which the revised policy should be administered, including its relationship to the several State agencies presently having responsibilities in the field of water resources," and to "...submit its findings and recommendations to the legislature at its next regular session..."    The 1963 House Concurrent Resolution further declared a number of important water policies for the State of Louisiana. They are: 
a. Surface and ground waters in the State are a natural resource.  b. The ownership and control of development and use of surface and ground waters for all beneficial purposes are within the jurisdiction of the state...  c. ...that surface and ground water resources within the state be put to beneficial uses to the extent of which they are most reasonably capable...  d. The public welfare and interest of the people of the state require the proper conservation, development, use and protection of the inseparable land and water resources.  e. The state should make careful and comprehensive study of its surface and ground water resources and related problems before enacting any additional legislation affecting the water resources of the state.  f. ...nothing in this Resolution shall be construed to impair or interfere with the continuance of any existing valid rights to the use of surface and ground waters or to interfere with the customary use of water for domestic purposes. 
The report presented to the Legislature by this Committee in 1964 recommended, that because of the limited time allowed for this initial study, that the work be continued. In the same year, Act 188 of the Legislature created the Water Resources Study Commission for four years, and gave it the same charge and was composed of thirteen (13) members. In 1968, the life of the Commission was extended for four more years and expanded its membership to twenty (20) members. In 1972, 1976, and 1979, the life of the Study Commission was again extended until June 30, 1984. 
In the meantime, in 1972, a comprehensive ground water bill to regulate ground water withdrawal and well permitting was introduced, but did not get legislative approval. However, a ground water resources act (Act 535) was signed into law, requiring water well registration, enforcement of construction and plugging standards, plugging of abandoned wells, data collection and dissemination and, reporting of water use and pumpage figures to the State. This program has been fully implemented throughout the State. 
The Water Resources Study Commission completed its work in 1984, and submitted its recommendation to the Legislature in May 1984. Copies of the recommended water policies are available from our office. Among the twenty-nine (29) recommendations, the following water policy statements are worth noting: I. Public drinking water supply shall be considered the use of first priority. The quantity and quality of drinking water shall, as a minimum, be monitored and protected for the public's health and welfare. II. It is recognized that the water resources of Louisiana are an endowment of great significance and shall be used and managed to provide present and future environmental health, economic, social and quality-of-life benefits to Louisiana. III. The State shall actively encourage and pursue the wise development of Louisiana's abundant water resources to the full economic development potential of the resource. At the same time, conservation of the state's water resources shall be encouraged and practices that encourage waste shall be eliminated. IV. Public education and involvement in water resources matters in Louisiana shall be strengthened. V. Water data collection, storage, and retrieval should be comprehensive and current, and shall be shared by public agencies. VI. The primary responsibility and authority for protection of ground and surface water shall be vested in the State. The State shall provide adequate and concise water laws to protect the rights of the citizens of Louisiana. VII. It is the policy of the State to lessen the effects of severe droughts and other natural and manmade disasters that affect water quantity and/or quality through the development of a contingency plan. VIII. The State shall take the necessary measures to ensure that the waters of the State are not diverted to out-of-state users without the permission of the State of Louisiana. IX. Louisiana fisheries are of economic and social value, and the State shall preserve and enhance the water quality for fisheries production. X. The State recognizes the unique nature and importance of the Louisiana coastline and coastal zone to maintaining official state territorial waters, fish and wildlife production, and hurricane protection. XI. ...The State shall undertake to manage its coastal wetlands in such a way as to ... "inhibit loss of wetlands and coastal barrier features to erosion and reduce saltwater intrusion problems." XII. The State of Louisiana shall take an active role in protecting and improving the quality of interstate streams (Mississippi, Red, Sabine, Ouachita, and Pearl Rivers) in Louisiana through interstate compacts and coordination. XIII. Protection of the life and property of Louisiana citizens from flooding is crucial to the continued health and development of this state. The State shall ensure that flood control efforts are effective and that the effects of flood control measures on other water needs are minimized. XIV. It is the policy of the State to protect its abundant and valuable groundwater resources from being wasted via free-flowing wells and from contamination by way of existing and improperly constructed or abandoned wells of all kinds; improper waste disposal; septic tanks; boreholes and storage of materials. XV. The state recognizes that ground water quantity and quality are affected by out-of-state activities and the State shall work with adjacent states to protect ground water in common systems. XVI. The State shall identify and take special measures to ensure that important aquifer outcrop areas are not subject to contamination or alteration that adversely affects recharge. 
So, where are we? I have to conclude we are basically where we have been. We lack a legislatively-mandated state water policy and water conservation tools with which to manage one of our most important resources, WATER. 
Where are we going from here? I will defer that to our luncheon speaker, Senator James David Cain, and to Ms. Karen Gautreau, Chair of the Governor's Water Policy Task Force, who is scheduled to speak to us this afternoon. 
BoBolourchi@dotd.state.la.us  Tel. (225) 379-1434  Fax. (225) 379-1523

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Sparta Aquifer: Status and Trends Ben McGee, United States Geological Survey 
The Sparta aquifer supplies all or part of the ground water for 16 parishes in north-central Louisiana. Since the late 1800's, domestic and municipal supply wells have utilized the Sparta for drinking water. Large withdrawals for industrial use began in the 1920's with the construction of numerous paper and lumber mills in northern Louisiana. In 2000, ground-water withdrawals from the Sparta aquifer totaled 77.20 Mgal/d (million gallons per day). The Sparta aquifer provides water for a variety of purposes; however, the major users are public supply (37.62 Mgal/d) and industry (37.32 Mgal/d). The remaining 3 percent (2.26 Mgal/d) were used by agriculture, rural domestic, and power generation withdrawals (Sargent, written communication, 2001). 
Current and historical potentiometric surface maps show water-level declines throughout the aquifer. Cones of depression, caused by large, usually industrial withdrawals can be seen at Monroe, Winnfield, Minden, Hodge, Ruston, and El Dorado, Arkansas. However, in 2000, public supply replaced industry as the largest user of water from the Sparta aquifer. 
In 1985, the USGS, in cooperation with the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development and Louisiana Tech University, created a computer model of the Sparta aquifer for north Louisiana and south Arkansas. The model was "run" from 1985 to 2005 and tested three scenarios. 1) No change in pumpage (56.5 Mgal/d) from 1985 to 2005; 2) A 25 percent increase in pumpage (70.6 Mgal/d) over the 1985 pumping level from 1985 to 2005; and 3) A 50 percent increase in pumpage (84.7 Mgal/d) over the 1985 pumping level from 1985 to 2005 (McWreath, Nelson, and Fitzpatrick, Water Resources Technical Report No. 51, 1991). 
The model results of scenario #1 (0% increase) showed no change in water levels from 1985 to 2005 with no change in pumpage. Scenario #2 (25% increase) showed water levels declining an additional 85 ft in West Monroe by 2005. Scenario #3 (50% increase) showed water levels declining an additional 160 ft in West Monroe and El Dorado, Arkansas by 2005. Furthermore, scenario #3 showed the possibility of dewatering conditions in south Arkansas (Magnolia and El Dorado) by 2005 (McWreath, Nelson, and Fitzpatrick, Water Resources Technical Report No. 51, 1991). 
Current data shows that water usage from the Sparta has increase 37 percent since 1985. If current water-use trends continue, a water-use increase of approximately 50 percent is likely by 2005. According to historical and recent computer models of the Sparta aquifer, southern Arkansas could experience dewatering of their primary producing sands within the Sparta aquifer by the year 2005 with a 50 percent increase in water usage over 1985 figures. 

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Water Policy Alternatives for Louisiana

Richard F. Kazmierczak, Jr., LSU AgCenter, Dept. of Agricultural Economics & Agribusiness 
While it is unlikely that many Louisiana communities and industries will face critical physical water shortages in the near future, the groundwater and surface water supplies that they rely upon are experiencing degradation. Stresses on freshwater supplies can come from growing population, expanding cities, chemical and thermal contamination from agricultural, industrial, and power plant operations, and mismanagement through over pumping of slowly recharging aquifers. For the most part, these types of stresses do not create physical scarcity, but economic scarcity. Economic scarcity in this context can be defined as a situation where supplies of freshwater are limited relative to the demand for its use at a price that users of the resource have become accustomed to paying. In states like Louisiana, where institutional arrangements aimed at managing private appropriation of common open access water resources currently do not exist, the direct and indirect subsidy of water supplies have transformed the user's concept of water demand into one where the resource is expected to be available at status quo (often zero) costs. 
Considered from the perspective of economic scarcity, a large number of Louisiana communities and industries may face water shortages because of the limited opportunities and rising costs of developing new supplies. Addressing this problem may require basic changes in how water is managed and allocated. These changes, while technical and political in nature, have at their core a number of economic issues that will determine the ultimate success and stability of any water management scheme. This presentation gives a broad overview of the economic water management lessons experienced in other states and suggests critical research needs for Louisiana as the state embarks on the development of comprehensive water management policy.

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GROUND WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT LEGISLATION OF 2003

3097.1. Legislative findings; purpose; effect

A. As the effective management and planning in the utilization of the state's water resources is hereby found and declared to be a matter of public interest, the state must have a comprehensive ground water management program. Said program must take into consideration the requirements, needs, and obligations of all stakeholders of water in the state of Louisiana. The program shall be \softline based on good management practices, sound science, and economics according to generally accepted principles in those disciplines. It must include as a goal the long-term sustainability of the state's ground water aquifers and preservation of the state's ecological welfare, while considering the economic value thereof to the state's role in interstate commerce and the economic welfare of its citizens. Further, it must provide for the efficient administration in the utilization and management of ground water resources, including the gathering of data related to the state's water resources. Thus, the state's water resources must be protected, conserved, managed, and replenished in an effective manner, with due regard for the foregoing considerations and in the best interest of all the citizens of the state.

B. The legislature hereby recognizes the need for uniformity in the establishment of a comprehensive ground water management program. Therefore, the state shall have exclusive jurisdiction over the \softline management of ground water and this Chapter shall supersede and preempt any rule, regulation, \softline code, statute, or ordinance of any political subdivision or other unit of local government. However, nothing contained in this Chapter shall be construed to deny such local government the authority \softline over siting facilities pursuant to any general land use planning or zoning or to deny soil and water \softline conservation districts powers granted pursuant to R.S. 3:1208.

C. In accordance with the legislative intent provided herein, the statewide ground water resource management program and any rule, regulation, or order of the commissioner shall recognize historic use of ground water resources in the state and may incorporate the use of appropriate incentives to encourage conservation of ground water resources and the appropriate utilization of alternate water supplies where appropriate. Consistent with the provisions of this Chapter and in consultation with the commissioner, the incentives and provisions of alternate water resources may be provided by the \softline state, or any local subdivision thereof, by virtue of tax incentives, tax credits, and physical projects \softline transporting or providing alternate water resources to existing ground water users and by any private \softline person with an interest in conserving such ground water resources for public use.

eff. July 1, 2003.

3097.2. Definitions

Unless the context otherwise requires, the following terms shall have the following meanings for purposes of this Chapter: (1) "Beneficial use" means the technologically feasible use of ground water for domestic, municipal, \softline industrial, agricultural, recreational, or therapeutic purpose, or any other advantageous purpose.(2) "Commission" shall mean the Ground Water Resources Commission, established by R.S. 38:3097.4. (3) "Commissioner" shall mean the commissioner of conservation. (4) "Critical ground water area" shall mean an area in which, under current usage and normal environmental conditions, sustainability of an aquifer is not being maintained due to either movement of a salt water front, water level decline, or subsidence, resulting in unacceptable environmental, economic, social, or health impact, or causing serious adverse impact to an aquifer, considering the areal and temporal extent of all such impacts. (5) "Domestic well" shall mean a water well used exclusively to supply the household needs of the owner, lessee, or his family. Uses may include but are not limited to drinking, cooking, washing, sanitary purposes, lawn and garden watering, and caring for pets. Domestic wells shall also include wells used on private farms and ranches for the feeding and caring of pets and watering of lawns, excluding livestock, crops, and ponds. (6) "Ground water" is water suitable for any beneficial use percolating below the earth's surface \which contains fewer than 10,000 mg/l total dissolved solids, including water suitable for domestic use or supply for a domestic water system. (7) "Ground water emergency" shall mean an unanticipated occurrence as a result of a natural force or a man-made act which causes a ground water source to become immediately unavailable for beneficial use for the foreseeable future or drought conditions determined by the commissioner to warrant the temporary use of drought relief wells to assure the sustained production of agricultural products in the state. (8) "Historic ground water production" means the average annual production of a ground water well since the calendar year 1995. (9) "Large volume well" means a well with an exterior casing size of eight inches or greater in diameter, or as defined by rules and regulations promulgated by the commissioner pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Act. (10) "Person" shall mean any natural person, corporation, association, partnership, receiver, tutor, curator, executor, administrator, fiduciary, or representative of any kind, or any governmental entity. (11) "Replacement well" shall mean a well located within one thousand feet of the original well and \softline within the same property boundary as the original well, installed within the same aquifer over an \ equivalent interval with an equivalent pumping rate, and used for the same purpose as the original well.(12) "Spacing" means the distance a water well may be located in relation to an existing or proposed water well, regardless of property boundaries.(13) "Sustainability" means the development and use of ground water in a manner that can be maintained for the present and future time without causing unacceptable environmental, economic, \softline social, or health consequences. (14) "User" shall mean any person who is making beneficial use of ground water from a well or wells \softline owned or operated by such person.(15) "Well" or "water well" shall mean any well drilled or constructed for the principal purpose of \softline producing ground water.

Acts 2003, No. 49, eff. July 1, 2003

3097.3. Commissioner of conservation; powers and duties

A. The commissioner, through the office of conservation, is empowered and responsible for the administration of all matters related to the management of the state's ground water resources by providing for the most advantageous use of the resource consistent with the protection, conservation, and replenishment thereof. The commissioner shall perform these functions to the extent such functions are not specifically within the jurisdiction of other state departments or agencies. The commissioner shall seek the advice and consultation of local governmental entities on any actions or decisions which may have an impact upon those entities or residents within the entities' respective jurisdictions.

B. The commissioner is authorized to employ, assign, and remove personnel, including a deputy, within the Department of Natural Resources, office of conservation, to provide administrative and technical staff functions the commissioner deems necessary to carry out the powers, functions, and duties under this Chapter. Personnel actions shall be in accordance with applicable civil service laws, rules, and regulations, and with the policies and rules of the department, all subject to budgetary control and applicable laws.

C. The commissioner has authority to make, after notice and public hearings in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act, any reasonable rules, regulations, and orders that are necessary from time to time in the proper administration and enforcement of this Chapter, including rules, regulations, or orders for the following purposes:(1) Do all things necessary to prevent waste of water resources.(2) Prevent or alleviate damaging or potentially damaging salt water movement or water level decline and loss of sustainability in the state's aquifers in accordance with Paragraph (4) of this Subsection.(3) Prevent subsidence of the land surface caused by the withdrawal of ground water within the state in accordance with Paragraph (4) of this Subsection.(4)(a) Require registration of all new wells by the owners. Such registration shall at a minimum require the date drilled or the estimated date to be drilled, the name of the driller, the current ownership, and the projected location of the well in latitude, longitude, and depth, and casing size together with such other information as the commissioner may reasonably require. The commissioner and the Department of Transportation and Development shall cooperate to ensure the efficient and \softline effective collection of well data. Registration shall be in the form of a notice of intent to drill submitted to the commissioner at least sixty days prior to drilling the well, except for the following types of wells which shall be registered no later than sixty days after completing the well:(i) Domestic well. (ii) Replacement well.(iii) Drilling rig supply well, used only for the duration of the oil and gas drilling operation at the drilling location where sited for the immediate needs of rig operations.(iv) Drought relief wells.(v) All other wells the commissioner exempts for just cause.(b) Within thirty days of receiving the well registration, the commissioner shall review the submitted information. During the thirty-day review period, the commissioner may either issue an order to the owner placing restrictions on the well or requesting further reasonable information on the well or \softline may take no action. Prior to any order placing a restriction on a well, the commissioner shall determine, on the basis of good management practices and sound science, that such action is necessary to prevent adverse impacts to the sustainability of the aquifer from which the proposed well is to produce. An order placing restrictions on spacing may also be issued to avoid direct adverse impacts to existing wells. Restrictions and requests for information shall be subject to the following: (i) For large volume wells or wells within a critical ground water area, the commissioner may issue to the owner of such well an order fixing allowable production, spacing, and metering necessary to properly manage the state's ground water resources consistent with R.S. 38:3097.6(B)(3). Before issuing any order placing restrictions on a well outside a critical ground water area, the commissioner shall consider a well owner's efforts to develop alternate water sources.(ii) For all other wells located outside a critical ground water area, an order issued by the commissioner may only fix spacing of the well. (iii) If more information is requested, the commissioner shall have an additional thirty days after receiving the additional information for review. The commissioner's request for further information may be appealed to the commission to determine the reasonableness of the request. Such determination shall be made within forty-five days from the date of the appeal.(5) Determine critical ground water areas in accordance with R.S. 38:3097.6.(6) Collect data with respect to water wells and water resources.(7) Continue development of a statewide ground water resource management program that shall \softline include but not be limited to evaluation of the state's water resources including current and projected demands; development of a water use conservation program; study of alternatives to ground water use, such as surface water to include treatment and transmission system, and reclaimed water; \softline incentives for conservation; use of alternative technologies; and education and conservation programs. The plan should stress conservation as the primary mechanism for the protection of the \softline state's ground water resources.(8) Develop a contingency plan to respond to a ground water emergency. Such a plan shall provide \softline that ground water needed for human consumption shall have the highest priority. If the commissioner declares a ground water emergency, he shall define the geographical extent of the area included in the emergency by rule or order, may retain personnel or let contracts as necessary with persons who shall operate under his direction to abate the emergency conditions, and may fix the allowable \softline production, spacing, and depth for wells within the area in such a way that the combined production of ground water will not have long-term adverse effects on the aquifer. (9) Authorize the temporary use of drought relief wells for agricultural use in times of drought upon \softline a determination that sufficient water resources are otherwise not available. The commissioner shall fix the allowable production, spacing, and depth for such wells in the issuance of an emergency order in such a way that the combined production of ground water from such wells will not have long-term \softline adverse effects on the aquifer.(10) Enter interagency agreements and interstate compacts in order to manage ground water \softline resources. Such interstate compacts shall only be entered upon approval of the House Committee on \softline the Environment and the Senate Committee on Environmental Quality.

D. Any rule or regulation promulgated or any critical ground water area declared by the Ground Water Management Commission pursuant to authority granted by Act No. 446 of the 2001 Regular \softline Session shall remain in effect until July 1, 2004, or until such time as the commissioner promulgates \softline rules pursuant to this Section or reviews any previously declared critical area.

Acts 2003, No. 49, eff. July 1, 2003.\

3097.4. Ground Water Resources Commission; membership; powers and responsibilities

A. The Ground Water Resources Commission is hereby created and shall be composed of the \softline following members: (1) The governor or his designee. (2) The commissioner of conservation or his designee.(3) The commissioner of agriculture and forestry or his designee.(4) The secretary of the Department of Economic Development or his designee.(5) The secretary of the Department of Environmental Quality or his designee.(6) The secretary of the Department of Health and Hospitals or his designee.\(7) The secretary of the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries or his designee. (8) The secretary of the Department of Transportation and Development or his designee. (9) The director of the Governor's Office of Coastal Activities or his designee.(10) One member appointed by the governor, who is a geologist or an engineer with expertise in \softline ground water resource management.(11) One member appointed by the governor from a list of four nominations submitted jointly by the \softline Louisiana Chemical Association, the Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil & Gas Association, the Louisiana \softline Association of Business and Industry, and the Louisiana Pulp & Paper Association. (12) One member appointed by the governor from a list of three names nominated by the Louisiana \softline Farm Bureau. (13) One member appointed by the governor from a list of three nominations submitted by the Police \softline Jury Association of Louisiana. (14) One member appointed by the governor from a list of three nominations submitted by the \softline Louisiana Municipal Association.(15) One member appointed by the governor from a list of three nominations submitted by the Sparta \softline Groundwater Conservation District Board of Commissioners.(16) One member appointed by the governor from a list of three nominations submitted by the board \softline of commissioners of the Capital Area Groundwater Conservation District.(17) One member appointed by the governor who resides or works in the geographical area of the \softline state underlain by the Chicot aquifer.\(18) One member appointed by the governor from a list of three nominations submitted by the \softline Louisiana Landowners Association.(19) One member appointed by the governor from a list of three names submitted by the Louisiana \softline Wildlife Federation, Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, and the League of Women Voters.

B. The appointed members of the commission shall serve four-year terms except for the initial term, \softline in which the governor shall designate the terms of office so that three members shall serve a one-year \softline term, three members shall serve a two-year term, and four members shall serve a three-year term. \softline No appointed member shall serve more than two consecutive terms. In case of a vacancy, the \softline governor shall appoint a replacement to fill the unexpired term. Appointed members shall not be \softline compensated for their services, except the commissioner may promulgate rules and regulations to \softline provide for travel expenses. Appointed members shall be considered as such, and not elected, for the \softline purposes of R.S. 42:1102 et seq.

C. The governor or his designee shall serve as chairman of the commission. The commission shall \softline meet at least once per quarter, but may meet more often as necessary.(1) Review and approve or reject any orders of the commissioner placing restrictions on wells upon \softline petition by the owner of the affected well or proposed well or any owner of a well in the same aquifer \softline which may be adversely impacted by the well in question. In reviewing such decisions the \softline commissioner shall not serve as a voting member of the commission. The order of the commissioner \softline shall be rejected only if the commission concludes, after a review of the record, that a reasonable factual basis does not exist for the commissioner's decision. Rejected orders shall be returned to the \softline commissioner for reconsideration. An order that has been returned to the commissioner twice shall be considered a final decision and eligible for judicial review pursuant to R.S. 38:3097.5.(2) Review rules and regulations proposed by the commissioner pursuant to the proper administration and enforcement of this Chapter.(3) Continue the development, in cooperation with the commissioner, of a statewide ground water \softline resource management program that shall include but not be limited to evaluation of the state's ground water resources including current and projected demands; development of a water use conservation \softline program; study of alternatives to ground water use, such as surface water to include treatment and \softline transmission system, and reclaimed water; incentives for conservation; use of alternative \softline technologies; and education and conservation programs. The plan should stress conservation as the primary mechanism for the protection of the state's ground water resources. The commission shall also hold public hearings and consult with local governmental entities in the development of this \softline program.(4) Review the contingency plan developed by the commissioner to respond to a ground water \softline emergency.(5) The commission may direct the commissioner to promulgate rules and regulations for the \softline appointment or designation of up to five regional bodies based on the general location of major \softline aquifer systems and water sources of the state and composed of local stakeholders who are \softline representative of current users. Such bodies may gather data and provide local input to the \softline commission and the commissioner.(6) At their discretion, attend all public meetings called by the commissioner pursuant to his power \softline and duties in this Chapter.

Acts 2003, No. 49, eff. July 1, 2003.

A. The owner of the affected well or proposed well or any owner of a well in the same aquifer \softline which may be significantly and adversely impacted by the well at issue may appeal devolutively a final determination by the commissioner only to the Nineteenth Judicial District Court. A petition \softline for review must be filed in the district court within thirty days after notice of the final decision being \softline appealed has been given. Copies of the petition shall be served upon the commissioner. The district court shall grant the petition for review. The commissioner shall not be required to file an answer \softline to the petition for review.

B. The provisions of R.S. 49:964(C), (D), (F), and (G), including the standard of review, shall apply \softline to petitions for judicial review provided in this Section.

C. Judicial review regarding well restriction orders shall be decided by the court summarily and by \softline preference. In no case shall the date for a final decision on the merits of such review or appeals \softline extend beyond the ninetieth day after receipt by the court of the record for adjudication. The court \softline in its discretion may issue further orders consistent with the Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure to \softline carry out the summary mandate of such reviews or appeals.\

Acts 2003, No. 49, eff. July 1, 2003

3097.6. Determination of critical ground water area\par }{\pntext\pard 1.\tab} \pard \fs24\s1\qj\sa99\tx0\tx720\tx1440\tx2160\tx2880\tx3600\tx4320\tx5040\tx5760\tx6480\tx7200\tx7920\tx8640 {\*\pn \pnlvl1\pndec\pnstart1\pnindent1\pnhang{\pntxta .}} {\plain \fs20 \sa0 \fs20 {\field{\*\fldinst ADVANCE \\d 4}{\fldrslt }}}{\plain \fs24 \sa99 A. Any owner of a well that is significantly and adversely affected as a result of the movement of a salt water front, water level decline, or subsidence in or from the aquifer drawn on by such well \softline shall have the right to file an application to request the commissioner to declare that an area \softline underlain by such aquifer is a critical ground water area. Such application shall contain a statement \softline of facts and supporting evidence substantiating the area may be a critical ground water area as \softline defined in R.S. 38:3097.2. On the basis of the application, good management practices and sound \softline science, the commissioner shall either deny the request, in writing, or issue a draft order which \softline describes the proposed boundaries of the critical ground water area. If the commissioner issues a \softline draft order describing the proposed boundaries of the critical ground water area, the commissioner \softline shall hold at least one public hearing in the locality of the proposed boundaries.\par }\pard \fs24\s2\qj\sb99\sa99\tx0\tx720\tx1440\tx2160\tx2880\tx3600\tx4320\tx5040\tx5760\tx6480\tx7200\tx7920\tx8640 {\*\pn \pnlvlcont} {\plain \fs24 \sa99 B. After holding hearings, the commissioner shall issue a written decision based on good \softline management practices and scientifically sound data gathered from the application, the participants \softline in the public hearing, and any other relevant information. If the commissioner has determined that \softline a critical ground water area exists, his decision shall be in the form of an order that shall describe \softline the boundaries of the area which is determined to be a critical ground water area. The order shall also \softline contain a plan to preserve and manage the ground water resources in that area which may include \softline but is not limited to the following:(1) Educational and conservation programs.(2) Incentives to reduce ground water use.(3) Restrictions on the amount of withdrawals by any or all users in the area. If restrictions on \softline withdrawals are imposed, the commissioner shall consider the following:(a) Ground water needed for human consumption and public health and safety shall have the highest \softline priority. (b) Uses other than human consumption and public health and safety shall have equal priority.(c) Historical use.(d) Ability, including economic ability, of a particular user to relocate to an alternative source of \softline water.(e) User's conservation efforts and actual reductions in water usage, taking into account historic \softline ground water production.

Acts 2003, No. 49, eff. July 1, 2003.

GROUND WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT LEGISLATION (BECAME ACT 446)
http://www.agctr.lsu.edu/lawater/relatedinfo.asp

Regular Session, 2001   SENATE BILL NO. 965
To enact R.S. 36:4(V) and Chapter 13-C of Title 38 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950, comprised of R.S. 38:3099.1 through 3099.4, relative to ground water resources in the state of Louisiana; to create the Ground Water Management Commission in the office of the governor;
to create the Ground Water Management Advisory Task Force; to provide for the powers, duties, functions, and responsibilities of each of these entities as they relate to ground water management; to provide for adoption of rules and regulations for the determination of critical
ground water areas and possible limitation of access to ground water sources and response to emergency situations; to require the development of a plan for implementation of a statewide
comprehensive ground water management system; to provide for the Louisiana Geological Survey; and to provide for related matters.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana: Section 1. R.S. 36:4(V) is hereby enacted to read as follows: §4. Structure of executive branch of state government
R.S. 36:4(V) is all new law.
V. The Ground Water Management Commission, as provided in R.S. 38:3099.3, shall be placed within the office of the governor and shall exercise its powers, duties, functions, and responsibilities as provided by law.
CHAPTER 13-C. GROUND WATER MANAGEMENT
Chapter 13-C is all new law.
§3099.1. Legislative findings; purpose
R.S. 38:3099.1 is all new law.
The utilization of ground water resources is hereby found and declared to be a matter of public interest. In the public interest, a comprehensive ground water management system must be implemented. Such ground water management system must take into consideration the requirements, needs, and obligations of all stakeholders of ground water in the state of Louisiana. Any such system shall be based upon good management practices and sound science based upon generally accepted scientific principles and must
include as a goal the long-term protection of each aquifer. Ground water must be managed, protected, and regulated in the best interests
§3099.2. Definitions
R.S. 38:3099.2 is all new law.
Unless the context otherwise requires, the following terms shall have the following meanings for purposes of this Chapter:
(1) "Persons" means any natural person, corporation, association, partnership, receiver, tutor, curator, executor, administrator, fiduciary, or representative of any kind.
(2) "Ground water" is water suitable for any beneficial purpose percolating below the earth's surface.
(3) "Well" or "water well" shall mean any well drilled or constructed for the principal purpose of producing ground water.
(4) "Beneficial purpose" or "beneficial use" means the technologically feasible use of ground water for domestic, municipal, industrial, agricultural, recreational or therapeutic purposes.
(5) "User" means any person making any beneficial use of ground water from a well or wells owned or operated by such person or from a well or wells owned or operated solely for the production of water used by such person.
(6) "Sustainability" means the development and use of ground water in a manner that can be maintained for the present and future time without causing unacceptable environmental, economic, social, or health consequences.
(7) "Critical ground water area" means an area where sustainability of an aquifer is not being maintained under current or projected usage or under normal environmental conditions which are causing a serious adverse impact to an aquifer.
§3099.3. Ground Water Management Commission; membership; responsibilities
B. The governor or his designee shall serve as chairman of the commission. The office of conservation shall serve as staff for the commission.
C. Beginning July 1, 2001, for any water well which is drilled for purposes other than domestic use and which is not a replacement well, the owner shall submit to the commissioner of conservation, at least sixty days prior to drilling the well, information showing the name
of the driller, the projected location of the well in latitude, longitude, and depth, the projected capacity of the well, and the ownership of the well, together with other information as the commissioner may reasonably require. However, for just cause the commission may vote
to waive this requirement for prior registration. For any well not registered with the director of public works under the provisions of Chapter 13-A of Title 38 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950 prior to July 1, 2001, this information shall be collected at a time when the information is needed to determine a critical ground water area or to determine the impact of drilling a proposed new well.
D. The commission shall be responsible for determination of critical ground water areas in the state's aquifers. In cases of such determination, the commission shall describe the proposed boundaries of the critical ground water area and shall hold public hearings within each parish located within the boundaries of that area described as a critical ground water area. After holding the public hearings, the commission shall promulgate the boundaries of the area which is
determined to be a critical ground water area. The commission shall develop and promulgate rules for actions which shall be taken to preserve and manage the ground water in the critical ground water areas, including but not limited to restrictions on the amount of withdrawals by each user in the area and requiring permits for the drilling of new wells including spacing and depth restrictions. Permits for replacement wells shall automatically be granted upon demonstration that the original well will be properly closed. In addition, the commission shall provide use guidelines for those ground water areas where drilling of new wells could result in the creation of a critical ground water area. In critical ground water areas, if limitations must be placed on withdrawals of ground water, ground water needed for human consumption and public health and safety shall
have the highest priority. All other uses for ground water shall be of equal priority and limitations shall be determined on a proportional basis. In making those determinations, the commission shall consider the ability of a particular user to relocate to an alternative source of water and shall give particular consideration to historical users. In addition, the commission shall take into consideration prior voluntary conservation measures and actual reductions of usage.
E. In addition, the commission shall develop a contingency plan to respond to emergency situations where depletion of a ground water source or lack of access to a ground water source is a result of a natural force or a man-made accident. Such contingency plan shall provide
that ground water needed for human consumption shall have the highest priority.
F. The commission shall adopt and promulgate rules and regulations under the Administrative Procedure Act which provide for determination and response to critical ground water areas and which provide for a contingency plan for emergency situations. The commission shall cease to exist on July 1, 2003, and shall have no further powers, duties, functions, or responsibilities after that date.  When the commission ceases to exist, its powers, duties, functions, and responsibilities shall not automatically transfer to the commissioner of conservation.
G. In making any determinations under the provisions of this Section, the commission shall allow the submittal of technical data and written recommendations from the Louisiana Geological Survey.
H. Anything contained in this Chapter or in Chapters 13-A or 13-B of this Title to the contrary notwithstanding, the Department of Environmental Quality shall retain exclusive authority over those matters governed by the Louisiana Environmental Quality Act, R.S. 30:2001 et seq.
§3099.4. Permitting of wells in critical ground water areas
R.S. 38:3099.4 is all new law.
The commission shall adopt and promulgate rules and regulations under the Administrative Procedure Act to provide for permitting of new wells in critical ground water areas and in those
ground water areas where drilling of new wells could result in the creation of a critical ground water area. Such rules and regulations shall include consideration of well capacity, geographical location, well depth, use of the water produced, and potential damage to the sustainability of the aquifer or aquifer system. Such rules shall be subject to review under the Administrative Procedure Act by the House Committee on Environment and the Senate Committee on
Environmental Quality.
Section 3 is all new law.
Section 3. The Ground Water Management Commission is hereby authorized and encouraged to appoint or designate local or regional bodies composed of local stakeholders who are representative of current water users to function in an advisory capacity to the commissioner and the commission. Any decisions made by the commissioner or the commission which have a local impact may only be made with the advice and consultation of those local or regional bodies.
Section 4 is all new law.
Section 4.(A) As stated in R.S. 38:3099.1, a comprehensive ground water management system must be implemented. To that end, there is hereby created a Ground Water Management Advisory Task Force with membership as follows.... 
(B) The commissioner of conservation, the Ground Water ManagementCommission (R.S. 38:3099.3), the Ground Water Management Advisory Task 
Force created herein, and any local or regional advisory entities which are created or designated by the Ground Water Management Commission, shall develop and present to the House Committee on Environment, the House Committee on Natural Resources, the Senate Committee on Environmental Quality and the Senate Committee on Natural Resources, the plan for
implementation of a comprehensive water management system. Such water management system shall include but not be limited to an evaluation of the state's ground water resources including current and projected demands on the aquifers of the state; determination of data necessary to manage the state's water resources and sources of such data; a definition of sustainability of
aquifers which can be used to determine critical ground water areas and predict critical ground water areas; reassessment of any area which may have been declared a critical ground water area by the Ground Water Management
Commission; development of alternatives to ground water use; evaluation of the state's surface water resources available for development; use of surface water, recycling of used or treated waters, identification and development of surface water projects to meet current and future demands; incentives for conservation of surface water resources; use of alternative technologies;
development of an education and conservation program; development of a program to provide mitigation for loss of ground water resources and incentives to transfer use from ground water sources to surface water sources or alternative sources where such transfer will not harm the surface water sources; and a designation of the appropriate state entity structure to manage
and protect the state's water resources.
(C) The plan for implementation of a statewide comprehensive water management system shall be presented to the legislative oversight committees for their review prior to January 2003, and any portions of that plan which require statutory implementation shall be prepared for legislative consideration during the 2003 Regular Session of the Legislature.
Section 5. This Act shall become effective upon signature by the governor or, if not signed by the governor, upon expiration of the time for bills to become law without signature by the governor, as provided in Article III, Section 18 of the Constitution of Louisiana. If vetoed by the governor and subsequently approved by the legislature, this Act shall become effective on the day following such approval.

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Water & Riparian  Rights
Definitions
Buyer's Resource Real Estate--Glossary of Real Estate Terms
RIPARIAN RIGHTS: An owner's rights in land that borders on or includes a stream, river or lake. These rights include access to and use of the water. 

The 'Lectric Law Library Lexicon
RIPARIAN RIGHTS - Legal rights of owners of land bordering on a river or other body of water; also, law which pertains to use of the water for that land.
RIPARIAN PROPRIETORS - Those who own the land bounding upon a water course, are so called.  Such riparian proprietor owns that portion of the bed of the river (not navigable) which is adjoining his land usque ad filum aquce; or, in other words, to the thread or central line of the stream. The proprietor of land adjoining a navigable river has an exclusive right to the soil, between high and low water marks, for the purpose of erecting wharves or buildings thereon. 

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Environmental Laws and Water Resources Management
S. Bhatt, 1986
Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia 6th ed., copyright 2000    http://www.encyclopedia.com/articles/49457.html 
Water Rights, in law, refers to the qualified privilege of a landowner to use the water adjacent to or flowing through his property. 

• The privilege, also known as riparian rights, may be modified or even denied because of the competing needs of other private-property holders or of the community at large;
• There is no private ownership of such water in most cases, and hence it cannot ordinarily be impounded and sold. The owner, however, may use the water for his ordinary private purposes, such as stock watering or irrigation, and then return the unused residue. 
• Most uses of water affect its purity to some degree, and recent environmental legislation has greatly restricted the amount of permissible water-use pollution.
• Water projects such as dams that threaten the survival of rare species can be blocked under the Endangered Species Act. 
• In certain parts of the United States-especially in the arid and semiarid regions of the Southwest- the prior appropriation rule applies, and the first user of water, whether or not he owns land abutting the water, has the unrestrained right to it without regard to his neighbor's needs. 
• Throughout the United States, the rights of private owners in water can be set aside to construct public works, such as dams and irrigation projects. 
• The ownership of a stream bed may depend upon whether the stream is or is not a navigable water. 
• • If it is navigable, some states claim title to the bed, whereas in other states the rule is the same as in the case of nonnavigable streams, namely that an abutting owner's property extends to the middle of the bed and that those with property along both banks of a stretch own the enclosed portion of the bed. 
  • If the stream is navigable, the owner must permit public use for passage and transportation; if it is nonnavigable, the owner may exclude all but other riparian owners from using the stream.

• If the stream shifts course, ownership of the former bed is not affected. 
• 
  Underground and percolating waters have no easily determined course, and the usual American practice is not to restrict a landowner who taps and exploits these waters; however, in some states the rights of those who may be adversely affected must be considered.

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Riparian Rights   09/17/2001 MLSWA\bbonnell (from Michigan's Newsletter Riparian; Louisiana law is different.)
WHAT IS A RIPARIAN? 
A Riparian is a person who owns a parcel of land which borders a natural body of water within the boundaries of the State of Michigan.
WHAT RIGHTS DOES A RIPARIAN HAVE?
Riparian rights are property rights which run with the land. Those rights include:

• Access to navigable waters.
• Dockage to boatable waters.
• Use of the water for general purposes, such as bathing and domestic use.
• Title to natural accretions.
• Ownership of the bottomland to the middle thread of the lake.

WHAT ACTIVITIES BY A WATERFRONT PROPERTY OWNER REQUIRE A STATE PERMIT?
Any actions which would deny other riparians and members of the public the full use of the lake surface for navigational purposes. **** 

• Dredging or filling bottomland.
• Constructing, enlarging, extending, removing, or placing a structure on bottomland.
• Erecting, maintaining or operating a marina.
• Creating, enlarging or diminishing an inland lake or stream. 
• Structurally interfering with the natural flow of an inland lake or stream.
• Filling or dredging a wetland contiguous to a lake. 
• Connecting any natural or artificial waterway to an inland lake or stream.

INFORMATION ON RIPARIANS AND THEIR RIGHTS: MICHIGAN LAKE AND STREAM ASSOCIATIONS AT:
124 1/2 Main St., P.O. Box 249, Three Rivers, MI 49093  Phone (616) 273-8200  Fax (616) 273-291 EMAIL info@mlswa.org 

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Contact:

Claiborne Parish Watershed District, P.O. Box 266, Homer, LA 71040
624-1839 or (318) 927-9832 M?
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