17B-1-104.5. Groundwater right owner provisions — Vote.
(1)
For purposes of this title, an owner of a groundwater right, is on the date of the filing of a groundwater right owner petition or groundwater right owner request, the owner according to:
Terms Used In Utah Code 17B-1-104.5
Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
Person: means an individual, corporation, partnership, organization, association, trust, governmental agency, or other legal entity. See Utah Code 17B-1-102
Signature: includes a name, mark, or sign written with the intent to authenticate an instrument or writing. See Utah Code 68-3-12.5
Special district: means a limited purpose local government entity, as described in Section 17B-1-103, that operates under, is subject to, and has the powers described in:
State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes a state, district, or territory of the United States. See Utah Code 68-3-12.5
(a)
a deed recorded with the county recorder in accordance with Section 73-1-10; or
(b)
a water right of record filed in the state engineer’s office in accordance with Section 73-1-10.
(2)
For purposes of each provision of this title that requires the owners of groundwater rights covering a percentage of the total groundwater rights within the proposed special district to sign a request, petition, or protest:
(a)
a groundwater right may not be included in the calculation of the required percentage unless the request or petition is signed by:
(i)
except as provided in Subsection (2)(a)(ii), owners representing a majority ownership interest in that groundwater right; or
(ii)
if the groundwater right is owned by joint tenants or tenants by the entirety, 50% of the number of owners of that groundwater right;
(b)
the signature of a person signing a request or petition in a representative capacity on behalf of an owner is invalid unless:
(i)
the person’s representative capacity and the name of the owner the person represents are indicated on the request or petition with the person’s signature; and
(ii)
the person provides documentation accompanying the request or petition that reasonably substantiates the person’s representative capacity; and
(c)
subject to Subsection (2)(b), a duly appointed personal representative may sign a request or petition on behalf of the estate of a deceased owner.
(3)
For an election by groundwater right owners described in this title, each owner of a groundwater right is entitled to cast one vote.
