Committee backs technical fix distinguishing water company shares from water rights (HB 494)

Theresa Wilhelmsen, Utah State Engineer and Director of the Division of Water Rights, presented HB 494 as a technical measure that grew from litigation and interim task‑force work. The bill clarifies that ownership of canal company shares (corporate stock) is not the same as a water right and moves provisions about share transfer from water code to corporate code to reduce litigation and confusion.

Farm Bureau and the Bear River Canal Company representatives supported the cleanup. Warren Peterson (Farm Bureau) said there are about 1,200 canal companies in the state that issue shares and the statutes have been confusing; Trevor Nelson, general manager of the Bear River Canal Company, said the bill ‘‘slams the door’’ on treating shares as water rights and will reduce future legal disputes.

The committee unanimously moved to give HB 494 a favorable recommendation.

What’s next: HB 494 proceeds with a committee recommendation as a technical cleanup to clarify corporate and water‑rights records.