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Water rights doctrine
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Prior appropriation doctrine; all water is property of public, with water rights allocated for beneficial uses
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Prior appropriation doctrine; all water is property of the state of Montana, to be used for the benefit of the people
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Prior appropriation doctrine; all natural waters within the state are property of the state, with water rights allocated for beneficial uses
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Designated beneficial uses
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Includes domestic, municipal or public, livestock, irrigation, industrial (including mining and manufacturing), fish, wildlife, and recreational activity uses
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Defined as a use of water for the benefit of the appropriator, other persons, or the public; including, but not limited to, agriculture, commercial, domestic, dewatering, erosion control, fire protection, fish and fish raceways, geothermal, industrial, irrigation, mining, municipal, navigation, power, pollution abatement, recreational uses, sediment control, storage, stock water, waterfowl, water lease, and wildlife
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Recognized beneficial uses include irrigation, municipal, industrial, power generation, recreational stock, domestic, pollution control, instream flows, and miscellaneousa
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Groundwater policy
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Prevent the contamination of public water supplies, including surface and groundwater sources
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Groundwater use in declared “controlled groundwater basins” (e.g., Powder River Basin) is governed by specific regulations to protect limited or declining supplies
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Surface water and groundwater are treated as hydrologically separate; however, if upon investigation, a hydrological connection is found between the two sources, the water use is treated as one source
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