Montana Code 85-5-105. Power and duty to distribute water
85-5-105. Power and duty to distribute water. Upon the issuance of an order, the water commissioner or commissioners have authority and it is the commissioner’s or commissioners’ duty to admeasure and distribute to the users of water, as their interests may appear and be required, the stored and supplemental water stored and as released by the department of natural resources and conservation under provisions of Title 85, chapter 1, to be diverted into and through a stream, ditch or extension of ditch, watercourse, spring, lake, reservoir, or other source of supply in the same manner and under the same rules as decreed water rights are admeasured and distributed. The water commissioner or commissioners and the owners and users of the stored and supplemental water are bound by and are subject to the provisions of this chapter. However, the admeasurements and distribution of the stored and supplemental water may not interfere with decreed water rights. The purpose of Title 85, chapter 5, parts 1 through 3, is to provide a uniform, equitable, and economical distribution of adjudicated, stored, and supplemental waters.
Terms Used In Montana Code 85-5-105
- Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. Source: U.S. Courts