A. For the purposes of determining whether to designate or maintain the designation of a city, town or private water company as having an assured water supply, when the service area of that city, town or private water company has qualified as a member service area of a conservation district pursuant to Title 48, Chapter 22, Article 4, and when the member service area has been granted water availability status by a resolution of the conservation district adopted pursuant to section 48-3772, subsection B, paragraph 10, the director shall find that sufficient groundwater, surface water or effluent will be continuously available to satisfy the water needs of a proposed use for at least one hundred years under section 45-576 if all of the following apply:

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1. The conservation district has committed through the resolution granting water availability status to the city, town or private water company to replenish a specified average annual volume of water in a location where the city, town or private water company may physically access the water for service to its customers.

2. The director finds that the commitment by the conservation district to replenish the specified average annual volume of water will provide a sufficient supply of water that will be continuously available to satisfy the water needs of the city, town or private water company’s proposed use for at least one hundred years.

3. The director finds that, without the water supply provided through the resolution adopted by the conservation district, the city, town or private water company would be unable to obtain or maintain a designation as having an assured water supply for its current and committed demands beyond 2010.

4. The director finds that the commitment by the conservation district to replenish a specified average annual volume of water in a location where the city, town or private water company may physically access the water for service to its customers is consistent with the most recent plan approved by the director pursuant to subsection H of this section.

5. The director finds that the conservation district or the city, town or private water company has committed to ensure that a five year supply of water will be maintained and available for use by the city, town or private water company in years in which water is not available for replenishment.

6. The conservation district or the city, town or private water company has obtained all permits necessary to replenish water at the location specified in the resolution, including underground storage facility permits and water storage permits issued under chapter 3.1 of this title.

7. If the water supply made available to the city, town or private water company through replenishment by the conservation district will serve only a portion of the water needs of the city, town or private water company, the director finds that the city, town or private water company has sufficient groundwater, surface water or effluent that will be continuously available to satisfy the remaining needs of the city, town or private water company for at least one hundred years, in accordance with the rules adopted by the director pursuant to section 45-576, subsection H.

8. The director has determined pursuant to subsection H of this section that the most recent plan submitted by the conservation district pursuant to this section establishes that the conservation district has the capability to grant water availability status to member service areas.

B. To establish that the conservation district has the capability to grant water availability status to member service areas in an active management area, the conservation district may submit a plan for the active management area to the director that includes all of the following information:

1. An estimate of the conservation district’s current and projected groundwater replenishment obligations, as defined in section 48-3701, for the following one hundred calendar years.

2. An estimate of the conservation district’s current and projected contract replenishment obligations, as defined in section 48-3701, for the following one hundred calendar years.

3. An estimate of the conservation district’s current and projected commitments to member service areas that have or will be granted water availability status by the conservation district.

4. A description of water resources that are available to the conservation district for use in satisfying the obligations described in paragraphs 1 through 3 of this subsection during the following twenty calendar years.

5. A description of water resources that are expected to be available to the conservation district for use in satisfying the obligations described in paragraphs 1 through 3 of this subsection during the following one hundred calendar years.

6. A description of the transportation facilities and available capacity in those facilities to be used in satisfying the obligations described in paragraphs 1 through 3 of this subsection during the following twenty calendar years.

7. An analysis of potential transportation facilities and available capacity in those facilities that could be used in satisfying the obligations described in paragraphs 1 through 3 of this subsection during the following one hundred calendar years.

C. Within sixty days after receiving the conservation district’s plan, the director shall determine if the conservation district has submitted sufficient information to determine whether the conservation district has the capability to grant water availability status to member service areas. If the director determines that the information is insufficient for that determination, the director shall notify the conservation district of the insufficiency in writing and shall specify what additional information is required. The conservation district shall provide the information to the director within a reasonable time as specified by the director.

D. Upon determination that the plan of the conservation district is complete, the director shall publish notice in a newspaper of general statewide circulation once each week for two consecutive weeks:

1. Requesting public comment concerning information supplied by the conservation district to meet the requirements of subsection B of this section.

2. Setting a date and location of a public hearing to be held pursuant to subsection E of this section.

E. The director shall hold a public hearing within sixty days after the last day of the notice under subsection D of this section. The hearing shall be conducted in an informal manner without adhering to the rules of evidence in judicial proceedings. Any person, including the department, shall have an opportunity to comment on or to present evidence regarding the submitted plan.

F. The conservation district shall respond in writing to all public comments whether received at the hearing or otherwise received by a date announced by the director.

G. Within sixty days after the hearing on the first plan submitted under subsection B of this section, or within one hundred twenty days after the hearing on any subsequent plan submitted under subsection K of this section, the director shall issue a decision for each of the active management areas in which the conservation district is attempting to establish that the conservation district has the capability to grant water availability status to member service areas.

H. The director shall issue a decision that the conservation district’s plan establishes that the conservation district has the capability to grant water availability status to member service areas, if the director finds that the conservation district has the current capability to meet the obligations described in subsection B, paragraphs 1 through 3 for the twenty calendar years following the submission of the plan and if the director finds that the conservation district has established an adequate plan to meet those obligations for the one hundred calendar years following the submission of the plan.

I. Unless the conservation district successfully appeals the director’s decision pursuant to subsection J of this section, if the director has made a determination that the conservation district does not have the capability to grant water availability status to member service areas, the director shall notify the conservation district of the insufficiency of the plan in writing and shall specify the insufficiencies of the plan. If, at the time the conservation district receives the insufficiencies of the plan from the director, any member service area has water availability status, the conservation district shall modify and resubmit the plan, and the director shall review the plan as provided in this section, except that the director shall only hold a hearing regarding those matters that the conservation district has modified in its resubmitted plan.

J. The director’s determination under subsection H of this section is subject to rehearing or review and to judicial review as provided in section 45-114, subsection C, but the court shall not issue a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction to prevent the director from acting under this chapter while the action is pending.

K. If the conservation district submits a plan for an active management area to the director pursuant to subsection B of this section, the conservation district shall thereafter, in conjunction with every plan required by Section 45-576.02, subsection C, also submit the plan for that active management area described by subsection B of this section. The director shall then review the plan in accordance with subsections C through J of this section. The conservation district shall not be required to submit the plan described in this section for an active management area unless a member service area which has water availability status is located within that active management area.