{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["http://tipton.house.gov/press-release/blm-forest-service-attempting-take-private-water-rights", "BLM, like Forest Service, Attempting to Take Private Water Rights", "2013-10-29", "2013", "2013-10", "Republican", "House", "CO", "Scott Tipton", "T000470", "tipton.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON \u2013 During today\u2019s House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Public Lands and Environmental Regulation hearing on Threats, Intimidation and Bullying by Federal Land Managing Agencies, witnesses told Congressman Scott Tipton (R-CO) that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has also attempted to hijack privately held water rights. U.S. Forest Service efforts to do the same have been well-documented in previous hearings.\nTim Lowry, a rancher from Oregon, testified during the hearing that from almost the moment his family purchased their ranch, the BLM began attempts to inhibit their ability to utilize their grazing rights. Read his full testimony here.\n\u201cThe federal government forced us into court and massive debt in an attempt to steal our stock water rights,\u201d said Lowry in his opening testimony.\u00a0 \u201cThe United States objected to our stock water rights claims that were filed pursuant to the Snake River Basin Adjudication and filed its own stock water rights claims to the same water.\u201d\nAfter a decade-long legal battle that has racked up more than $800,000 in legal fees for Lowry, the Idaho Supreme Court ruled in Lowry\u2019s favor and against federal attempts to hijack his privately-held water rights.\n\u201cI felt intimidated walking into that room full of Justice Department attorneys, BLM personnel, who had been dedicated to trying to obtain those water rights in the adjudication. And being told that we had no legal position to hold a water right\u2014that we were mere permitees there at the permission of the United States government, and had no right,\u201d said Lowry.\nTipton asked Lowry if the federal government had offered any compensation for the rights the BLM was attempting to take.\n\u201cThey were not willing to compensate anything.\u201d Lowry answered.\n\u201cSo the federal government can just jump in, take your private property rights, take your water rights that you paid for and you developed with no compensation. That\u2019s their opinion?\u201d asked Tipton.\n\u201cThat was the course they were taking and what was being attempted, yes,\u201d Lowry said.\nVIDEO of Tipton and Lowry\u2019s exchange is available here.\n\u201cIt\u2019s important to note that this is just not a Forest Service water grab, there is also BLM water grab in the West. [Water] is the lifeblood of the Western United States,\u201d Tipton said. \u201cThe bipartisan Water Rights Protection Act seeks to protect local water rights from federal government overreach and takings by prohibiting federal agencies from pilfering water rights through the use of permits, leases, and other land management arrangements, as well as by upholding longstanding federal deference to state water law on which countless water users rely. This legislation, if passed, would prevent the abuse we heard about in today\u2019s hearing, and save ranchers, farmers and other users from having to engage in drawn-out, expensive legal battles with federal agencies just to defend their private property rights from federal takings.\u201d\nH.R. 3189, the Water Right Protection Act, which Tipton introduced earlier this month with bipartisan support from Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO), has received strong support from a broad coalition of local, state and national stakeholders concerned with recent federal attempts to hijack privately-held water rights.\nDuring the hearing several of the witnesses spoke on the need to pass Congressman Tipton\u2019s Water Rights Protection Act, including ranchers Tim Lowry, Wayne Hague Jr. and Lorenzo Valdez, joining the broad local, state and national support the bill has received to date.\nFull witness testimony will be available on the House Natural Resources Committee website here.\nThe Water Rights Protection Act:\n Prohibits agencies from implementing a permit condition that requires the transfer of privately-held water rights to the federal government in order to receive or renew a permit for the\u00a0use of land;\n\tProhibits the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture from imposing other conditions that require the transfer of water rights without just compensation;\n\tUpholds longstanding federal deference to state water law;\n\tHas no cost to taxpayers.\n # # #", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["http://tipton.house.gov/press-release/blm-forest-service-attempting-take-private-water-rights"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.5944719780236483, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}