Voluntary Water Conservation Program - Colorado River Basin

State Bills: Wyoming

Published March 7th, 2026

Detected April 2nd, 2026

Summary

Wyoming enacted SF0084 establishing a voluntary water conservation program for the state's portion of the Colorado River basin. The legislation creates an application and approval process for water conservation, including provisions for water storage and release. The bill received strong bipartisan support, passing 31-0 in the Senate and 60-0 in the House before Governor signature.

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What changed

The Wyoming Legislature enacted Senate File 0084 establishing a voluntary water conservation program specific to Wyoming's portion of the Colorado River basin. The legislation creates a formal application and approval process, establishes appeal procedures, and authorizes the state engineer to store and release conserved water. Key provisions include a sunset date, mandatory reporting requirements, rulemaking authority, position authorization, and legislative appropriation.

Water rights holders and users within Wyoming's Colorado River basin should monitor the state engineer's rulemaking process as the program develops. Participation is voluntary with no penalties for non-participation. Agricultural water users, industrial users, and other stakeholders in the basin may consider evaluating potential program participation once implementing regulations are adopted.

Source document (simplified)

ChangeBridge / Wyoming / SF0084 Signed by Governor SF0084 SF Signed by Governor 2026-03-07

Voluntary water conservation program.

AN ACT relating to water within Wyoming's portion of the Colorado River basin; establishing a voluntary water conservation program; providing an application and approval process for the program; providing an appeal process; authorizing the storage and release of water conserved under the program; establishing a sunset date; providing legislative findings; requiring a report; requiring rulemaking; authorizing positions; providing an appropriation; and providing for an effective date.

Bill Details

State Wyoming

Session 2026 Budget Session

Chamber Senate

Official Source www.wyoleg.gov/Legislation/2026/SF0084

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Action History

2026-03-07 Assigned Chapter Number 100 2026-03-07 Governor Signed SEA No. 0062 2026-03-06 H Speaker Signed SEA No. 0062 2026-03-06 S President Signed SEA No. 0062 2026-03-05 Assigned Number SEA No. 0062 2026-03-05 S Concur:Passed 31-0-0-0-0 2026-03-05 S Received for Concurrence 2026-03-04 H 3rd Reading:Passed 60-0-2-0-0 2026-03-03 H 2nd Reading:Passed 2026-03-02 H COW:Passed 2026-03-02 H Placed on General File 2026-03-02 H H02 - Appropriations:Recommend Do Pass 7-0-0-0-0 2026-02-27 H COW:Rerefer to H02 - Appropriations 2026-02-26 H Placed on General File 2026-02-26 H H05 - Agriculture:Recommend Amend and Do Pass 9-0-0-0-0 2026-02-24 H Introduced and Referred to H05 - Agriculture 2026-02-24 H Received for Introduction 2026-02-23 S 3rd Reading:Passed 31-0-0-0-0 2026-02-20 S 2nd Reading:Passed 2026-02-19 S COW:Passed 2026-02-19 S Recalled from Committee Pursuant to Senate Rule 5-5: 29-2-0-0-0 2026-02-17 S:Rerefer to S02 - Appropriations 2026-02-17 S S05 - Agriculture:Recommend Amend and Do Pass 5-0-0-0-0 2026-02-10 S Introduced and Referred to S05 - Agriculture 28-2-1-0-0 2026-02-09 S Received for Introduction 2026-02-06 Bill Number Assigned

Votes

2026-02-10 Introduced and Referred to S05 - Agriculture 28-2-1-0-0 Yea: 28 Nay: 2 2026-02-17 S05 - Agriculture:Recommend Amend and Do Pass 5-0-0-0-0 Yea: 5 Nay: 0 2026-02-19 Recalled from Committee Pursuant to Senate Rule 5-5: 29-2-0-0-0 Yea: 29 Nay: 2 2026-02-23 3rd Reading:Passed 31-0-0-0-0 Yea: 31 Nay: 0 2026-02-26 H05 - Agriculture:Recommend Amend and Do Pass 9-0-0-0-0 Yea: 9 Nay: 0 2026-03-02 H02 - Appropriations:Recommend Do Pass 7-0-0-0-0 Yea: 7 Nay: 0 2026-03-04 3rd Reading:Passed 60-0-2-0-0 Yea: 60 Nay: 0 2026-03-05 Concur:Passed 31-0-0-0-0 Yea: 31 Nay: 0

Committee Referrals

2026-02-10 J Agriculture, State and Public Lands & Water Resources 2026-02-17 J Appropriations 2026-02-24 J Agriculture, State and Public Lands & Water Resources 2026-02-27 J Appropriations

Amendments

2026-02-17 Senate Committee Amendment SF0084SS001 2026-02-23 Senate Floor Amendment SF0084S3001 2026-02-26 House Committee Amendment SF0084HS001

Bill Text Versions

2026-02-06 Introduced 2026-02-23 Engrossed 2026-03-05 Enrolled Legislative data powered by LegiScan (CC BY 4.0)

Named provisions

Voluntary Water Conservation Program Application and Approval Process Appeal Process Water Storage and Release Authorization Sunset Date Rulemaking Authority Appropriation