Operating Criteria of the
Wyoming Water Development Program
Introduction

I. Introduction

The Wyoming Water Development Commission (WWDC), comprised of ten (10) public members appointed by the Governor, has authority over the Wyoming Water Development Program. The Wyoming Water Development Office (WWDO) administers the program.

The 1975 Legislature passed W.S. 41-2-112(a) which provided the following definition:

"The Wyoming water development program is established to foster, promote and encourage the optimal development of the state's human, industrial, mineral, agricultural, water and recreational resources. The program shall provide, through the commission, procedures and policies for the planning, selection, financing, construction, acquisition and operation of projects and facilities for the conservation, storage, distribution and use of water, necessary in the public interest to develop and preserve Wyoming's water and related land resources. The program shall encourage development of water facilities for irrigation, for reduction of flood damage, for abatement of pollution, for preservation and development of fish and wildlife resources [and] for protection and improvement of public lands and shall help make available the waters of this state for all beneficial uses, including but not limited to municipal, domestic, agricultural, industrial, instream flows, hydroelectric power and recreational purposes, conservation of land resources and protection of the health, safety and general welfare of the people of the state of Wyoming."

In 1977, the legislature provided the framework funding for the present Water Development Program. In 1982 the Governor recommended that the funding for the program be supplemented from the general fund and the program has evolved to the following: (See in Table of Contents under Introduction)

Operating Criteria Table of Contents
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