What to Expect Ahead of the 2027 Legislative Session?

Meeting Information:

The September 2026 Gallatin Water Collaborative meeting focused on how water topics get introduced into legislative sessions, which topics have come up recently, and which are likely to come up during the upcoming session. The panel included Toni Henneman (Deputy Research Director, Water Policy Interim Committee); Clayon Elliott (Lobbyist, Montana Trout Unlimited); and Carolina Canarios (Land & Water Policy Advocate, Montana Environmental Information Center).

The public panel took place at the Gallatin Gateway Community Center on September 29 from 1:00-2:15 pm, followed by a closed discussion from 2:15-3:00 pm.

Goals of this session:

• Create a collective understanding of water-related topics being discussed during state legislative sessions.

• Determine if collaboration and engagement on any topic may be useful.

• If there is interest, follow-up conversations can explore how and who to engage.

Meeting Resources:

• Meeting agenda

• Meeting Notes

• Full Recording

Water in the 2027 Legislative Session Resources:

• Preliminary Draft 0001 - Water Court Bill

• Preliminary Draft 0002 - Water Right Permit Exception Grandfathering Bill

• Preliminary Draft 0005 - Water Mitigation Bill

• Preliminary Draft 0006 - Water Right Permitting and Change Processes Study Bill

• Basic Tools for Lobbying the Montana Legislature - MEIC

• Exempt Wells: Constitutional challenges and questions - MEIC

• WPIC final report summary on HJ 74: Study Analyzing Water Reuse in Montana

• Water Rights and Data Centers - DNRC