Mont. Code Ann. » TITLE 85. WATER USE · CHAPTER 2. SURFACE WATER AND GROUND WATER · Part 2. Adjudication of Water Rights
Montana Code Annotated

Mont. Code Ann. § 85-2-226 (2026)

Abandonment By Failure To File Claim

✓ current as of May 2026
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  1. MCA Contents
  2. TITLE 85
  3. CHAPTER 2
  4. Part 2
  5. 85-2-226 Abandonment by failure to file claim

TITLE 85. WATER USE

CHAPTER 2. SURFACE WATER AND GROUND WATER

Part 2. Adjudication of Water Rights

Abandonment By Failure To File Claim

85-2-226. Abandonment by failure to file claim. The failure to file a claim of an existing right as required by 85-2-221(1) establishes a conclusive presumption of abandonment of that right.

History: En. Sec. 14, Ch. 697, L. 1979; amd. Sec. 6, Ch. 629, L. 1993.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 6 cases, 1992–2018 · leading case: In Re the Adjudication of the Existing Rights of Yellowstone River, 832 P.2d 1210 (Mont. 1992).
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In Re the Adjudication of the Existing Rights of Yellowstone River, 832 P.2d 1210 (Mont. 1992). · cites it 221× “The Water Court upheld the constitutionality of § 85-2-226, MCA, finding that its application works as a forfeiture and not an abandonment.”
Newville v. State, Dept. of Fam. Servs., 883 P.2d 793 (Mont. 1994). · cites it 4× “” There can be no doubt that § 85-2-226, MCA, was enacted for a permissible legislative objective.”
United States v. Barthelmess Ranch Corp., 386 P.3d 952 (Mont. 2016). · cites it 3× “The Water Court noted that at least as to claims to water in the BLM reservoirs, Montana law required that the Objectors file their claims by July 1, 1996, at the latest, and that if they failed to do so, they lost their right to make such claims.”
USA BLM - Barthelmess, 2016 MT 348 (Mont. 2016). · cites it 3× “However, at least in the briefing in this appeal, the Objectors do not cite any specific water right claim based upon this historic stockwatering. The Water Court noted that at least as to claims to water in the BLM reservoirs, Montana law required that the Objectors file their…”
United States v. Korman, 427 P.3d 72 (Mont. 2018). · cites it 5× “The Water Court held that any interest the Kormans had in water rights for stock use in the Chevy and Poker Reservoirs was forfeited pursuant to § 85-2-226, MCA, because they failed to file statements of claim.”
Matter of the Activities of Dnrc (Mont. 2006). · cites it 4× “(38) “Late Claim” means a claim to an existing water right forfeited pursuant to the conclusive presumption of abandonment under § 85-2-226, MCA. (39) “Legal Land Description” means the description given to a parcel of land in terms of, but not limited to, quarter section,…”
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