In the state of Utah, all water – even rainfall on private property – belongs to Utah. Water rights are appropriated by the state and designated as real property, which can be bought and sold separately from the land, and from homes, farms, and commercial entities. The laws governing water rights are highly complex, and the risks in misunderstanding them are extremely high; they come in to play in nearly every real estate transaction involving property that is not on a municipal water system. Last year, to help REALTORS® throughout Utah access the training they need, the Iron County Board of REALTORS® (ICBOR) secured a Rural Outreach Grant from the REALTOR® Party to offer CE classes online.
The course content is a labor-of-love undertaken by Linda Hahne, an ICBOR member and paralegal who realized early-on in her real estate career that, in order to protect themselves and their clients, agents needed to be very clear on this specialized knowledge. She devoted over 200 hours to researching and developing a highly readable 64-page manual on the subject, including a six-page Buyer’s Due Diligence form to aid investigation of a given water right prior to a transaction. “Because of the legal complexities involved, there is a very real possibility that an uninformed agent could help a client close on a home that is denied a water right months later. In another possible scenario, agents unfamiliar with all the details of Utah’s Ground Water Management Plans could find themselves helping clients buy a home whose water rights are scheduled for forfeiture in the future. It sounds alarmist, but this is the legal reality. Certain areas of Utah are among the fastest growing in the country, so the risk and liability can’t be overstated.”
Hahne had been teaching her course locally in southwestern Utah for three years, when she began getting requests to take it further afield. With the support from NAR, the Iron County Board of REALTORS® was able to offer “Utah Water Rights – The History, The Law, and What REALTORS® Need to Know” to real estate professionals in the remotest reaches of the state. The course and the manual deal with the complex scientific and legal issues of Utah’s Division of Water Rights. “I’ve translated it to ‘REALTOR®-speak, so agents can understand how it affects them and their clients’ situations, and how to look at all the information and find a water right that’s best for any given client,” says Hahne.
The grant covered the costs for broadcasting the class from the ICBOR offices on ten dates in October and early November of 2024. In total, 144 attendees received three Core CE credits from the Utah Association of REALTORS®, as well as the manual, free of charge. ICBOR promoted the course to members and affiliates of each of Utah’s local REALTOR® boards, and Utah-licensed participants joined from half-a-dozen other western states, as well. Although the course was designed specifically for REALTORS®, it also welcomed real estate attorneys, title agents, appraisers, loan officers, and private citizens.
As stated in the manual’s foreword, “The process is complex, the transfer of water rights often takes longer than the transfer of other real property, and the commissions are generally lower.” Hahne is grateful that the REALTOR® Party is helping to protect colleagues throughout the state from the pitfalls of these often fraught transactions, and has just made the course available through an online real estate school to make it even more broadly accessible: “It is so gratifying when people tell me how valuable the course has been. I firmly believe that Utah REALTORS® can, with the right information and tools, manage these difficult transactions with confidence.”
To learn more about how Iron County Board of REALTORS® is helping REALTORS® across Utah receive the specialized training they need to navigate the complex business of water rights transactions, contact Linda Hahne at utahwaterrightseducation@gmail.com or Mary Ann Sharp, Association Executive, at icborae@gmail.com or 435.586.6944.
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