12-5-547. Director’s orders.

If the director determines that the total number of nonirrigated acres needed during a given year cannot be sufficiently obtained through the irrigation reduction auction held in accordance with Code Section 12-5-546, the director is authorized to issue an order, in accordance with rules adopted by the board, requiring certain permittees not to irrigate a specified number of acres of irrigated land until the end of the calendar year. When issuing such orders, the director shall begin with the permittees whose withdrawal permits were issued most recently and then work chronologically backward with each order issued. A permittee who is issued such an order shall be compensated for such restriction if such permittee applied to the division for a surface-water or ground-water withdrawal permit prior to December 1, 1999, received a surface-water or ground-water withdrawal permit from the division prior to December 1, 2000, and is able to demonstrate actual previous irrigation on the same acres of land which the owner has been ordered not to irrigate. The per acre dollar amount received by a permittee pursuant to this Code section shall be equal to the average agreed upon sum per acre paid pursuant to the irrigation reduction auction during the same year.