S.D. Codified Laws § 46-2-18

This is the official text of S.D. Codified Laws § 46-2-18, part of South Dakota’s Codified Laws — part of the compiled statutory law of South Dakota, published by the state as "Codified Laws." Browse the sections below, each linked to its official government source.

Not legal advice. This page reproduces the official text of a government statute for reference only. Laws change, and how a statute applies depends on your specific facts. For advice about your situation, consult a licensed attorney in your state.

Chief engineer's authority to order discontinuance of water use

Official statutory text

The provisions of chapter 1-26 notwithstanding, the chief engineer may, after appropriate investigation, issue an order to any person to shut off or limit the person's use of surface or groundwater, or to plug or otherwise control a well. The order may be issued only to protect another user who has higher or earlier priority or to cause a user of water to discontinue the use of water to which the user has no legal right. Upon a refusal to obey the order, the chief engineer may request a court of proper jurisdiction to issue a temporary restraining order or injunction to effectuate the provisions of the order.

Source: SL 1983, ch 314, § 33; SL 2011, ch 165, § 256.

Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site

Need a lawyer in South Dakota?

Find a South Dakota lawyer
About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the Open US Law dataset (Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine (Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.