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The Washington Department of Ecology is developing a rule to guide the creation and operation of county water conservancy boards. The 1997 legislature created conservancy boards under Chapter 90.80 RCW The legislation allows counties to establish local water conservancy boards to process water right transfer and change applications, subject to Ecology approval. It also directs Ecology to establish minimum requirements for training conservancy board members. The Governor directed Ecology to initiate pilot rule making for the new chapter of the water code and authorized the establishment of up to two conservancy boards during development of the pilot rule.
Under the new law, Ecology has 45 days to approve/deny the formation of a water conservancy board upon receipt of a copy of the approved resolution or petition submitted by a county. The petition must include a summary of public testimony presented during a public hearing conducted by the county commissioners/council, in response to the petition to form a water conservancy board.
Ecology received proposals from Benton and Lewis counties to establish conservancy boards under the pilot rule. Ecology's Director approved both county proposals, subject to the rule-making process. The pilot rule will be tested in both counties, and Ecology expects the final rule to be adopted in approximately one year.
Ecology's Water Resources Program will provide training for the new board members. The training will consist of a minimum of 40 hours of initial instruction to include learning about state water law, hydrology, and applied practical experience processing applications for change or transfer of water rights.
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An existing water right that is eligible to be changed or transferred may be represented by one of a variety of documents, usually a water right permit, certificate or claim. Elements of these water right documents that may be changed are:
Certain aspects of an existing water right document may not be changed. These . include increasing the withdrawal rate or annual quantity of water currently permitted. For more information on changing an existing water right document, contact Ecology's Publication Center at (360) 407-7472 and request publication #98-1802-WR, "Changing an Existing Water Right or Water Right Claim," or visit Ecology's publication web site at: http://www.wa.ecy.wa.gov/
Under the new law, to change or transfer an existing water right, the water right holder must complete and submit to the water conservancy board an application for water right change, attaching a minimum $10 fee. The original application and application fee will be forwarded to Ecology. Ecology will assign a water right application control number and inform the board of the assigned number. Potentially, the boards may charge the applicant an additional fee.
The water conservancy board will evaluate the application and determine whether or not the change, as proposed, can be made without affecting existing water rights. The board would oversee both the process of the applicant publishing a public notice and the filing of subsequent protests by the public.
The board will investigate the application and render a decision to approve, deny or condition the approval. If an application is approved, the water conservancy board will issue the applicant a certificate conditionally authorizing the change or transfer, subject to approval by Ecology. Only after Ecology has concurred with the determination, or waived its review, is a transfer or change of the water right authorized. A superseding certificate or certificate of change (in the case of a claim) will be issued by Ecology once verification of the change has occurred. For denied applications, the board will issue an order conditionally denying the transfer or change, subject to approval by Ecology.
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Immediately following the water resource training for the boards, Ecology will be hosting public workshops to discuss the pilot rule establishing water conservancy boards. Water conservancy board members from Benton and Lewis counties will also participate in the workshops to answer questions about their involvement in the pilot rule process. Copies of the draft pilot rule will be available at the workshops, or you may visit Ecology's laws and rules web site: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/laws-rules/index.html
The public workshop in Benton County will be held September 30, 1998, from 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. at the following location:
Lewis County has not yet confirmed their training dates in October, so a public workshop date and location will be announced at a later date.
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To request a map showing Ecology's Kennewick office location, call Ann Shipley at (360) 407-6624. For more information on the pilot rule, contact Peggy Clifford (360) 407-7262, Department of Ecology, Water Resources Program, PO Box 47600, Olympia, WA 985047600 or E-mail at pcli461@ecy.wa.gov
If you have special accommodation needs, please contact Paula Smith at (360) 407-6607 or (360) 407-6006 TDD.
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.98-164
CONTACT: Mary Getchell, Public Information Manager, (360) 407-6157; pager, (360) 534-8590 Peggy Clifford, Rules Coordinator, (360) 407-7262
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OLYMPIA - The Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) is hosting a public workshop on a proposal to involve county governments in processing water right decisions.
A law established by the state legislature in 1997 allows counties to establish local water boards to process water right applications for changes to existing water right permits, certificates or claims. Under the law, Ecology approves the establishment of the local water-conservancy boards and reviews water right decisions made by boards.
To help implement the law, Gov. Gary Locke directed Ecology to develop a pilot rule to specify training requirements for the boards and other details of how the boards and Ecology would work together. Under the pilot rule, two local governments, Benton and Lewis counties, are acting as "pilots" to test the rule and conservancy-board process.
"We have the privilege to implement the most progressive water transfer legislation in the U.S. This type of opportunity is very rare, an ability to improve in real tangible terms water resources management in our state," said Max Benitz Jr., Benton County Commissioner.
Ecology is holding a workshop in Kennewick to hear from people in one of the areas that is participating as a pilot community. The workshop will last from 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 30, at the Department of Ecology office in Kennewick. The address is 1315 4th Ave., Kennewick, the phone is 509-635-7581 (for directions to the workshop).
Another workshop will be conducted in Lewis County later this fall for residents of that pilot area.
Currently, approximately 6,000 water right permits statewide are awaiting decisions by Ecology. About 23 percent of the applications are changes to existing water rights.
"We want to get citizens' and local governments' ideas and opinions on how best to involve county governments in processing watertight change applications," said Keith Phillips, Ecology's Water Resources Program manager. "Conservancy boards are a very important step toward our goal of watershed management at the local level."
It is important to note that a water right change does not affect the amount of water being used. A change may be made to the place where water is used, the location where water is withdrawn or diverted (including adding points of withdrawal or diversion), and/or the purpose of the water right (e.g., from irrigation to domestic use).
The conservancy board would investigate applications and issue a decision to approve, deny or condition the water right change. Ecology would have 45 days to review the board's decision and issue final approval or denial of the water-right change.
Following a year of testing the rule, in Benton and Lewis counties and gaining public comment throughout Washington state, Ecology expects to adopt the final rule in the fall of 1999. Once the rule is adopted, Ecology will work with other communities that have an interest in establishing conservancy boards.
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