A window may open for new wells in Kittitas County

YAKIMA, Wash. -- A door is being cracked open for home-building to resume in upper Kittitas County after being halted for months by a ban on new water wells.

The state Department of Ecology proposed to Kittitas County commissioners a 150-day period when new wells could be drilled and put into use without having to obtain existing water rights to offset the new withdrawal, a concept known as mitigation.

The opportunity for new wells would begin March 26, the day after a current 120-day moratorium on new wells expires.

A new moratorium likely would begin at the end of the 150 days, sometime around Sept. 1 and would require mitigation.

Ecology imposed a moratorium in July based on concern that a proliferation of new wells in the upper part of the county was damaging senior water rights and stream flows. The agency's position is based on evidence that water flowing underground eventually reaches surface water.

County commissioners agreed unanimously to schedule a hearing on the Ecology Department proposal next month following a presentation of the agency's proposal Wednesday.

Commissioner Paul Jewell said the hearing will be conducted about Jan. 20.

A representative of the county's home builders said the chance to complete construction projects is preferable to the freeze now in effect.

"We have people who have lost clients willing to build and clients who can't complete their projects," said Dave Whitwill, government affairs coordinator for the county chapter of the Central Washington Home Builders Association. "This offers a 150-day window for people to process applications predicated on a ground-water extraction. That is a real benefit relative to where we are now."

Prospective homeowners ready to move forward on building a home will have to be using the water before the 150-day period ends.

But conservation groups questioned the move. Rachel Paschal Osborn, executive director of the Center for Environmental Law and Policy in Spokane, called the agency's proposal a response to political pressure.

"It's always amazing to see Ecology giving away other peoples' water. That is what they are proposing to do here," she said. "I think this continues to raise a question since all the water in the basin is allocated."

But Ecology Department Central Region Director Tom Tebb said the agency believes the 150 days strikes a good balance in allowing stalled projects to proceed while a mechanism for a market to purchase water gets up and running.

The water bank will allow new users to purchase use of water from a senior right. The huge Suncadia resort near Cle Elum has placed rights it owns in the state water rights trust program from which new users can obtain water at a price.

He said allowing new wells without mitigation does pose a risk to senior water rights and streamflows. At the same time, the agency is aware of concerns about the hardship the moratorium posed to residents of the upper county, west of Indian John Hill, he said.

"We want people to be serious about their projects. If we take this risk to senior water rights and streamflows, we want people to be serious," Tebb said.

The proposed agreement is the result of ongoing talks between Ecology Department officials and county commissioners.

Jewell called the agreement a positive step that will allow the upper county economy to get moving again and put people back to work.

"That is a good thing for addressing the needs of those folks who were really derailed by the original imposition of the moratorium," Jewell said.

It remains to be seen how senior water right holders, such as the Yakama Nation, basin irrigation districts and the community of Roslyn will react. It's conceivable senior right holders could challenge in court the 150-day window.

Tebb said while wells for homes, known as permit exempt wells, can be completed and put into use, the owners of those wells are still subject to having their use cut off if a drought causes senior users to have their water supplies rationed.

* David Lester can be reached at 509-577-7674 or dlester@yakimaherald.com.

• Classified Marketplace
  View All | Search | Place Ad
• 
• • Announcements
  • Public Notices
  • Legal Notices
  • Merchandise
  • Yard Sales
  • Animals
• Jobs
  www.yakjobs.com
• 
• Homes
  www.yakhomes.com
• 
• 
  
• Autos
  www.yakwheels.com

• All Special Pubs Channels YakJobs.com YakWheels.com YakHomes.com Yakima Magazine (Web) Yakima Magazine (Print) Playdate (Web) Playdate (Print) The Beginning (Web) The Beginning (Print) Yakima Bride Yakima Wheels (Print) Home Buyer's Guide Graduates 2010 Summer in the Valley
• Advertisement