Proposed legislation would restrict Ecology in banning wells

YAKIMA, Wash. -- Kittitas County residents urged state lawmakers Wednesday to require the state Department of Ecology to have scientific proof that new wells are hurting senior water rights and stream flows before they could impose a moratorium on new uses.

Kitty Wallace, representing the
Kittitas County Association of Realtors, told lawmakers in Olympia that property owners, schools and public safety are suffering because of a moratorium on wells imposed by the state last summer.

"We are in a situation where property values aren't what people are paying taxes on. They are boycotting paying their taxes," she said at a hearing that was broadcast on the Web by TVW. "Schools will suffer. Bond and maintenance and operation levies aren't getting support."

Mark Rich, another real estate agent, said banks are refusing to lend money for new homes because of the uncertainty about wells.

"This was a shortsighted decision. As a result, the county is essentially redlined," he said. "Unemployment rates have soared and citizens face the potential loss of their homes."

Their testimony came in support of a bill introduced by State Sen. Janéa Holmquist, R-Moses Lake. Senate Bill 6536 would require Ecology officials to have "peer-reviewed scientific evidence" that new wells are taking water that belongs to holders of senior rights before they could halt new well connections.

The bill was the subject of a hearing before the Committee on Environment, Water and Energy.

Similar legislation has been introduced in the state House of Representatives.

House Bill 2666, introduced by state Reps. Bruce Chandler, R-Granger, and Judy Warnick, R-Moses Lake, also would require the Department of Ecology to have evidence before prohibiting new uses. The department also would have to make sure a new supply of water is available for water users before closing a basin to new uses.

State Rep. Bill Hinkle, R-Cle Elum, also has a bill, HB 2542, co-sponsored by Warnick, that would require a study of the conflicts between local land-use plans and the availability of water.

It is partly that conflict that led Ecology in July to halt new water wells in the upper part of the county west of Indian John Hill. State law allows homeowners to drill a well without a state permit so long as they take no more than 5,000 gallons per day.

Ecology officials imposed the moratorium because of concern that a proliferation of new wells during the past decade is damaging the rights of senior water users and hurting stream flows.

Supporters of Holmquist's bill urged lawmakers to approve the measure so other areas of the state don't face the same economic crisis.

In her introductory re-marks, Holmquist said she has heard from Skagit and Whatcom counties where fears of a similar well ban exist.

Environmental groups, however, testified against the bill, calling bans a way to protect existing rights.

Darcy Nonemacher of
Seattle, representing Amer-ican Rivers, testified that the Yakima River Basin, including the Kittitas Valley, has no additional water available to support new development.

"We fear this bill will take away the Department of Ecology's ability to stop the bleeding in basins that are over-appropriated and gather the science necessary to address these more urgent conflicts with water users who have rights."

She said the state is operating a broken system for managing water and that Ecology lacks the tools to address the concerns of water right holders.

Ecology and county officials are considering a proposal that would allow property owners a 150-day window until early September to drill wells and put the water to use. The state proposal is a way to relieve some of the economic fallout from the moratorium on wells.

Commissioner Paul Jewell accused the depart-ment of using existing state law "as a political tool to coerce local legislative authorities to bend to the will of the DOE," he said.

But Ken Slattery, head of
the Department of Ecology's water resources program, told lawmakers the agency doesn't want property owners to assume that if they drill a well, their right to water is safe. New wells, while not subject to needing a state permit, still are governed by state water law that protects older rights during times of shortage. During those periods, new rights are shut off.

Slattery said shortages have occurred in the Yakima River Basin in 30 percent of the years since 1970.

"The basis of our concern is that new homes going in have a risk of not having a water supply in three of every 10 summers," he said.