Big changes in water use management may be in store

YAKIMA, Wash. -- The state Department of Ecology has proposed significant changes to state water law.

One of the proposals would grant Ecology authority to further limit the amount of water that rural homes and other users could draw from permit-exempt wells.

Up to 5,000 gallons a day can be drawn from exempt wells, which has led to one of the most emotionally charged water issues in Central Washington.

The Department of Ecology imposed a moratorium more than a year ago on new wells in upper Kittitas County because of concerns that too much water was being drawn from the aquifer.

Some officials are concerned similar restrictions could be imposed elsewhere in the Yakima River Basin.

Ecology's proposals, included in a 76-page report issued Friday to the Legislature, also would:

* Impose annual charges instead of one-time fees on some water users;

* Change the so-called "use it or lose it" statute to encourage conservation;

* Give Ecology the authority to require mitigation to offset a new use in water-short basins like the Yakima River Basin as a way to speed processing of requests for permits.

The proposals set the stage for legislation Ecology will request in 2011.

The Legislature this year directed the agency to recommend ways to improve its program to manage water resources.

The report suggests users who benefit from rights to public water be required to pay more as a way to offset the cost to taxpayers.

"We have been directed by the Legislature to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of our water management services at the same time budget cuts and staff reductions are reducing our ability to fulfill our mission," Ecology Director Ted Sturdevant said in a news release Friday.

One local lawmaker, 15th District Rep. Bruce Chandler, R-Granger, expressed skepticism that some of the agency's proposals will get very far.

Chandler, who is a member of the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee, said he has not read the report. But he said he fears the proposals are primarily a revenue-generating move.

"What our constituents want to know is where is the value?" Chandler said. "If they are going to pay an annual fee to wait in line for the rest of their lives, there has to be more to it than a fee increase."

But Ken Slattery, head of the Ecology Water Resources Program, said state funding for the agency has been a rollercoaster of increases and cuts during lean budget times. That has hurt the program's effectiveness.

"The general taxpayer is footing the bill. This is granting to people a permanent benefit and property value enhancement," he said.

Those who can't have an exempt well and need to apply for water-right permit now pay a one-time, $50 fee. Ecology wants to impose annual fees, but the report wasn't clear on how much they would be.

Aside from the fees, the
permit-exempt well prov-ision in the report is likely to gain a lot of attention.

The state Attorney General's Office said this year that Ecology does not have authority to limit the amount of water drawn from exempt wells.

That limit, added to state law in 1945, allows withdrawal of 5,000 gallons per day for a single home or group of homes, and for industrial use. The exemption also allows watering a half-acre lawn and garden and livestock watering without a require-ment for a state permit.

There is no limit on how much water can be used for watering livestock.

Slattery said the agency wants flexibility to allow a larger number of people to have access to groundwater supplies by limiting the amount of water they can use. The report doesn't app-ear to say what restriction Ecology would impose.

The agency has said, however, that the average home in rural areas uses 350 gallons a day.

"We'd like to find people ways to get done what they want and still protect existing rights," Slattery said.

The "use it or lose it" statute, known as relinquishment, has been a controversial issue. The law says that if a water right is not used for five consecutive years, it is deemed to have been relinquished, or given back to the state.

Opponents say the law forces water right holders to use more water than they need to protect their right.

The agency is proposing flexibility by extending the five-year limit or taking into account more efficient irrigation systems, such as drip or sprinklers, that would allow water right holders to retain some of that saved water.

"Everyone agrees the relinquishment approach doesn't work," Chandler said. "It creates an incentive to use water whether you need to or not to protect the right. I think we are prepared to have a discussion about that."

The 76-page draft report is now available for public comment. Public comments will be accepted through Sept. 28.

Draft report
• The Department of Ecology’s draft report on water use can be accessed online at: www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/wr/hq/6267report.html

• Comments on the report will be accepted through Sept. 28 and wil be compiled into a supplement to the report. Comments should be sent to Barbara Anderson, Water Resources Program, at Barbara.Anderson@ecy.wa.gov.

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