2199-S AAS 3/1/96

2199-S AAS 3/1/96

SHB 2199 - S COMM AMD

By Committee on Ways & Means

ADOPTED AS AMENDED 3/1/96

Strike everything after the enacting clause and insert the following:

"NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. A new section is added to chapter 90.03 RCW to read as follows:

(1) This section shall apply only within a water resource inventory area, as such areas were defined in chapter 173-500 WAC as it existed on January 1, 1996, that meets all of the following:

(a) More than two hundred fifty applications for water use authorizations or modifications were filed with the department and pending on January 1, 1996, that requested authorization for water uses commenced before January 1, 1993; and

(b) There was no proceeding for general adjudication of water rights filed in superior court for the basin on or before January 1, 1996.

(2) On or before June 30, 1997, the department shall issue a permit for the appropriation of water to the persons satisfying the requirements of subsection (4) of this section. The permit shall be conditioned for the protection of streamflows consistent with any adopted rule for the protection of instream resources. The department shall review streamflow requirements in existing rules and the requirements for additional stream segments for which rules have not been adopted. The department's review and required mitigating conditions under this subsection shall accord strong consideration to the review and recommendations of a watershed planning task force applicable to the area that includes a broad range of water resource interests in the basin, including existing and prospective water rights holders, tribal and local governments, and agricultural, business, environmental, fisheries, and recreational interests. In developing proposed permit conditions the department shall consider alternatives to mitigate the impacts of permit issuance upon streamflows and other existing water rights, including changes in source of supply from surface water to ground water sources and the provision of substitute sources of supply to mitigate impacts upon existing rights and streamflows. The department shall allow a change in source of supply from surface water to a ground water source that is not in immediate hydraulic continuity with surface water as mitigation for potential impacts to streamflows and existing rights, unless the department makes specific findings supported by the permit application record that the proposed change will have a significant detriment to existing rights or to minimum streamflows necessary for the protection of instream resources.

(3) Upon a showing satisfactory to the department that the conditions of the permit have been implemented and that the appropriation has been perfected in accordance with the other provisions of this chapter, the department shall issue a certificate of water right in accordance with RCW 90.03.330.

(4) To qualify for a permit issued pursuant to subsection (2) of this section a person must meet the following limitations:

(a) The person must have placed surface or ground water to beneficial use for agricultural irrigation or stock watering purposes before January 1, 1993, for which a permit or certificate was not issued by the department or its predecessors;

(b) The person filed with the department before January 1, 1996, an application for the water beneficially used;

(c) The person or the person's successor files with the department a statement requesting to qualify under this section during the period beginning September 1, 1996, and ending midnight March 31, 1997; and

(d) The person or the person's successor files with the statement evidence that the water described in the statement was used beneficially before January 1, 1993, in the form of any two or more of the following:

(i) A statement signed by two persons who are not related by family to the person filing the statement required by (c) of this subsection verifying that the water was beneficially used by the claimant before January 1, 1993, as described in the statement required by (c) of this subsection;

(ii) A copy of a dated photograph clearly demonstrating the presence of a high value crop requiring irrigation in the amounts asserted in the statement or of livestock requiring water in such amounts; or records of receipts of the sale of crops by the person or the person's successor indicating that irrigation in the amount claimed was required to produce the crops; or records of receipts of the sale of milk by the person or the person's successor indicating that stockwatering in the amount requested was required to produce the milk marketed;

(iii) Receipts or records of irrigation or stockwatering equipment purchases or repairs associated with the water use specified in the statement;

(iv) Water well construction records identifying the date the well specified in the statement as the point of withdrawal was constructed;

(v) Records of electricity bills directly associated with the withdrawal of water as specified in the statement; or

(vi) Personal records such as photographs, journals, or correspondence indicating the use of water as asserted in the statement.

(5) The priority date of a permit issued under this section shall be the date and time of filing with the department the statement required under subsection (4)(c) of this section.

(6) The department's decision upon the conditions to be included within a permit issued under this section, but not the permit issuance, is appealable to the pollution control hearings board under RCW 43.21B.110.

(7) Effective July 1, 1997, in any water resource inventory area for which permits have been issued under this section, the department is authorized to regulate as among water rights claimants, for the protection of adopted streamflow levels, or to enforce the conditions of any permit issued under this section or otherwise issued for water withdrawals from water sources within the area. In issuing regulatory orders pursuant to this subsection, the department shall first determine whether any use of water is based on a valid existing water right. In making such determination, the department shall investigate and make a tentative determination as to the priority, quantity, place of use, and point of diversion of the water right. Unless exigent circumstances exist, the department shall notify the person whose use of water will be regulated before issuing an order of regulation. The notice shall state that the order of regulation shall be issued in three days after receipt of the notice, unless the person can show cause in writing to the department why the department's decision is in error. The order of regulation shall be effective immediately upon issuance, unless otherwise stated in the order. The department's determination of the validity of a water right is not binding in any subsequent general adjudication, but is prima facie evidence of the existence and conditions of the right.

(8) A permit granted under this section shall not affect or impair in any respect whatsoever a water right or an application for a water right existing before January 1, 1996.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. If specific funding for the purposes of this act, referencing this act by bill or chapter number, is not provided by June 30, 1996, in the omnibus appropriations act, this act is null and void."

SHB 2199 - S COMM AMD

By Committee on Ways & Means

ADOPTED AS AMENDED 3/1/96

On page 1, line 1 of the title, after "rights;" strike the remainder of the title and insert "adding a new section to chapter 90.03 RCW; and creating a new section."