HOUSE BILL REPORT

                 HCR 4424

                    As Passed Legislature

Brief Description:  Establishing a legislative joint committee on water resources.

Sponsors:  Representatives Delvin, Chandler, Robertson, Clements, Foreman, Grant, Schoesler, Hankins, Mulliken, Linville, B. Thomas, Honeyford, McMahan and Silver.

Brief History:

  Floor Activity:

Passed House:  3/6/96.

Passed Legislature.

Staff:  Ken Hirst (786-7105)

Background:  One of the principles of Western water law is that the right to use water is appurtenant or tied to the land on which or place at which the water is used.  State law permits the use of the water to be transferred to other locations and other uses with the approval of the Department of Ecology or, in certain instances, with the approval of the irrigation district in which the water is used.

Summary:  A joint select committee on water resources is created to review subjects related to water transfers.  Among the subjects to be studied are means of encouraging water transfers and the effects of such transfers on existing rights, instream flows, and the communities from which the transferred water originates.  The committee is made up of four members of the House of Representatives appointed by the Speaker of the House and four members of the Senate appointed by the President of the Senate.  It must report its recommendations to the Legislature by December 31, 1996.