H-2029.1  _______________________________________________

                          HOUSE BILL 2039

          _______________________________________________

State of Washington      54th Legislature     1995 Regular Session

By Representatives Kremen and Chandler

Read first time 02/22/95.  Referred to Committee on Agriculture & Ecology.

Prescribing rights for certain applications for water rights or water transfers.

    AN ACT Relating to certain applications for water rights or water transfers; and amending RCW 90.14.041.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

    Sec. 1.  RCW 90.14.041 and 1988 c 127 s 73 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) All persons using or claiming the right to withdraw or divert and make beneficial use of public surface or ground waters of the state, except as ((hereinafter)) provided in this section, shall file with the department of ecology not later than June 30, 1974, a statement of claim for each water right asserted on a form provided by the department.  This section shall not apply to any water rights which are based on the authority of a permit or certificate issued by the department of ecology or one of its predecessors.

(2) Any person who placed water to beneficial use for irrigation or stock watering purposes before January 1, 1993, for which a permit or certificate was not issued by the department of ecology or its predecessor, holds a water right subject to the following conditions:  (a) The priority date shall be the effective date of this section; (b) the amount of water withdrawn may not exceed the maximum annual amount put to beneficial use during the five-year period before January 1, 1993; (c) there must not have been a period of nonuse for five consecutive years; and (d) the person must have filed an application for a water right or a transfer of a water right with the department of ecology before December 31, 1994.

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