S-4605.1  _______________________________________________

                         SENATE BILL 6647

          _______________________________________________

State of Washington      54th Legislature     1996 Regular Session

By Senators A. Anderson, Spanel, Morton, Rasmussen and Swecker

Read first time 01/22/96.  Referred to Committee on Ecology & Parks.

Granting water rights to certain persons who were water users before January 1, 1993.

    AN ACT Relating to granting water rights to persons who put water to use before January 1, 1993, and file a statement of claim by June 30, 1997; and adding a new section to chapter 90.03 RCW.

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

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

    If a person placed surface or ground 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 or its predecessors, the person or the person's successor holds a water right in the amount beneficially used and with a priority date that is the effective date of this section if:

    (1) The person filed with the department before January 1, 1996, an application for the use of the water claimed under this section;

    (2) The person or the person's successor files with the department of ecology a statement of claim for the right during the period beginning September 1, 1996, and ending midnight June 30, 1997, using the standard form prescribed by RCW 90.14.051; and

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

    (a) A statement signed by two persons other than the person filing the statement of claim verifying that the water was beneficially used by the claimant before January 1, 1993, as described in the statement of claim;

    (b) A copy of a dated photograph clearly demonstrating the presence of a high value crop requiring irrigation in the amounts asserted in the statement of claim 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;

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

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

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

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

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