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HOUSE BILL 1865
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AS AMENDED BY THE SENATE
Passed Legislature - 2001 Regular Session
State of Washington 57th Legislature 2001
Regular Session
By
Read first time 02/07/2001. Referred to
Committee on Agriculture & Ecology.
Changing watershed
planning provisions.
AN ACT Relating to
irrigation districts acting as initiating governments for watershed planning;
and amending RCW 90.82.060.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF
WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1. RCW 90.82.060 and 1998 c
247 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) Planning conducted
under this chapter must provide for a process to allow the local citizens
within a WRIA or multi-WRIA area to join together in an effort to: (a) Assess
the status of the water resources of their WRIA or multi-WRIA area; and (b) determine
how best to manage the water resources of the WRIA or multi-WRIA area to
balance the competing resource demands for that area within the parameters
under RCW 90.82.120.
(2) Watershed planning
under this chapter may be initiated for a WRIA only with the concurrence of:
(a) All counties within the WRIA; (b) the largest city or town within the WRIA
unless the WRIA does not contain a city or town; and (c) the water supply
utility obtaining the largest quantity of water from the WRIA or, for a WRIA
with lands within the Columbia Basin project, the water supply utility
obtaining from the Columbia Basin project the largest quantity of water for the
WRIA. To apply for a grant for organizing the planning unit as provided
for under RCW 90.82.040(2)(a), these entities shall designate the entity that
will serve as the lead agency for the planning effort and indicate how the
planning unit will be staffed.
(3) Watershed planning
under this chapter may be initiated for a multi-WRIA area only with the
concurrence of: (a) All counties within the multi-WRIA area; (b) the largest
city or town in each WRIA unless the WRIA does not contain a city or town; and
(c) the water supply utility obtaining the largest quantity of water in each
WRIA.
(4) If entities in
subsection (2) or (3) of this section decide jointly and unanimously to
proceed, they shall invite all tribes with reservation lands within the
management area.
(5) The entities in
subsection (2) or (3) of this section, including the tribes if they
affirmatively accept the invitation, constitute the initiating governments for
the purposes of this section.
(6) The organizing
grant shall be used to organize the planning unit and to determine the scope of
the planning to be conducted. In determining the scope of the planning
activities, consideration shall be given to all existing plans and related
planning activities. The scope of planning must include water quantity
elements as provided in RCW 90.82.070, and may include water quality elements
as contained in RCW 90.82.090, habitat elements as contained in RCW 90.82.100,
and instream flow elements as contained in RCW 90.82.080. The initiating
governments shall work with state government, other local governments within
the management area, and affected tribal governments, in developing a planning
process. The initiating governments may hold public meetings as deemed
necessary to develop a proposed scope of work and a proposed composition of the
planning unit. In developing a proposed composition of the planning unit, the
initiating governments shall provide for representation of a wide range of
water resource interests.
(7) Each state agency
with regulatory or other interests in the WRIA or multi-WRIA area to be planned
shall assist the local citizens in the planning effort to the greatest extent
practicable, recognizing any fiscal limitations. In providing such technical
assistance and to facilitate representation on the planning unit, state
agencies may organize and agree upon their representation on the planning
unit. Such technical assistance must only be at the request of and to the
extent desired by the planning unit conducting such planning. The number of
state agency representatives on the planning unit shall be determined by the
initiating governments in consultation with the governor's office.
(8) As
used in this section, "lead agency" means the entity that coordinates
staff support of its own or of other local governments and receives grants for
developing a watershed plan.
