SB 5863 - DIGEST

(DIGEST AS ENACTED)

     Finds that continued ownership of the nonnavigable portion of the original bed of the Cowlitz river near the confluence of the Columbia river no longer serves the state's interest in navigation.  Ownership of the existing navigable bed of the Cowlitz river would better serve the state's interest in navigation.  It is also in the state's interest to resolve any disputes that have arisen because state-owned land is now indistinguishable from privately owned land within the dike.

     Authorizes the department of natural resources to exchange bedlands abandoned through rechanneling of the Cowlitz river near the confluence of the Columbia river so that the state obtains clear title to the Cowlitz river as it now exists or where it may exist in the future through the processes of erosion and accretion.

     Authorizes the department of natural resources to exchange bedlands and enter into boundary line agreements to resolve any disputes that may arise over the location of state-owned lands now comprising the dike that was created in the 1920s.