BILL REQ. #:  H-3998.1 

Prefiled 12/20/07. Read first time 01/14/08.   Referred to Committee on Agriculture & Natural Resources.

     AN ACT Relating to groundwater monitoring and assessment; amending RCW 43.27A.130; adding a new section to chapter 90.54 RCW; creating a new section; recodifying RCW 43.27A.130; and making an appropriation.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 43.27A.130 and 1988 c 127 s 26 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The department of ecology may make complete inventories of the state's water resources and enter into such agreements with the director of the United States geological survey as will ((insure)) ensure that investigations and surveys are carried on in an economical manner.
     (2) The department shall improve the groundwater level ambient monitoring program in order to accurately characterize long-term trends in the state's groundwater resource quantity and evaluate aquifer water quality. The program may be improved in phases and must include but is not limited to:
     (a) Standardizing methods, quality assurance, and data management practices for measuring groundwater levels;
     (b) Migrating existing data to a central database; and
     (c) Expanding and supporting current ambient monitoring activities.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   (1) By June 30, 2009, the department of ecology shall conduct two pilot groundwater assessments in water resource inventory areas experiencing serious or critical withdrawals. One pilot groundwater assessment must be initiated in western Washington and one pilot groundwater assessment in eastern Washington.
     (2) By December 31, 2008, the department of ecology shall prepare a gap analysis that evaluates groundwater monitoring in the water resource inventory areas of the state. The analysis must include:
     (a) A summary of current monitoring of ambient groundwater levels across the state;
     (b) An evaluation of the data and conclusions produced from such monitoring;
     (c) An identification of groundwater basins where water quantity levels are of concern but no monitoring is being conducted;
     (d) An evaluation and recommendations for quality controls and other protocols associated with data collection and management;
     (e) A compilation and summary of existing studies of groundwater levels and monitoring activities; and
     (f) Recommendations on the components necessary to establish a groundwater monitoring level ambient assessment program and the funding necessary to implement the program.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   The sum of two million five hundred thousand dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2009, from the general fund to the department of ecology for the purposes of this act.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   RCW 43.27A.130 is recodified as a section in chapter 90.54 RCW.