BILL REQ. #:  S-3489.3 

Read first time 01/17/12.   Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Water & Rural Economic Development.

     AN ACT Relating to requiring proof of concept for water resource mitigation alternatives for human domestic needs in rural areas; adding a new section to chapter 90.54 RCW; and creating a new section.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The legislature finds that the 1971 water resources act provides that allocation of water among potential uses and users must be based generally on securing of the maximum net benefits for the people of the state. Maximum net benefits constitutes total benefits, less costs, including opportunities lost. The legislature finds that in allocating water under chapter 90.54 RCW that adequate supplies of water are to be preserved and protected to satisfy human domestic needs and that mitigation is not statutorily authorized when making these allocations.
     The legislature finds that homeowners not served by a public water system may desire to access additional quantities of water to supplement existing water allocations for human domestic uses for a broad range of potential uses on their land. The department of ecology has advanced conceptual alternatives that may provide homeowners the ability to secure additional water resources based on the water-budget neutral concept.
     The purpose of this act is to direct the department of ecology to collaboratively work with representatives of state agencies, local governments, local health departments, tribes, landowners, the home construction industry, homeowners, engineers, and other interested people to examine and develop workable mechanisms that are practical, economical, and safe for homeowners and the home construction industry to implement.
     It is the intent of the legislature that the construction of homes, and the related jobs resulting from home construction, not be held up in any way while these innovative alternatives are being explored and more fully developed.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 90.54 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) The department of ecology shall work collaboratively to examine potential alternatives for increasing the amount of water otherwise allocated to rural homeowners and businesses under this chapter. Among the alternatives the department shall explore are:
     (a) Improvements to water systems serving a certain minimum number of homes, businesses, or both;
     (b) The collection, retention, and use or release of rainwater;
     (c) The use of deep wells to augment stream flows;
     (d) Water-sharing agreements with nearby well owners;
     (e) Constructing ponds or other water impoundments;
     (f) Conserving water in the watershed and banking that conserved water for transfer to other users;
     (g) Pumping water from other legally available water sources for release into the watershed to offset the increased withdrawal that is sought;
     (h) Improving the efficiency of municipal irrigation or other water distribution systems in the watershed; and
     (i) Other alternatives that may have merit as suggested by the department or interested parties.
     (2) For alternatives that are determined to be viable, the department shall: (a) Develop the criteria and mechanisms to provide clear and practical guidance to homeowners and builders; (b) anticipate the variety of conditions in the state and provide an array of options suitable to meet the types of conditions that homeowners would likely encounter; and (c) develop true-to-life examples of how it would work in subbasins where limitations on water for essential human domestic uses are in effect. The examples must show how mitigation credits would be assigned, how the size of projects would be determined, the season or conditions under which mitigation credits would be useable, a cost estimate for each example, whether permits would be required, and whether additional agency staff would be needed.
     (3) The department of health, the department of fish and wildlife, and the state building code council shall assist the department in developing viable alternatives that clearly address the needs of homeowners and the home building industry to make these options practical, economical, and safe.
     (4) For those alternatives that are determined to have a high degree of viability, the department shall cooperatively work with involved groups to conduct demonstration projects for each alternative to test the practical usability, effectiveness, cost, and safety and determine whether there are unintended consequences.
     (5) When the department, after consultation with the involved groups, determines what alternatives have been successfully demonstrated to be viable, the department may submit proposed legislation to provide the legal framework necessary to utilize these mitigation alternatives.
     (6) The department shall provide a report to the appropriate committees of the legislature by December 10, 2012, on the progress of this activity.
     (7) The activities of the involved state agencies must be conducted from within the existing funds available to the agency.