By Committee on Agriculture & Natural Resources

Beginning on page 1, line 17, strike all of section 2 and insert the following:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2.  "(1) The department of ecology must produce a report evaluating options for mitigating the effects of permit-exempt groundwater withdrawals on existing water rights, including base flows and minimum instream flows. For the purposes of the report required in this section, the mitigation techniques that the department of ecology must evaluate include, but are not limited to:

(a) Demand management strategies, such as household conservation and associated water use metering;

(b) Supply side strategies, such as use of rainwater collection, greywater, cisterns, bulk or hauled water, and the extension of water supply pipelines.

(2) When preparing the report required under this section, the department of ecology must:

(a) Consult with the office of the attorney general;

(b) Coordinate with the existing water resources advisory committee formed by the department of ecology to provide feedback on the development of the report and any final recommendations; and

(c) Make available a draft of the report on its web site for at least thirty days for public review prior to the completion of the report to allow sufficient opportunity to consider input that may be received.

(3) The report required in this section must include:

(a) An examination of scientific methods for establishing instream flows, including a discussion of methods regularly used by the department of ecology and the department of fish and wildlife for each element of the instream flows required to be protected under RCW 90.54.020(3);

(b)(i) An analysis of the impacts, including cumulative impacts, of permit-exempt groundwater withdrawals on instream flows in several representative basins, including the impacts from existing and future withdrawals based on full build out scenarios.

(ii) The analysis required under this subsection should include a specific focus on impacts to tributaries that serve as habitat for salmonid spawning and rearing and should include empirical data concerning household water use for each category of use identified in RCW 90.44.050;

(c) A description of mitigation techniques, including out-of-kind mitigation, the department of ecology has employed or approved pursuant to RCW 90.03.255 in the previous ten years, or which may be available, to address the impacts of permit-exempt groundwater withdrawals on instream flows, including the location, cost, and legal authority for each type of mitigation technique;

(d) A survey of in-kind streamflow enhancement strategies, other than regulation of permit-exempt groundwater withdrawals, that would improve streamflow levels in a cost-effective manner;

(e)(i) An assessment of the effectiveness of each type of mitigation technique identified in (c) of this subsection, that may be available to the department of ecology to mitigate the impacts of permit-exempt groundwater withdrawals on instream flows.

(ii) The analyses required under this section must include:

(A) A scientific analysis of how the technique fully mitigates for harm; and

(B) An evaluation of how the mitigation techniques are funded, monitored, enforced, evaluated to determine effectiveness, and modified if mitigation fails;

(f) An evaluation of all mitigation options that may be available for permit-exempt groundwater withdrawals in the areas covered under the instream resources protection program for the lower and upper Skagit river basin, water resource inventory areas 3 and 4, and a discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of employing each type of mitigation technique in those areas;

(g) An evaluation of how mitigation sequencing approaches may be utilized to encourage avoidance of impacts; and

(h) Any recommendations regarding mitigation options that will be available to landowners who are required to mitigate the impacts of permit-exempt groundwater withdrawals on instream flows.

(4) By December 1, 2015, the department of ecology must submit the final report to the legislature consistent with RCW 43.01.036.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3.  This act expires June 30, 2016."

Renumber the remaining section consecutively and correct the title.

EFFECT: Specifically includes demand side and supply side management strategies in the mitigation options that must be included in the report, requires coordination with the water resources advisory committee on the production of the report, changes the examination of scientific "methodologies" to scientific "methods," changes references to "base flow and instream flows" to "instream flows" throughout, adds the department of fish and wildlife into the section discussing the scientific methods of setting instream flows, removes specific references to the meaning of the term "out-of-kind" mitigation and the specific direction to report on the location, cost, and authority for out-of-kind mitigation projects, changes the analyses of whether mitigation for groundwater withdrawals affect instream flows to the effect on instream flows of groundwater withdrawals, requires an evaluation of how mitigation sequencing approaches may be utilized to encourage avoidance of impacts, requires specific details regarding the analyses around specific mitigation techniques, changes the report due date from November 1st to December 1st, and provides an expiration date.