ENGROSSED SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 6215
| | |
State of Washington | 64th Legislature | 2016 Regular Session |
By Senate Agriculture, Water & Rural Economic Development (originally sponsored by Senators Padden, Warnick, Pearson, and Becker)
READ FIRST TIME 01/29/16.
AN ACT Relating to identifying certain irrigation or dairy use water rights as water rights being used for municipal water supply purposes; and amending RCW
90.03.560.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1. RCW 90.03.560 and 2003 1st sp.s. c 5 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) When requested by a municipal water supplier or when processing a change or amendment to the right, the department shall amend the water right documents and related records to ensure that water rights that are for municipal water supply purposes, as defined in RCW
90.03.015, are correctly identified as being for municipal water supply purposes. This section authorizes a water right or portion of a water right held or acquired by a municipal water supplier that is for municipal water supply purposes as defined in RCW
90.03.015 to be identified as being a water right for municipal water supply purposes. However, it does not authorize any other water right or other portion of a right held or acquired by a municipal water supplier to be so identified without the approval of a change or transfer of the right or portion of the right for such a purpose.
(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1) of this section, the department shall, upon request by a municipal water supplier, amend the water rights documents and related records to identify the following water rights as being used for municipal water supply purposes if the following water rights were held or acquired by a municipal water supplier prior to July 1, 2016, and are not currently being used for commercial agriculture or dairy purposes: (a) Irrigation purpose of use water rights; (b) agricultural irrigation purpose of use water rights; and (c) dairy purpose of use water rights. This subsection does not alter or affect the ability of a municipal water supplier to apply for a change or transfer of any water right.
(3) Subsection (2) of this section applies to water resource inventory areas 54, 55, 56, and 57, according to the boundaries of those areas as they existed on the effective date of this section.
(4) The legislature intends that a municipal water supplier holding water rights that have been amended pursuant to subsection (2) of this section should retain such water rights.
--- END ---