The Quincy groundwater subarea was duly established and the boundaries were set forth in chapter 173-124 WAC on January 15, 1973. Management rules for the Quincy subarea were then adopted on January 9, 1975, as chapter 173-134 WAC and amended on July 26, 1979.

The department has managed the groundwaters within the Quincy subarea since that time in accordance with those rules.

The following information is provided as a background to assist in understanding this chapter.

By the end of the 1973 irrigation season (in October), there were approximately 3,493,142 acre-feet of imported waters stored underground in the Quincy groundwater subarea. These imported waters are derived from the activities of the bureau and the Columbia Basin project. Most of the imported water is located in the shallow management unit where it comingles with naturally occurring public groundwaters.

The general pattern of flow of groundwater in the shallow management unit is toward Potholes Reservoir, a facility of the Columbia Basin project.

By order of the department of ecology, under Docket No. 74-772, dated the 8th day of January, 1975, declarations of artificially stored waters of the United States Bureau of Reclamation were accepted for the Quincy subarea and zones. There are no other accepted declarations relating to the Quincy subarea and zones.

Based on the best information available to the department in 1983, all waters naturally supplied to the Quincy Basin groundwater system have been allocated to permits or certificates under state law. Of the aggregate thus allocated, it appears that because of nonuse, small additional amounts of such water can be appropriated without overdraft.