(1) The Water Resources Act of 1971 (chapter 90.54 RCW) sets forth fundamentals of water resource policy to insure that the waters of the state will be protected and fully utilized for the greatest benefit to the people of the state of Washington and, in relation thereto, to provide direction to the department of ecology and other state agencies and officials in carrying out water and related resource programs.

(2) The department was directed, through the adoption of appropriate rules, to develop and implement a comprehensive state water program which would provide a process for making decisions on future water resource allocations and uses.

(3) The act provides that the department of ecology may develop a water program in regional segments so that immediate attention may be given to waters of a give physio-economic region of the state or to specific critical problems of water allocation and use.

(4) The act further directed the department of ecology to modify existing regulations and adopt new regulations to insure that existing regulatory programs are in accord with the water resource policies of the act.