S-1427

AN ACT Relating to granting water rights; and adding a new section to chapter 90.03 RCW.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. A new section is added to chapter 90.03 RCW to read as follows:

If a person placed surface or ground water to beneficial use for irrigation, stock watering, food processing, or rural domestic water supply purposes before January 1, 1993, for which a permit or certificate was not issued by the department or its predecessors, the person or the person's successor holds a water right in the amount beneficially used and with a priority date that is the date a statement of claim is filed for the right under this section if:

(1) The person or the person's successor files with the department of ecology a statement of claim for the right during the period beginning September 1, 1997, and ending midnight June 30, 1998, using the standard form prescribed by RCW 90.14.051; and

(2) The person or the person's successor files with the statement of claim evidence that the water described in the claim was used beneficially before January 1, 1993, and during each of the five years preceding the date the statement is filed, in the form of any two of the following:

(a) A statement signed by two persons other than the person filing the statement of claim verifying that the water was beneficially used by the claimant before January 1, 1993, as described in the statement of claim;

(b) A copy of a dated photograph clearly demonstrating the presence of a high value crop requiring irrigation in the amounts asserted in the statement of claim or of livestock requiring water in such amounts; or records of receipts of the sale of crops by the person or the person's successor indicating that irrigation in the amount claimed was required to produce the crops;

(c) Receipts or records of equipment purchases or repairs associated with the water use specified in the statement of claim;

(d) Water well construction records identifying the date the well specified in the statement of claim as the point of withdrawal was constructed;

(e) Records of electricity bills directly associated with the withdrawal of water as specified in the statement of claim;

(f) Personal records such as photographs, journals, or correspondence indicating the use of water as asserted in the statement of claim.

A right granted under this section shall not affect or impair in any respect whatsoever a water right existing prior to September 1, 1997. The filing of a statement of claim under this section does not constitute an adjudication of any claim to the right to the use of waters as between the claimant and the state, or as between one or more water use claimants and another or others. A statement of claim filed under this section shall be admissible in a general adjudication of water rights as prima facie evidence of the times of use and the quantity of water the claimant was withdrawing or diverting to the same extent as is provided by RCW 90.14.081 for a statement of claim in the water rights claims registry on the effective date of this section.

This section does not apply to ground water withdrawn in an area that is, during the period established by subsection (2) of this section, the subject of a general adjudication proceeding for water rights in superior court under RCW 90.03.110 through 90.03.245 and the proceeding applies to ground water rights. This section does not apply to surface water withdrawn in an area that is, during the period established by subsection (2) of this section, the subject of a general adjudication proceeding for water rights in superior court under RCW 90.03.110 through 90.03.245 and the proceeding applies to surface water rights. This section does not apply to rights embodied in a water right permit or certificate issued by the department of ecology or its predecessors, a water right represented by a claim in the water rights claims registry, created under RCW 90.14.111, prior to September 1, 1997, or a water right exempted from permit and application requirements by RCW 90.44.050.