H-2104.1  _______________________________________________

                    SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 1677

          _______________________________________________

State of Washington      56th Legislature     1999 Regular Session

By House Committee on Agriculture & Ecology (originally sponsored by Representatives B. Chandler, Grant, G. Chandler, Linville, Mastin, Delvin and Parlette)

Read first time 03/01/1999.

Changing irrigation district provisions.

    AN ACT Relating to the administration of irrigation districts; amending RCW 87.84.010; and adding new sections to chapter 87.03 RCW.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.  A new section is added to chapter 87.03 RCW to read as follows:

    (1) Any irrigation district organized under this chapter may, for compensation, reimbursement, or otherwise, within limits established by the state Constitution, assist the owners of land receiving water distributed by the irrigation district or discharging, with the district's approval, water from the land into irrigation district-maintained facilities to finance, acquire, install, lease, and use equipment, fixtures, programs, and systems to conserve, improve, preserve, and efficiently use the land, water delivered by the irrigation district, or water discharged from the land into irrigation district-maintained facilities.  Assistance may include, but is not limited to, grants, loans, and financing to purchase, lease, install, and use approved conservation, improvement, and preservation equipment, fixtures, programs, and systems.  The equipment, fixtures, programs, and systems may be leased, purchased, or installed by a private business, the owner of the land, or the irrigation district.  "Conserve," "improve," and "preserve" as used in this section, include enhancing the quality of water delivered by the irrigation district or discharged from the land into irrigation district-maintained facilities.

    (2) The district may charge the owner and the land if district money or credit is used or extended to provide the assistance in subsection (1) of this section.  The district's board of directors may also levy and fix assessments, rates, tolls, and charges and collect them from all persons for whom, and all land on which, district money or credit is provided, or the board may require landowner repayment for landowner assistance by assessments, charges, rates, or tolls in the same manner as provided by RCW 87.03.445.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2.  A new section is added to chapter 87.03 RCW to read as follows:

    All contracts entered into by irrigation districts for the purchase of materials, equipment, supplies, or services may be awarded to vendors pursuant to telephone or written quotations or both in accordance with the uniform process established in RCW 39.04.190.

    Sec. 3.  RCW 87.84.010 and 1988 c 127 s 67 are each amended to read as follows:

    Any irrigation district having ((the)) a major portion of an inland navigable body of water within or along its exterior boundaries and ((which)) that (1) has filed with the department of ecology and been granted a water right certificate or (2) holds a legally recognized water right through the United States bureau of reclamation, for return river flows or otherwise, for fifty thousand acre feet of water or more, and regardless of whether the water right is withdrawn from the body of water itself or one of its tributaries, shall be eligible to become an irrigation and rehabilitation district as provided in this chapter.

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