H-0904.3  _______________________________________________

                          HOUSE BILL 1677

          _______________________________________________

State of Washington      56th Legislature     1999 Regular Session

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, within limits established by the Constitution of the state of Washington, assist the owners of lands receiving water distributed by the irrigation district in financing the acquisition and installation of fixtures, systems, and equipment, for compensation and otherwise, for the conservation or more efficient use of water delivered by the irrigation district.  Assistance may include, but is not limited to, arranging or providing financing for the purchase and installation of approved conservation fixtures, systems, and equipment.  The fixtures, systems, and equipment shall be purchased or installed by a private business, the owner, or the irrigation district.

    (2) An appropriate charge-back shall be made for the extension of public moneys or credit to provide such assistance.  The board of directors may fix rates or tolls and charges and collect the same from all persons for whom district assistance is made available or it may provide for payment for such assistance by a levy of assessment therefor, or by both rates or tolls and charges and assessments 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, or (3) holds some other legally recognized water right, 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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