BP BHEAD INT H [atlas:bill]

AN ACT Relating to water rights for the water rights claims registry; amending RCW 90.36.030 and 90.44.110; and adding a new section to chapter 90.14 RCW.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. A new section is added to chapter 90.14 RCW to read as follows:

(1) No public body may operate a free-flowing well for public use on a year-round basis under RCW 90.36.030(2) or 90.44.110(4) without first registering its authority to operate the well in this manner with the department of ecology. Any public body desiring to operate a free-flow well for public use on a year-round basis under RCW 90.36.030(2) or 90.44.110(4) shall file a statement of claim with the department identifying how each of the requirements listed in RCW 90.36.030(2) or 90.44.110(4) are satisfied, attesting that the well satisfies those requirements, and identifying the water right for the well as it is represented by a statement of claim that has been filed in the water rights claims registry or a water right permit or certificate that has been issued under chapter 90.44 RCW. Upon receiving such a statement of claim for the free-flowing well, the department shall file the statement in a portion of the water rights claims registry reserved for claims to the right to operate such wells in the manner authorized by RCW 90.36.030(2) and 90.44.110(4).

Filing of such a claim is required to use the well as authorized by RCW 90.36.030(2) and 90.44.110(4), but does not in itself establish or represent a water right to use the well. Such a statement of claim may be filed at any time under this section. The provisions of this subsection (1) are null and void if any of the provisions of subsection (2) of this section are vetoed by June 30, 2000.

(2)(a) Certain persons who submitted a water right claim form with the department between September 1, 1997, and June 30, 1998, and whose claim was rejected by the department because the department deemed the claim to be incomplete and thus not in compliance with RCW 90.14.051 may submit additional information as provided in (b) of this subsection in support of the claim between July 1, 2000, and December 31, 2000. The persons eligible to submit additional information under this section and to receive further consideration for the registering of their claims are those who meet the following qualifications:

(i) The person checked the box labeled "other" on the water right claim form in part 12 where it asks the claimant to state the legal doctrine under which the person is claiming a water right;

(ii) The premise of the person's claim of a water right for ground water is that a right to ground water was inherent in and appurtenant to the original land patent issued by the federal government at the time the person's land was severed from federal ownership. The original water right claim form submitted to the department need not have asserted this premise for the person to be qualified to receive further consideration under this section.

(b) Persons meeting the qualifications in (a) of this subsection may submit to the department a statement that their claim to a ground water right is based on the assertion that such right accompanied the federally issued land patent for lands they now own or occupy. The claimant must also submit with his or her statement a bona fide copy of the original land patent document issued by the United States. The water right claim of a person meeting the qualifications established in this section and submitting the statement and bona fide copy of his or her land patent as required by this subsection (2)(b) is deemed sufficient in lieu of compliance with RCW 90.14.051 and 90.14.068 and shall be accepted for filing in the water rights claims registry by the department.

(c) This section does not apply to other claims the department rejected as ineligible for filing under RCW 90.14.068 (5) or (6), for failure to submit a substantially complete statement of claim as required in RCW 90.14.051, for failure to remit the filing fee required by RCW 90.14.061, or for submitting a claim for a purpose that is exempt from the requirement to submit a claim under RCW 90.14.041. The registering of claims under this section as directed by the legislature confers upon those claims no special status or recognition and is subject to this chapter as is any other claim submitted in a timely manner.

Sec. 2. RCW 90.36.030 and 1929 c 138 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) Except as provided in subsections (2) and (3) of this section, it shall be the duty of every person, firm, corporation or company having possession or control of any artesian well, as provided in RCW 90.36.020, to securely cap the same over on or before the fifteenth day of October in each and every year in such manner as to prevent the flow or escape of water therefrom, and to keep the same securely capped and prevent the flow or escape of water therefrom until the fifteenth day of March next ensuing((~~; PROVIDED, HOWEVER,~~)).

(2) It ((~~shall and may be~~)) is lawful for any such person, firm, corporation or company to insert a three-quarters inch stop and waste cock in the piping of such well, and to take and use water therefrom through such stop and waste cock at any time for household, stock, or domestic purposes, but not otherwise.

(3) Any well completed into a confined aquifer shall be allowed to flow freely for public uses if:

(a) The public body referred to in (d) of this subsection files a statement of claim of the free-flowing public use of the well under section 1 of this act;

(b) The well is constructed according to state law and agency rules pertaining to well construction;

(d) The well is owned, operated, and maintained by a recognized public body and the public body files a written request with the department of ecology that the well be allowed to flow freely for public uses;

(e) The operator of the well ensures the unused portion of the flow is piped from the well head and discharged directly into a surface water body within the limits of a city; and

(f) The discharge does not allow for any degradation of water quality.

As used in this subsection, "public body" means the state of Washington or any agency, political subdivision, taxing district, or municipal or public corporation thereof.

Sec. 3. RCW 90.44.110 and 1987 c 109 s 114 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) No public ground waters that have been withdrawn shall be wasted without economical beneficial use. Except as provided in subsections (2), (3), and (4) of this section, the department shall require:

(a) All wells producing waters which contaminate other waters to be plugged or capped((~~. The department shall also require~~)); and

(b) All flowing wells to be so capped or equipped with valves that the flow of water can be completely stopped when the wells are not in use under the terms of their respective permits or approved declarations of vested rights((~~. Likewise, the department shall also require~~)); and

(c) Both flowing and nonflowing wells to be so constructed and maintained as to prevent the waste of public ground waters through leaky casings, pipes, fittings, valves, or pumps‑-either above or below the land surface((~~: PROVIDED, HOWEVER, That~~)).

(2) The withdrawal of reasonable quantities of public ground water in connection with the construction, development, testing, or repair of a well shall not be construed as waste((~~; also, that~~)).

(3) The inadvertent loss of ((~~such~~)) water owing to breakage of a pump, valve, pipe, or fitting shall not be construed as waste if reasonable diligence is shown by the permittee in effecting the necessary repair.

(4) Any well completed into a confined aquifer shall be allowed to flow freely for public uses if:

(a) The public body referred to in (d) of this subsection files a statement of claim of the free-flowing public use of the well under section 1 of this act;

(b) The well is constructed according to state law and agency rules pertaining to well construction;

(e) The operator of the well ensures the unused portion of the flow is piped from the well head and discharged directly into a surface water body within the limits of a city; and

(f) The discharge does not allow for any degradation of water quality.

As used in this subsection, "public body" means the state of Washington or any agency, political subdivision, taxing district, or municipal or public corporation thereof.

(5) In the issuance of an original permit, or of an amendment to an original permit or certificate of vested right to withdraw and appropriate public ground waters under the provisions of this chapter, the department may, as in ((~~his~~)) its judgment is necessary, specify for the proposed well or wells or other works a manner of construction adequate to accomplish the provisions of this section.