SB 5536-S - DIGEST

(SUBSTITUTED FOR - SEE 2ND SUB)

     Directs the department of natural resources to review the adequacy of its management plans and standards for state forest lands lying within watersheds that are the source of supply for public water systems with ten thousand or more service connections.  The objective of the review is to ensure that forest practice activities on such lands do not cause a degradation of the quality of source waters for such public water supply systems and do not cause hydrologic changes that could affect the supply volume reliability of the source waters for such systems.

     Directs the department to conduct the review in coordination with the departments of ecology and health.  The department of ecology shall provide information on public water system withdrawal locations and watershed areas supplying source waters for such systems.  The department of health shall provide information on state and federal drinking water standards and the applicability of these standards to water source conditions.

     Directs the department to involve the operators of public water systems having ten thousand or more service connections and relying on a substantial portion of their water supplies from a watershed in which ten percent of more of the watershed area are state trust lands.  The system operators shall cooperate with the department in providing information on the system's source waters, including reliability and quality of supply, and customer usage of the source waters.

     Requires a report by January 1, 2001.

     Provides that, until July 1, 2001, the department and the board of natural resources shall postpone the harvest of state-owned forest land that lies within the watershed of the source water supply of one or more public water systems that cumulatively have more than ten thousand service connections, and that rely on that water source for fifty percent or more of their cumulative average annual water use.

     Makes an appropriation of thirty-five thousand dollars for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1999, from the general fund to the department of natural resources for the purposes of this act.

     Makes an appropriation of forty thousand dollars for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2000, from the general fund to the department of natural resources for the purposes of this act.