"NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   A new section is added to chapter 39.34 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) The legislature finds that regional water resource planning and coordinated municipal water supply transmission and delivery systems benefit the people of the state and advance state water policies. Municipalities should encourage voluntary and cooperative efforts and public involvement in the planning and location of such systems, consistent with the water policies of the state. It is the intent of the legislature to clarify certain authority of an existing watershed management partnership to execute the specific goals for which it was constituted. A pilot project is created with the intent that the legislature will, at a certain date, be informed of the use of the authority specified in this section as well as the efforts to involve the public in siting and construction of the water system facilities.
     (2) As limited in subsection (3) of this section, a watershed management partnership formed or qualified under the authority of RCW 39.34.200 and 39.34.210, and a separate legal entity established by such a partnership to conduct the cooperative undertaking of the partnership under the same statutory authority, may exercise the power of eminent domain as provided in chapter 8.12 RCW only for:
     (a) Those utility purposes for which the watershed management partnership was formed; or
     (b) On upland properties designated by WAC 173-20-570(3) abutting a lake whose water may be permitted as a municipal water supply pursuant to chapter 90.03 RCW, water transmission, conveyance, storage, treatment, and other water utility facilities and buildings.
     (3) Subsection (2) of this section applies only to a watershed management partnership that:
     (a) Was formed or qualified before July 1, 2006, under the authority of RCW 39.34.200 and 39.34.210;
     (b) Is not engaged in planning or in implementing a plan for a water resource inventory area under the terms of chapter 90.82 RCW;
     (c) Is composed entirely of cities and water-sewer districts authorized to exercise the power of eminent domain in the manner provided by chapter 8.12 RCW; and
     (d) Is governed by a board of directors consisting entirely of elected officials from the cities and water-sewer districts that constitute the watershed management partnership.
     (4) A watershed management partnership exercising authority under this section shall report to the relevant legislative committees by July 1, 2010. The report shall address the status of the water system's project or projects, and the use, if any, of the authority granted in this section, including any use of the authority for the siting and construction of the system. The report shall also inform the legislature of efforts to inform and involve the public of the affected areas regarding siting and construction of system facilities. The report shall, in addition, address the necessity or advisability of continuing the authority authorized under this section after the date of expiration of this section.
     (5) This section expires July 1, 2011."