HOUSE BILL REPORT

SB 5983

BYSenator Newhouse

Authorizing the superior court to retain for hearing water rights cases involving more than one thousand named defendants that would otherwise be referred to a referee.

House Committe on Agriculture & Rural Development

Majority Report:  Do pass.  (9)

      Signed by Representatives Rayburn, Chair; Kremen, Vice Chair; Nealey, Ranking Republican Member; Baugher, Grant, McLean, H. Myers, Rasmussen and Youngsman.

House Staff:Kenneth Hirst (786-7105)

AS PASSED HOUSE MARCH 31, 1989

BACKGROUND:

The Surface Water Code of 1917 provides a procedure for settling various claims to the right to use water from a particular water body or source.  The procedure, called a general adjudication proceeding, involves the joining of the claimants in one suit in Superior Court and the investigation of the claims.  The code requires the superior court to refer the proceeding to the Department of Ecology which acts as the referee for the court.  The Department reports its findings to the court and, after considering exceptions to the department's findings, the court enters a decree determining the rights of the various claimants.

SUMMARY:

The provisions of the Surface Water Code of 1917 regarding general adjudication proceedings for water right claims are amended.  Rather than referring all portions of the proceeding to the Department of Ecology as its referee, the Superior Court may retain for hearing and processing those portions of the proceeding which pertain to a discrete class or classes of defendants or claims.  The court may retain this jurisdiction if the case is complex with more than 1,000 named defendants, including the United States, and the court determines that:  a resolution of these claims appears to involve significant issues of law, either procedural or substantive; and the retention will expedite the conclusion of the case and will reduce the expenditures of the plaintiff, defendants, and the court.

Fiscal Note:      Not Requested.

House Committee ‑ Testified For:    Ken Slattery, Department of Ecology.

House Committee - Testified Against:      None Presented.

House Committee - Testimony For:    The bill will permit a sharing of responsibilities by the judge and referee in a very complex case.  It will permit more timely rulings on matters which are vitally important to the adjudication.

House Committee - Testimony Against:      None Presented.