Bill notifies counties about water rights

OLYMPIA - A bill requiring Eastern Washington counties to be notified about water rights transfers was approved by the state Legislature this week.

The state Department of Ecology must now tell impacted county commissioners about proposed transfers before approving the permit.

But the bill doesn't stop a transfer because of water rights and property rights issues, said the bill's prime sponsor, state Sen. Linda Evans Parlette, R-Wenatchee, on Thursday.

"There's not a lot you can do to stop the transfer from occurring," she commented.

Examples of water use includes water for agriculture and golf courses.

"The economies of our counties depend on their ability to access water," stated Parlette. "There is a real concern that the transfer of water rights can lead to dry counties. I see this as a 'sunshine' bill - a way to make sure county commissioners are kept in the loop on an issue that has a big impact on their citizens."

The concern arose from a situation in Okanagon County about three years ago, where a transfer occurred, Parlette said.

Concerns included counties ending up with no water, resulting in a deterrent to economic development. 

Her district includes parts of Grant and Okanagon counties and all of Chelan and Douglas counties.   

Darryll Olsen, of the Columbia Snake River Irrigators Association, said he was sure Parlette was responding to the concerns of a county commissioner in her district.

But he viewed it as a piece on unnecessary legislation that could have been handled administratively by the county conservancy boards.

Already the county conservancy boards send transfer information to a list of entities, so adding the county commissioners to the list would be no problem, he said.

"The conservancy boards work very well with the county commissioners," Olsen commented. "No one would think twice about contacting them."

The last inter-basin water transfer happened about three years ago in Parlette's district, when a portion of a water right was sold to the state Department of Ecology at fair market price, he said.

Another water right transfer occurred in the Tonasket area to a private condo company at Crescent Bar. 

He recalled there were concerns about all the water being taken out of the Okanagon area, but no one locally wanted to buy the water rights.

John Stuhlmiller, of the Washington Farm Bureau, testified in favor of the bill. 

He recalls that Olsen didn't testify on the bill.

He said the key point on the issue was the movement of water from counties with less income.

Some counties want to keep their water for economic development, he said.

"There was a perceived concern, so counties there said 'let's find a way that water just doesn't leave our county," Stuhlmiller explained.

The new law allows counties to be aware of the transfers through an electronic notification, which is useful for counties for planning purposes.

"It's a good compromise," he said. "It lets counties know, lets them think about it and compete with the purchaser. With notice comes the power to maybe change things in a good way."