Water commission bill goes to a vote

OLYMPIA - A bill designed to form an elected state Water Commission, streamline government and save taxpayer money is voted on Tuesday in Olympia.

The vote happens during an executive session of the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee, said Pat Boss, with a bill proponent, the Columbia-Snake River Irrigators Association.

If the bill makes it out of the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee, it progresses to the  House Rules Committee, he said Thursday.

The House Rules Committee could put the bill on the calendar for a vote on the House floor.

"It could happen rapidly or take some time," Boss said.

This week, the bill received a hearing in Olympia.

A recording of the hearing is found online at www.tvw.org, the state's public affairs network. 

Darryll Olsen, a board representative for the irrigators' association, spoke in support of the proposed legislation.

With the bill, the commission would review and direct legislative and executive policy concerning water management.

The legislation seeks to replace the state Department of Ecology's (DOE) Water Resources Program, reducing the 145 employees to about 100 employee, he said.

"We do believe there has to be reform," he said. 

Farmer and association president Ron Reiman, of T&R Farms, is a direct pumper from the Ice Harbor pool on the Snake River.

He also testified in favor of the bill.

Reiman said the farm probably cut its water usage by one-third since 1981. But with water relinquishment laws, he's lost the water he's conserved, he said.

Reiman is working to buy more water permits. It's so he can use the water he says he lost.

"I think the commission would be a good body to address some of those problems," he said.

Rep. Bill Hinkle, R-Cle Elum, a House bill sponsor, said he's received "broad-based support from farmers, ranchers and labor people."

"The point here is, we need to decentralize the authority of the governor over the water resources program," he commented.

Hinkle wants a system that's more transparent and more accountable to the public.

Martin Durkin Jr., representing the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe, testified against the bill.

"The membership makeup probably has some certain questions with how you appropriately manage the membership of the commission," he commented.

Durkin said they didn't think this approach was the best approach.

But he acknowledged there needed to be some steps moving forward with the DOE to resolve some of the issues in a more expedient fashion.

The Yakama Nation also testified against the bill.

Ken Slattery, DOE's program manager for the Water Resources Program, said the bill "really does run counter to the direction the governor wants to see with fewer boards, commissions and agencies."

He claimed the program is already struggling to accomplish what the state wants it to.

He said the program has 135 employees, not 145 employees. 

Slattery acknowledged the agency saw growth from 2000 to today because of the passage of new legislation, the "Two Lines" bill and the Columbia River Initiative.

"We have to argue the program is not too large," he commented.