House passes water retention bill, again

OLYMPIA - The House of Representatives has re-adopted a bill that  protects an individual's water rights when that individual is not utilizing all of the water allocated to that right.

The same bill passed the House last year. The Senate failed to act on it. So it had to be passed by the House again this year for the Senate to re-consider.

House Bill 1381, passed on Jan. 16, would amend the current “use it or lose it” water law. It would create an exemption from “relinquishment of water.”

Under the proposal, if an applicant is waiting in line to adjust a water right allocation, that action would not count as “nonuse” of that applicant's water. This would allow a water rights holder to keep the entire water right and not be forced to use all of the water permitted.

“We must reform our water relinquishment bills so we encourage water conservation, rather than discourage it,” said Rep. Judy Warnick, R-Moses Lake. “This legislation is important to help water rights applicants waiting on the state bureaucracy to save water.”

In 2011, the bill passed the House unanimously. On Jan. 16 it passed 89-2. The legislative session is scheduled to run through mid-March.