Senate bill would improve water rights access

OLYMPIA — Sen. Judy Warnick, R-Moses Lake, passed a bill Tuesday that would increase access to new water rights around Wenatchee and the Elwha-Dungeness River Basin.

The bill is in response to the state Department of Ecology (DOE) sending a letter notifying Chelan County that the DOE would stop issuing permits that rely on the water in the Water Resource Inventory Area (WRIA) 45. The letter was sent in October 2014.

Senate Bill 6513 would direct the DOE to act on all water right applications relying on reservations in WRIA 18 and WRIA 45. These areas are located around Port Angeles and Wenatchee respectively.

“Through this bill, the Legislature will declare that it supports the reservations, this will send a clear signal to Ecology to move forward with implementing them,” said Warnick.

Sen. Hargrove, D-Hoquiam, worked with Warnick on the bill.

“This is a critical issue in my area…trying to deal with this very sensitive issue of water and keep our economy going at the same time,” Hargrove said. “So we believe that this [bill] accomplishes this.”

The current rule regarding water management in Washington, RCW 90.54.020, states withdrawals of water should be authorized in situations “where it is clear that overriding considerations of the public will be served.”

Although the bill passed in the Senate with 48 yeas and one excused, after the vote Warnick said it can be difficult to pass water bills.

“It’s really, really difficult to get a water bill through,” said Warnick right before Sen. Linda Evans Parlette, R-Wenatchee, came over and congratulated her, saying, “You did it. That’s awesome.”