http://www.heraldnet.com/stories/05/09/04/100loc_water001.cfm

Water rights are property
rights.  If you don't believe this, then take a look at this article from
today's Everett Herald, where Water Resource Inventory Area (WRIA) 5, the
Stillaguamish River Basin, now has a new instream
flow rule, signed August 26, 2005.

The article sets off by saying that
this is a controversial rule.  Why might that be?  Well, for all
existing properties served by a well, the exempt water right allows you to draw
5,000 gallons of water a day for single residence domestic use.  The new
rule is aiming toward an average of 350 gallons a day for single residence
domestic use for wells punched after the adoption of the rule.

The rule drew fire from WRIA 5
residents, but Ecology went ahead and did it anyway.

You are also limited to watering a
lawn, or a garden, or a combination of the two, of no more than 1/12 of an
acre.  That's right, one-twelfth of an acre!

Not only that, but Ecology took all
water not already allocated to water rights for itself, and will assert full
control as a senior water rights holder over anyone needing to draw water from
the watershed in the future.  Landowners will be having
to supplicate at the government alter for permission to have even the pittance
of water that they will deign to allow the subject to use.  Somehow, I
don't think this is the position the Founders wanted government officials to
have in respect to their citizen employers.

You should really become more
informed about the WRIA instream flow process,
because you live in one of those WRIAs, and this process is coming to
you.  The WRIA 5 process and final rule is available online at...

http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/wr/instream-flows/stillaguamishbasin.html

I live in WRIA 17, where the process
is well under way, and I've been attending the public meetings.
We're generating larger turnouts of mainly opposed landowners than the
Ecology folks have anticipated.  We've got people asking good, hard
questions, and we are learning that Ecology is not playing with a full deck of
science, and that the scientific process they are using would not gain a
passing grade in a high school science class.  They are attempting to
make highly restrictive rules without adequate data to back up even the need
for the rule, much less the restrictiveness they are seeking.

They've succeeded in WRIA 5, at
least unless the PUD or County take them to court on the rule.  We hope to
see that happen soon...

Reserves are set for future
development.  Once the allocation to the reserve for a sub-basin has been
reached, no additional well permits will be issued.  This means that the
Department of Ecology is using instream flow rules to
limit development...limiting property rights...artificially limiting the
ability of people to build homes...artificially driving up housing costs beyond
their already astronomical levels.

The WRIA 17 process is online at...

http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/wr/instream-flows/quilsnowbasin.html

The Department of Ecology Instream Flow rule page is located at...

http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/wr/instream-flows/isfhm.html

The other WRIA processes currently
under way are...

Entiat River Basin

Samish River Basin

Lower Columbia River Basin

Some of the WRIAs cross county
lines.  In establishing this form of cross-boundary jurisdiction
over the water resource that every resident needs, the Department of
Ecology is diminishing the powers of the county government in many respects
where land use and permitting are involved.

Is that something we should stand
still for?  Is it better to have to petition the county or the Department
of Ecology for property rights issues?

The Department of Ecology is only
now gearing up for the instream flow process across
the state.  It's time for as many of us as possible to get involved and
work these issues where we live.

Norman

The Herald - Everett, Wash. - www.HeraldNet.com

Published: Sunday, September 4, 2005

New rule limits water rights

Drawing of more water in the Stillaguamish River Valley will be granted only
with an agreement to stop if the water level gets too low.

By Scott Morris

Herald Writer

Water is not an unlimited resource,
even in a place as rainy as the Stillaguamish River Valley.

For new development, that means a
new way of doing business.

That's the cautionary premise behind
a controversial new rule written by the state Department of Ecology.

The rule sets minimum stream levels
designed to keep enough water for fish, boaters, water quality and aesthetics
in the Stilly during dry summers. Low flows result in dirtier water with less
oxygen, which hurts threatened fish species.

The rule steers new farmers or new
businesses away from applying for new water rights. Instead, it encourages them
to find and purchase existing water rights.

New water rights for farms and
industry will be granted only if they agree to shut off their spigots whenever
the river gets too low.

In dry years such as this one, that
could mean most of the summer.

Existing farms and businesses will
not be affected.

That idea of an interruptible water
right drew fire when the new rule was first proposed this year. State officials
received more than 700 comments, many from farmers.

With agriculture already struggling,
attracting new farmers is going to be nearly impossible if they can't get water
in the summer when they need it most, said Hank Graafstra,
owner of Country Charm Dairy in Arlington.

"This is the end of any dairy
farms being in here," Graafstra said.

Not necessarily, said Ecology
Department spokesman Curt Hart.

The department has records for about
eight times more existing agricultural water rights and claims than are
currently being used, Hart said.

New farmers can buy or arrange
transfers of those water rights, he said.

The rule also sets a cap on the
amount of groundwater that new rural homes can tap into with wells in the next
20 years.

That amount, 3.2 million gallons,
would limit rural growth in the valley to about 9,000 homes, assuming an
average daily use of 350 gallons.

"That's more than enough water
to provide for 20 years of rural growth," Hart said. "But we don't
pretend that this rule is going to provide for all future growth."

More homes could be permitted if
water conservation measures are used, Hart said.

The Ecology Department will track
how many building permit applications are turned in to Snohomish and Skagit
counties' planners, Hart said.

For Graafstra,
it seems a shame to watch the steady rains of winter wash out to sea and then
face drying trickles in the summer.

"To me, we're going to have to
retain some of the water in the wintertime," Graafstra
said.

That's actually an option Arlington
is considering. The city is scrambling to line up enough water to meet its
projected growth goals of as many as 30,000 people in the next 20 years. The
city has more than 15,000 people now.

Arlington gets two-thirds of its
water from wells at the city-run airport, said Mike Wolanek,
a city water-quality specialist. The rest comes from Spada
Lake in a deal with Everett and the Snohomish County PUD.

At its projected growth rate, the
city could need additional water sources as early as 2011. So the new rule
concerns the city's water planners.

While the city will pursue purchases
of more Spada Lake water and other existing water
rights closer to home in the Stilly valley, it is also looking into capturing
winter's excess flows.

To store the water, the city is
exploring pumping it back into the ground near its airport wells, said Bill
Blake, Arlington's natural resources coordinator.

"I think we can do that up and
down the valley in a few areas if we do this right," Blake said.

The rule might cause people some
problems, but it's also a reality check, Blake said.

"The good part is we're talking
about it now instead of when there's a crisis," Blake said.

Reporter Scott Morris: 425-339-3292
or smorris@ heraldnet.com.

For more information

New farmers who want to know from
whom they can purchase or transfer existing water rights can call the state
Department of Ecology at 425-649-7270.

To read the new rule, visit
www.ecy.wa.gov.

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