Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

CERTIFICATION OF ENROLLMENT
                                HOUSE BILL 1752
                        Chapter 108, Laws of 2024
                                68th Legislature
                              2024 Regular Session
WATER RIGHTS HELD BY THE UNITED STATES BUREAU OF RECLAMATION—CHANGE
                            APPLICATIONS
                       EFFECTIVE DATE: June 6, 2024
 Passed by the House February 8, 2024                 CERTIFICATE
   Yeas 97 Nays 0
                                        I, Bernard Dean, Chief Clerk of the
                                        House of Representatives of the
             LAURIE JINKINS             State of Washington, do hereby
 Speaker of the House of                certify that the attached is HOUSE
 Representatives                        BILL 1752 as passed by the House of
                                        Representatives and the Senate on
                                        the dates hereon set forth.
 Passed by the Senate February 28,
                                              BERNARD DEAN
   Yeas 49 Nays 0                                                   Chief Clerk
               DENNY HECK
 President of the Senate
 Approved March 15, 2024 9:39 AM                         FILED
                                                     March 15, 2024
                                                  Secretary of State
               JAY INSLEE                         State of Washington
 Governor of the State of Washington
                                 HOUSE BILL 1752
                   Passed Legislature - 2024 Regular Session
     State of Washington         68th Legislature       2023 Regular Session
     By Representatives Dye, Dent, Graham, and Eslick
     Read first time 02/03/23.    Referred to Committee on Agriculture and
     Natural Resources.
      AN ACT Relating to modifying the application of the annual
  consumptive quantity calculation to change applications related to
  certain water rights held by the United States bureau of reclamation;
  and amending RCW 90.03.380.
 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
     Sec. 1.   RCW 90.03.380 and 2011 c 112 s 3 are each amended to
 read as follows:
     (1) The right to the use of water which has been applied to a
 beneficial use in the state shall be and remain appurtenant to the
 land or place upon which the same is used: PROVIDED, HOWEVER, That
 the right may be transferred to another or to others and become
 appurtenant to any other land or place of use without loss of
 priority of right theretofore established if such change can be made
 without detriment or injury to existing rights. The point of
 diversion of water for beneficial use or the purpose of use may be
 changed, if such change can be made without detriment or injury to
 existing rights.
     (a) A change in the place of use, point of diversion, and/or
 purpose of use of a water right to enable irrigation of additional
 acreage or the addition of new uses may be permitted if such change
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 results in no increase in the annual consumptive quantity of water
 used under the water right.
     (b) For water rights held by the United States bureau of
 reclamation for water use within the boundaries of the Columbia Basin
 project, the bureau of reclamation may apply for and obtain approval
 for a change in the number of acres that may be irrigated with such
 water rights, so long as such a change does not result in any
 increase in the instantaneous or annual out-of-stream authorized
 quantity of such rights and so long as the department determines that
 such a change would not result in an impairment of any other water
 rights. The provisions of (a) of this subsection do not apply to a
 change application filed pursuant to this subsection (1)(b).
     (c) For purposes of this section, "annual consumptive quantity"
 means the estimated or actual annual amount of water diverted
 pursuant to the water right, reduced by the estimated annual amount
 of return flows, averaged over the two years of greatest use within
 the most recent five-year period of continuous beneficial use of the
 water right.
     (d) Before any transfer of such right to use water or change of
 the point of diversion of water or change of purpose of use can be
 made, any person having an interest in the transfer or change, shall
 file a written application therefor with the department, and the
 application shall not be granted until notice of the application is
 published as provided in RCW 90.03.280. If it shall appear that such
 transfer or such change may be made without injury or detriment to
 existing rights, the department shall issue to the applicant a
 certificate in duplicate granting the right for such transfer or for
 such change of point of diversion or of use. The certificate so
 issued shall be filed and be made a record with the department and
 the duplicate certificate issued to the applicant may be filed with
 the county auditor in like manner and with the same effect as
 provided in the original certificate or permit to divert water.
     (2) If an application for change proposes to transfer water
 rights from one irrigation district to another, the department shall,
 before publication of notice, receive concurrence from each of the
 irrigation districts that such transfer or change will not adversely
 affect the ability to deliver water to other landowners or impair the
 financial integrity of either of the districts.
     (3) A change in place of use by an individual water user or users
 of water provided by an irrigation district need only receive
                                     p. 2                       HB 1752.SL
 approval for the change from the board of directors of the district
 if the use of water continues within the irrigation district, and
 when water is provided by an irrigation entity that is a member of a
 board of joint control created under chapter 87.80 RCW, approval need
 only be received from the board of joint control if the use of water
 continues within the area of jurisdiction of the joint board and the
 change can be made without detriment or injury to existing rights.
     (4) This section shall not apply to trust water rights acquired
 by the state through the funding of water conservation projects under
 chapter 90.38 RCW or RCW 90.42.010 through 90.42.070.
     (5)(a) Pending applications for new water rights are not entitled
 to protection from impairment, injury, or detriment when an
 application relating to an existing surface or ground water right is
 considered.
     (b) Applications relating to existing surface or ground water
 rights may be processed and decisions on them rendered independently
 of processing and rendering decisions on pending applications for new
 water rights within the same source of supply without regard to the
 date of filing of the pending applications for new water rights.
     (c) Notwithstanding any other existing authority to process
 applications, including but not limited to the authority to process
 applications under WAC 173-152-050 as it existed on January 1, 2001,
 an application relating to an existing surface or ground water right
 may be processed ahead of a previously filed application relating to
 an existing right when sufficient information for a decision on the
 previously filed application is not available and the applicant for
 the previously filed application is sent written notice that explains
 what information is not available and informs the applicant that
 processing of the next application will begin. The previously filed
 application does not lose its priority date and if the information is
 provided by the applicant within ((sixty)) 60 days, the previously
 filed application shall be processed at that time. This subsection
 (5)(c) does not affect any other existing authority to process
 applications.
     (d) Nothing in this subsection (5) is intended to stop the
 processing of applications for new water rights.
     (6) No applicant for a change, transfer, or amendment of a water
 right may be required to give up any part of the applicant's valid
 water right or claim to a state agency, the trust water rights
                                     p. 3                       HB 1752.SL
 program, or to other persons as a condition of processing the
 application.
     (7) In revising the provisions of this section and adding
 provisions to this section by chapter 237, Laws of 2001, the
 legislature does not intend to imply legislative approval or
 disapproval of any existing administrative policy regarding, or any
 existing administrative or judicial interpretation of, the provisions
 of this section not expressly added or revised.
     (8) The development and use of a small irrigation impoundment, as
 defined in RCW 90.03.370(8), does not constitute a change or
 amendment for the purposes of this section. The exemption expressly
 provided by this subsection shall not be construed as requiring a
 change or transfer of any existing water right to enable the holder
 of the right to store water governed by the right.
     (9)(a) The department may only approve an application submitted
 after June 30, 2019, for an interbasin water rights transfer after
 providing notice electronically to the board of county commissioners
 in the county of origin upon receipt of an application.
     (b) For the purposes of this subsection:
     (i) "Interbasin water rights transfer" means a transfer of a
 water right for which the proposed point of diversion is in a
 different basin than the proposed place of beneficial use.
     (ii) "County of origin" means the county from which a water right
 is transferred or proposed to be transferred.
     (c) This subsection applies to counties located east of the crest
 of the Cascade mountains.
         Passed by the House February 8, 2024.
         Passed by the Senate February 28, 2024.
         Approved by the Governor March 15, 2024.
         Filed in Office of Secretary of State March 15, 2024.
                                  --- END ---
                                     p. 4                        HB 1752.SL
Statutes affected: 
Original Bill: 90.03.380
Bill as Passed Legislature: 90.03.380
Session Law: 90.03.380