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Methow Valley News April 25, 2001 Endangered Species Water bill avoids being a hostage through process Publisher's Comment ~ by Lee Hicks Water bill avoids being a hostage through process Predictably not everybody is happy over passage of a water bill backed by Gov. Locke with enough of his fellow Democrats joining their Republican legislative counterparts. But after years of wrangling over some way to break an administrative tangle in Olympia, some relief may be on the way. Sen. Linda Parlette, R-12th, who is closer to Methow basin water issues than perhaps any legislator, is among the bill’s supporters who acknowledged it is not "perfect." Perhaps the most notable shortcoming is how to address funding that would be needed to make sure certain provisions are implemented. Process-addicted legislators, many of them from western Washington districts, were upset that Republicans with Democrat support were able to withstand amendments that might have gutted the measure—or sent it to a slow death by committee. Tribal fishing interests and some environmental groups are irate. But the key numbers to consider are that the bill passed 33-16 in a Senate controlled 25-24 by Democrats. Similar bi-partisan support was evident earlier in an 85-14 House vote even though that chamber is evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans. The vote indicates that even with many issues suffering from unnecessary party divisiveness, there is occasional hope for breaking through partisan process gridlock. It remains to be seen if the legislature can find cooperation on funding and other details needed to effectively implement the water legislation. The state Department of Ecology has long protested that a backlog in water rights decisions is due to state water law defects that the bill could help fix. The agency now has the opportunity to see that the spirit of the bill is honored through its administration. Governor, Republicans jump on board, tribes incensed by Lee Hicks A much-debated water bill promoted by the governor’s office with bi-partisan support could speed water rights changes, reinforce authority for local conservancy boards and streamline trust water contributions. The legislation could have substantial impacts in the Methow Valley, which continues to face water restrictions related to endangered fish listings. The measure, having passed the House 84-14, survived a last-minute Senate battle pitting lobbyists for tribal interests and environmentalists against the governor’s team and Republican leadership. Locke is expected to sign the legislation. It includes provisions he supported in a companion Senate bill, SB 5869, that was incorporated into the House measure. In a joint press release, Senators Bob Morton, R-7th, and Linda Parlette, R-12th, said they helped move the bill to the Senate floor to avoid having it held up in committee. The alternative would have been to risk failure, "of the biggest piece of water legislation in the past couple of decades," the release noted. With support of key Democrats, the bill weathered 30 proposed amendments before passing April 17 in a 33-16 vote in a Senate split, 25-24 for Democrats. Most opponents were Democrats from west of the Cascades. Sen. Karen Fraser, D-Lacey, chairman of the Environment Energy and Water Committee attempted to shuttle the bill to her committee, a move that would likely have spelled its demise. The Senate action drew immediate criticism from a Northwest tribal group which had worked to have it defeated. A key provision of the bill would create "two lines," for the state Department of Ecology to review water applications. It would enable the agency to consider applications to change existing rights—such as the place, purpose and point of diversion— independently of requests for new rights. There are an estimated 7,100 applications pending before the agency, 1,800 of those involving rights changes. Ecology officials have blamed the permit gridlock in part on an interpretation of existing law that all applications must be considered in the order submitted. Some pending decisions have been delayed for decades. They include anything from an application to change water use for Microsoft billionaire founder Paul Allen’s Seattle-area golf course to switching from surface to well withdrawals that could aid irrigators and endangered fish in the Methow basin. The new law also reinforces authority of local water conservancy boards to expedite review of change applications and ease the work load for Ecology. The agency, which has supported the concept, would still review the boards’ decisions. Okanogan County is one of several eastern Washington counties to establish the boards. But the county’s board has yet to begin operation. A Thurston County Superior Court decision last fall left the boards’ authority in question. Another provision would allow those holding water rights to place them in the state’s "trust water" program without risking their loss under the "beneficial use" standard. Under that requirement, a water right must have been used in one of any five consecutive years, or be lost. The tribes and environmental groups, including the Center for Environmental Law and Policy, have vehemently opposed conservancy boards. They claim the county-established boards, made up of local appointees, do not have hydrology, legal and other expertise to make water decisions. The bill would also enable owners of family farms to transfer water rights to other family farms, and to transfer rights in municipalities not subject to the state’s growth management act to allow for urban development. That provision could potentially provide water for business development in Twisp, which has been restricted by a state Supreme Court decision that the town relinquished some water rights through non-use decades ago. In the joint press release with Parlette, Morton said that allowing the Democrat-sponsored amendments, "would have killed the bill." As ranking Republican on the Senate Environment, Energy and Water Committee, Morton noted: "We have been working on this piece of legislation since the governor was in the House of Representatives; I think we have tinkered with it long enough. It is time to pass it. It is time to help our farmers." Parlette said that delays would have jeopardized the legislation. "We cannot afford to take that chance at this point. There is a sense of urgency, especially to rural communities; we had to pass the bill immediately and intact." Morton observed that although the bill would help agricultural interests, "it will benefit all regions of our state in some way." The final "omnibus" water bill incorporated a trust water rights provision that Parlette had supported as prime sponsor of SB 5361. The provision affects areas such as the Methow basin where "aquatic species are listed as depressed or threatened." "The House made some changes to the trust water rights section of the package, and I have accepted the changes in an effort to move the bill on," said Parlette. "These changes were not worth starting over or delaying the passage of the bill." A statement from Billy Frank, Jr., chairman of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission, called the legislature maneuvering, a "blatant example of bad governance in the 2001 state legislative session..." Frank’s statement accused bill supporters of using, "a highly unusual legislative maneuver," on the Senate floor. "Obviously, the governor’s water team really wants this bill to pass. So much so that they are willing to forego the democratic process to get it," Frank said. The tribal fishing group later backed off its criticism, saying it was misinformed of the governor’s role in moving the bill to the floor without a committee hearing. Some measures in the bill—including those for funding local watershed planning— were left unresolved in the bill. But supporters said the tradeoff would have been another failure to pass needed water legislation. Before the Senate vote, Okanogan County commissioners outlined objections to two sections of the bill. One provision would have limited authority of conservancy boards to consider water rights change applications on tribal lands. The other, the county said, would have undermined local watershed planning efforts by allowing Ecology to use a "nonproject environmental impact statement" to control instream flows. Writing to Adams County commissioners, Okanogan county chief civil deputy prosecutor Don Anderson argued that "Ecology is required to seek consensus among planning unit members to establish new instream flows..." Parlette acknowledged the bill may have shortcomings: "The bill may not be perfect, but we cannot pass up this window of opportunity to get it to the governor for his signature." Opinion | Sports |
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