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Trust Water Rights Program

The Washington State Trust Water Rights program provides a way to legally hold water rights for future uses without the water right relinquishing.  Water is held in trust to benefit groundwater and instream flows, and other beneficial uses.  While water is held in trust it retains its original priority date.

Two statutes govern Trust Water:

• Chapter 90.38 RCW applies to the Yakima Basin, and
• Chapter 90.42 RCW applies statewide

The Trust Water Rights Program is used to implement the Water Acquisition Program and for holding water for Water Banking activities.

Public Notice and Comment

In 2009 legislation was passed authorizing Ecology to use this website instead of newspapers for public notice for two types of trust water rights, donations and short term leases.

RCW 90.42.040 (5) (c) reads “For a trust water right donation described in RCW 90.42.080 (1)(b), or for a trust water right lease described in RCW 90.42.080(8) that does not exceed five years, the department may post equivalent information on its web site to meet the notice requirements…”

Donations

Letters have been sent by Ecology’s Regional Offices to notify water right holders that their water rights have been accepted into the Trust Water Rights Program.  These letters are only for water entering the trust water rights program as the result of donations, and are posted to provide public notice of those donations.

• Public Notice and Comment Form - Trust Water Rights Resulting from Donations

Short Term Leases

Public notices have been prepared by Ecology’s Regional Offices to notify the public that water rights are being processed into the Trust Water Rights Program.  These notices are only for water entering the Trust Water Rights Program as the result of Short-term Leases.

• Public Notice and Comment Form - Trust Water Rights Resulting from Short-term Leases

Contacts

Headquarters Peggy Clifford Department of Ecology PO Box 47600 Olympia WA 98504 360-407-6204 pcli461@ecy.wa.gov		Northwest Regional Office Buck Smith Department of Ecology 3190 160th Avenue SE Bellevue WA 98008 425 649-7147 jsmi461@ecy.wa.gov
Southwest Regional Office Phil Crane Department of Ecology PO Box 47775 Olympia WA 98504 360-407-0238 pcra461@ecy.wa.gov		Eastern Regional Office Ying Fu Department of Ecology 4601 N. Monroe St. Spokane, WA 99205 509-329-3451 yifu461@ecy.wa.gov
Central Regional Office Scott Turner Department of Ecology 15 W Yakima Ave, #200 Yakima WA 98902 509-457-7106 stur461@ecy.wa.gov		Office of Columbia River Patricia Kirk Department of Ecology 15 W Yakima Ave, #200 Yakima WA 98902 509-249-6299 pkir461@ecy.wa.gov