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Department of Ecology News Release - April 12, 2001
01-054
SPOKANE - What does it mean to put a water right in trust? When is it the right thing to do, and who benefits?
Those are questions that will be answered at a workshop being held from 7 to 10 p.m. on Thursday, April 12, in Walla Walla. The location will be the Blue Mountain Room at the Walla Walla Regional Airport Terminal.
Representatives from the state Department of Ecology will explain water rights and help citizens do their own water-right assessment. They also will help people evaluate whether putting all or some of their water rights into trust makes sense in their particular situation.
The Trust Water Right Program, which is authorized in state law, enables the state to redirect the use of saved water and water that is acquired by purchase or donation. Trust water can be reallocated by the state back to a stream or river or to some out-of-stream uses.
"In a fully appropriated river basin such as the Walla Walla, trust rights can be an effective tool to increase stream flows for endangered salmon," said Ecology's Bill Neve.
The Washington Water Trust is a private, non-profit group formed to help assist the transfer of water rights into the trust program. A representative from the Washington Water Trust will explain how the trust can help people explore their water right leasing and purchase options and how decisions are made about the monetary value of the water.
Contact: Bill Neve, Regional Watermaster, 509-527-4546
Ecology's Web site: http://www.ecy.wa.gov
Copyright © Washington State Department of Ecology. See http://www.ecy.wa.gov/copyright.html.
