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Department of Ecology News Release - November 9, 2007
07-335
OLYMPIA – The Department of Ecology and Kittitas County today agreed on principles for managing exempt groundwater wells in the western half of the county.
Ecology and the county developed an interim water management agreement after local citizens petitioned Ecology, seeking a temporary moratorium on new wells in Kittitas County that are exempt from water right permits.
Ecology signed the agreement as an alternative to the moratorium requested by the group called Aqua Permanente. Today’s agreement will provide a framework for protecting senior water rights and reducing the impact of the exempt wells on future water supplies in the Yakima Basin.
The department is concerned that senior water rights in the Yakima Basin could be adversely affected by rapidly proliferating exempt wells. Ecology is also concerned that home buyers relying on exempt wells may have their water supply cut off in drought years.
Ecology Director Jay Manning said working with the county is the best way to protect the interests of senior water right holders and all parties in the basin who depend on having adequate water supplies.
Before responding to the petition, Manning and his water managers heard from dozens of county residents at “listening sessions” in Cle Elum and Ellensburg. The majority of those who spoke opposed a water well moratorium.
"Water supply in Kittitas County and in the Yakima Basin is extremely limited. We have a responsibility to protect senior water rights. I thank the County Commissioners for working with us to find a balanced approach to this problem," Manning said.
The Kittitas County Commissioners approved the interim agreement with Ecology this afternoon. It is just a first step toward a more specific agreement to be finalized within 60 days.
The water management strategies outlined in today’s agreement will apply only to the western part of the county.
To better understand water supplies in the region, Ecology has agreed to seek funding to study underground (groundwater) sources in those portions of the county not fully covered by current U.S. Geological Survey research. While studies are under way, the agreement provides that:
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Media Contact: Dan Partridge, 360-407-7139 (dpar461@ecy.wa.gov)
More information:
http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/wr/cro/kittitas_wp.html
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