Water Rights Permitting | Office of Columbia River | Washington State Department of Ecology

Washington State Department of Ecology

OFFICE OF COLUMBIA RIVER (OCR)

Water Resources Program

Permitting

"The legislature tasked OCR with meeting new water needs and issuing new water rights"

The Department of Ecology's Office of Columbia River has secured new water supplies from Lake Roosevelt, Sullivan Lake, and the Port of Walla Walla. OCR began processing water rights from these supplies in 2011.

In general, OCR processes permits according to the following guidelines outlined in statute

Application processing will be based on the application priority date unless an applicant qualifies for priority processing under WAC 173-152.

Some water supplies developed by OCR will have geographic, purpose of use, or other constraints that must be met by applicants. If an applicant cannot meet those constraints, their application will be retained on file and processed when a suitable water supply exists, or they may seek cost reimbursement processing under RCW 90.03.265/RCW 90.44.530, or may propose their own mitigation for OCR to consider.

All permits will be provisioned to require the water user to install a fish screen at all diversions, meter and report water use, and may include other provisions as necessary.

Permits may be provisioned to recover the cost of water supply development from applicants (see RCW 90.90.010).

Permitting Status and Applicant Lists

Click on the appropriate bucket to see the current permitting status and application lists.

Application for Water Right - Use signature page 5 to provide additional signatures on applications.

Assignment of Application or Permit to Appropriate or Store Water