  |
|
|
The Department of Ecology adopted an amendment to Chapter 173-152 WAC, commonly referred to as the Hillis Rule. The proposed rule amendment was filed with the Office of the Code Reviser on July 7, 2010. The amendment was adopted on December 20, 2010 and became effective on January 20, 2011.
The original rule was adopted in 1998, and legislation since then has created a variety of new possibilities for water management.
Ecology’s Water Resources staff have been able to take new legislation into account and still work within the Hillis rule framework until the passage of Chapter 90.90 RCW, Columbia River Basin Water Supply. Ecology’s amendment of the Hillis Rule allows priority processing of water right applications for projects such as temporary water use for private projects directly related to renewable energy or environmental enhancement, and new diversionary rights into reservoirs as part of the Columbia River Basin Water Supply program.
Bringing water rights processing in line with current statutes and policies means much-needed high priority water needs won’t be stalled in the current backlog of water right applications. For current alternatives for processing water rights, see the focus sheet, “Alternatives for water right application processing”.
Hillis Rule Amendment - includes links to:
Ecology News Release
December 21, 2010 - Ecology adopts rule change to expedite water
storage projects in the Columbia Basin
Capital
Press By Dan Wheat December 30, 2010 A rule allowing the Washington
state Department of Ecology to prioritize and speed up the processing of
water rights applications for water ...Janet Rajala
Dept. of Ecology
4601 N. Monroe Street
Spokane WA 99205
Phone: (509) 329-3421
E-mail:
jaca461@ecy.wa.gov
Fax: (509) 329-3529
Copyright © Washington State Department of Ecology. See http://www.ecy.wa.gov/copyright.html.
