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Ecology received a petition in September 2007 from water right holders in Kittitas County seeking a temporary moratorium on new ground water wells in Kittitas County. The petitioners are members of a group called Aqua Permanente who are concerned that rapid rural residential growth will impair senior water rights and stream flows in the Kittitas and Yakima valleys. Of particular concern is the proliferation of so-called "exempt wells" which do not require a water right permit from Ecology. The petitioners wanted the moratorium to stop the practice of some developers who are drilling multiple exempt wells to serve multi-home subdivisions.
Ecology hosted two “listening sessions” on the exempt well issue in Ellensburg and Cle Elum and consulted with local governments, Indian tribes, legislators and land owners before making a decision by November 9, 2007. Even before receiving the petition, Ecology had cautioned county officials about the large number of wells being drilled and the rate at which new subdivisions are being approved in Kittitas County that rely on the exempt well provision.
“I am concerned that the current pattern of subdivision approvals and drilling exempt wells is not sustainable,” said Ecology director Jay Manning.
Manning noted the Yakima River basin is one of the state's most water-short areas. Twice in the past seven years, surface water rights with priority dates as old as 1906 have been shut off during droughts because senior water right holders were not able to divert water they are entitled to. Homes and subdivisions extracting groundwater that flows into the Yakima or its tributaries could pose a risk to these senior water rights.
Similarly, these new groundwater withdrawals may interfere with river flows necessary to protect endangered or threatened salmon species. Ecology is concerned that buyers of homes in new subdivisions that rely on so-called exempt wells may be at risk of having their domestic water cut off in future droughts.
The Washington Department of Ecology and Kittitas County prepared a draft memorandum of agreement that would guide how decisions are made on residential developments served by exempt wells until more is known about the aquifers and water supplies in northern Kittitas County.
Ecology and Kittitas County have signed a groundwater management agreement that will guide how decisions are made on residential developments served by exempt wells. Rapid growth in the county has resulted in a proliferation of the wells that are exempt from water right permits. That spurred a citizens group to petition Ecology last year and seek a temporary moratorium on the wells.
As an alternative to the moratorium Ecology and the Kittitas County Commissioners negotiated the groundwater agreement over seven months and Ecology hosted four public meetings to address water supply issues in upper Kittitas County.
Copyright © Washington State Department of Ecology. See http://www.ecy.wa.gov/copyright.html.
