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KITTITAS COUNTY <br />DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS <br />PUBLIC WORKS — BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS <br />STUDY SESSION STAFF REPORT <br />STUDY SESSION DATE: November 25, 2024 <br />TOPIC: Ecology Cost -Reimbursement Agreement for <br />Kittitas County Water Bank Permit <br />ACTION REQUESTED: Direction to Staff <br />LEAD STAFF: <br />Arden Thomas <br />RECOMMENDATION: <br />Direct staff to prepare enabling documentation for Cost -Reimbursement Agreement with <br />the Department of Ecology and a Cost -Share Agreement with Mr. Jansen. <br />BRIEFING SUMMARY: <br />• In 2021 Kittitas County submitted a water right application (G4-36135) to the <br />Department of Ecology (Ecology) to expand Kittitas County's Water Bank permit <br />coverage. <br />• Expanded permit coverages allows the County to service more parcels "over-the- <br />counter." <br />• Ecology has decided not to process the application via their standard processing <br />que due to staffing constraints and the application's large technical component. <br />• Due to landowner interest in the application, the County and Ecology have <br />recently discussed processing the application through Ecology's Cost - <br />Reimbursement Agreement program. <br />• Mr. Jansen, a local landowner, is interested in cost -sharing so that the application <br />can proceed through Ecology's Cost -Reimbursement Agreement program. <br />BACKGROUND: <br />Kittitas County previously obtained "large area" water right permits from the Department <br />of Ecology (Ecology). These permits provide front loaded review of a larger geographic <br />area and enable the County to issue water mitigation certificates through our "over-the- <br />counter" program. If certificates cannot be issued "over-the-counter," a process which <br />takes us days to administer, then they must go to Ecology to obtain individual permits. <br />Ecology permit review processing time is currently two years. In 2021, Kittitas County <br />submitted a water right application (G4-36135) to the Department of Ecology (Ecology) <br />to expand Kittitas County's Water Bank permit coverage. In this application, we seek to <br />expand our permit coverage to up to 138 additional parcels. <br />Ecology has decided not to process the application via their standard processing que due <br />to staffing constraints and the application's large technical component. An alternative <br />Page 1 of 4 <br />Public Works "Work Session Staff Report", 2024 <br />