2024-12-23-minutes-public-works-and-cds-study-session

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Office of Columbia River December 7, 2024 point of diversion of water for beneficial use or the purpose of use may be changed, if such change can be made without detriment or injury to existing rights. When considering impaired parties, only existing water rights are appropriate to consider because applicants are not entitled to such protection under RCW 90.03.580(5)(a). RCW 90.03.380(5)(a) Pending applications for new water rights are not entitled to protection from impairment, injury, or detriment when an application relating to an existing surface or ground water right is considered. In this case, the application will be fully mitigated under the Lake Roosevelt Incremental Release Program, the County is prepared to accept the mitigation agreement with OCR to maintain this mitigation in perpetuity, and no existing water right can be impaired by the modification of the place of use. Additionally, the County will ensure that any well drilled to supply water under the application will be located at sufficient distances to avoid well interference. This can be documented in the findings of the Report of Examination. We believe our amendment request can be successfully processed and welcome Ecology's final technical assistance before we submit a letter request with our assignment form requesting concurrent amendment of the application. Public Interest is Served We note that an important difference between the surface and groundwater change statutes is the lack of any public interest evaluation. This finding was confirmed by the Supreme Court in the PUD District No. I of Pend Oreille v. Ecology (aka Sullivan Creek, 2002) decision. Because WAC 508-12-190(1) directs Ecology to make findings as required in RCW 90.03.380 only, there should be no public interest evaluation of the County's request. Nonetheless, we believe our application is in the public interest and offer the following additional points in support of our application. • The County is better suited to plan and facilitate service to developments in this area. The County has planning responsibilities under the Growth Management Act, and has a water code it implements to ensure reliable service. • Having access to mitigation from the County's mitigation program ensures that other service providers are acting in consistent manner with regard to public service. • The proposed place of use is subsumed within and contiguous with original requested place of use and it is not being transferred to a different project removed from the original place of use. • We note that the applicant believed that the 2002 Settlement Agreement with Ecology that references the unincorporated Town of Vantage as the service area for related Certificate 4042-A was also intended to apply to this pending application. In retrospect, an application amendment should have been sought at that time, but this request ensures the applicant's original intent is satisfied. • The County's stewardship of this application ensures that it will be used in a non - speculative manner. • During the Report of Examination process, the County will submit growth density and population projection information sufficient to support beneficial use under this permit. We Page 4