1 / 15

Ensuring Your Water Rights: Key Steps for Certainty and Compliance

Navigating water rights can be complex. This guide outlines seven essential steps to determine the validity and compliance of your water right. Understand the legal exemptions, assess your rights, and protect your permitted uses. Explore critical factors such as legislation, agency actions, and litigation that could affect your water rights. Gain clarity on your current usage, necessary documentation, and strategies for addressing relinquishment risks. This resource is vital for landowners and stakeholders in the water rights arena.

timon-boyer
Télécharger la présentation

Ensuring Your Water Rights: Key Steps for Certainty and Compliance

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Is My Water Right Valid? Or Seven Steps to Water Right Certainty John Stuhlmiller Director of Government Relations Washington Farm Bureau jstuhlmiller@wsfb.com

  2. Today’s Topics • Water Right Certainty • Issues Affecting Water Rights • Legislation • Litigation • Agency Action

  3. The Risks of Ignorance

  4. Where Do I Begin? • What do I have? (Assess the Right) • Is My Use Permit Exempt? • How do I Protect My Right? • Prior to Change/Transfer Consider the Intangibles: • Legislative, Agency, Legal Factors

  5. Is Your Use Permit Exempt?RCW 90.44.050 After June 6, 1945, no withdrawal [without a permit]… EXCEPT, HOWEVER, That any withdrawal of public ground waters for: • stock-watering purposes, • or for the watering of a lawn or of a noncommercial garden not exceeding one-half acre in area, • or for single or group domestic uses in an amount not exceeding five thousand gallons a day, • or as provided in RCW 90.44.052, • or for an industrial purpose in an amount not exceeding five thousand gallons a day, is and shall be exempt …

  6. Step 1 • Find the Paper(Permit, Certificate, Claim, Other) • If You Have the Paper, Go to Step 2 • If Not, Check for Any Documentation Sources: Ecology, County Records, Neighbors, etc. • If You Still Cannot Find the Paper …… • Pray!

  7. Step 2 • Read the Paper: What Is the Extent of My Right? • Instantaneous Quantity (CFS or GPM) • Annual Quantity (acre feet) • Place of Use • Point of Diversion • Purpose of Use

  8. Step 3 • Determine My Actual Use • Assemble the Records • Pump Specifications (HP, GPM) • Power Consumption • Crop Production • Pictures • Grandpa’s Memories

  9. Step 4 • Assess the Right: Does My Use Match the Paper? • Is My Instantaneous Use Greater/Less Than the Paper? • Is My Annual Quantity Different From the Paper? • Have I Fully Developed My Right? • Have I Used the Water for the Authorized Purpose(s)?

  10. Step 5 • Do I Need to “Fix” My Paper? • Have I Modified My Right Without a Water Right Change? • Purpose of Use • Point of Diversion • Place of Use • Have I Leased or Sold Part of the Right Without a Water Right Transfer?

  11. Step 6 • Is Relinquishment a Problem? • Are There Gaps in Usage? • A Period of Non-Use Lasting 5 Or More Years • A Period of Time for which I Do Not Have Records • Do I Have a Valid Excuse for Non-Use?

  12. Step 7 • Is My Right Valid? • Is It Ready for the Change or Transfer Process? • Am I Ready for the Process? • Time Consuming • Costly (Conservancy Boards) • Risk of Reduction in Water Quantity (Relinquishment)

  13. The Answer Is … • If You and Your Water Right Are Ready… Congratulations! • If Not: • Assemble the Facts As Best You Can, Maybe Seeking a Consultant First Or • Forget We Had This Conversation

  14. The Intangibles • Legislation Water Smart Washington • Litigation- • Stock water • Muni water • Agency Action • Instream flows • Watershed planning

  15. Questions? John Stuhlmiller Director of Government Relations Washington Farm Bureau jstuhlmiller@wsfb.com

More Related