One fallout from the Swinomish v. Ecology decision in 2013 was the Department of Ecology’s instruction to Skagit County that it could no longer accept permit-exempt wells in the Skagit basin as proof of an adequate water supply for building permits. RIchard and Marnie Fox purchased and subdivided a property in Skagit County near the Town of Lyman before 2000,…
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2016 Legislative Action Nips at Edges of Washington Water Problems
The Washington State Legislature adopted three water-related bills that were signed into law at the end of the 2016 Special Session ending on March 30th. In a short session devoted primarily to budgeting for education, it wasn’t expected that major reform legislation would tackle the water supply problems created by the Swinomish and Foster cases. Two of the bills dealt with specific…
Save the Date – KCBA CLE on March 31, 2016
Tom will be speaking at a King County Bar Association CLE on March 31, 2016 in Seattle. The half-day seminar covers environmental issues involving drought and fire, and also features Mitch Friedman of Conservation Northwest, Dr. Crystal Raymond of Seattle City Light, Peter Dykstra of Plauche and Carr LLP, and Sharon Haensly of the Squaxin Island Tribe. Tom’s one-hour topic is “The Impact…
Upcoming Seminars and Speaking Engagements
Tom will be speaking at three upcoming seminars on water rights topics. On Thursday, April 14, 2016, at 10:30 to 11:30 a.m., Tom will address the Washington Association of Sewer & Water Districts at the Yakima Convention Center in Yakima, Washington on the topic, “Water Availability and Permitting Issues.” On Thursday, June 16, 2016, at 3:00 p.m., Tom will co-instruct on the subject…
NEW – Executive Summary of Solutions Article
Here is a pared-down version of my Swinomish solutions article for executives, legislators, local government officials and those who abhor footnotes and citations. Your feedback is always appreciated. Click here for the executive summary of “Potential Legislative and Regulatory Solutions to the Water Availability Train Wreck.”
Summary Judgment Denied in Bassett Case, But Four-Part Test Issue Survives to Hearing
On January 8, 2016, the Plaintiffs’ summary judgment motion in the matter of Magdalena Bassett, et al., vs. Dep’t of Ecology was argued before Judge Gary Tabor of the Thurston County Superior Court. Bassett is a declaratory judgment action challenging the validity of the Dungeness River Basin instream flow protection rule. The complaint alleges that Ecology exceeded its statutory authority in several respects,…
Potential Legislative and Regulatory Solutions to the Water Availability Train Wreck*
Preservation of the quality and quantity of water in natural rivers, streams and lakes is vital to the long-term health of our environment. The physical and legal availability of water is also essential to the economic health of our state and its diverse urban, suburban and rural communities. The lack of availability of water leads inevitably to building permit moratoriums,…
Supreme Court Bruises Department of Ecology in Foster Opinion
On October 8, 2015, the Washington Supreme Court reversed a water right permit issued by the Department of Ecology (Ecology) to the City of Yelm. Two months later, the consequences of this decision are still being sorted out by Ecology, the Attorney General’s Office, and stakeholders. In the meantime, the State’s water rights permitting program has gone off the rails…
Potential Solutions to Washington State’s Post-Swinomish Instream Flow Regulation/Rural Water Supply Dilemma
Department of Ecology officials and stakeholders have been meeting publicly for the last year to discuss post-Swinomish water allocation solutions for rural areas, but their efforts have been stymied by the lack of consensus on legislative or other solutions. New ideas need to be explored and vetted to move beyond common misconceptions and a dysfunctional status quo. The state’s minimum…
2015 Water Law Seminar Agenda is Set
I am very excited about co-hosting this year’s annual Water Law in Washington seminar by Law Seminars International. We have a stellar line up of professional speakers and will cover numerous current issues of interest to water law practitioners, water users and resource managers. Beginning with an optional “Water Law 101” presentation on the fundamentals of water law, the conference will have a special focus…
Tom is a Speaker at the PNWS-AWWA Spring 2015 Conference in Bellevue
Tom has been invited by the Pacific Northwest Section of the American Water Works Association to speak on the subject of water rights mitigation at their Spring 2015 conference in Bellevue. His talk “Mitigation as a Tool to Facilitate Water Rights Permitting” is scheduled for Thursday, April 30th at 1:30 p.m. He will be on a panel with other experts…
Tom will be co-chairing the Annual LSI Water Law Seminar on July 27 & 28 in Seattle
Tom has been a frequent speaker at Law Seminar International’s annual water law seminar, including 1996-98, 2008, 2011-12, and 2014. This year he will co-chair the seminar on July 27 & 28, which will feature panels on drought year water management, challenges to instream flow rules, rural water supply strategies, the intersection of water rights and land use, and science vs. the precautionary principle, in…
Supreme Court Upholds Constitutionality of Municipal Water Law (Again)
In what appears to have been an agonizing 6-3 decision by the Washington Supreme Court (it took over 20 months to issue a decision after oral argument), the municipal water law of 2003 has been upheld against an as-applied constitutional challenge. The new decision in Cornelius v. Wash. Dept. of Ecology, Wash. State Univ., and Wash. Pol. Ctrl. Hearings Bd.,…
Does Your Public Water System Need a Professional Water Right Assessment?
When was the last time your municipal water system hired an experienced water rights attorney to review and assess the scope, validity and status of its water rights portfolio? If you don’t know, or its been over 10 years, your water rights may be at risk. Public water systems have a duty to preserve and protect their water rights for…