I have the honor of representing the appellants in a legal challenge to the Washington State Department of Ecology’s Dungeness River Basin instream flow rule, Magdalena Bassett, et al., v. Washington State Department of Ecology, Case # 51221-1-II. After a wait of over a year, the case is finally set for oral argument in Division II of the Washington Court…
Tag: Bassett v. Ecology
ESSB 6091 – Part 3: The Potential for Mitigation Flexibility in Water Rights Permitting After Foster v. Yelm
On October 8, 2005, the Washington Supreme Court reversed a water right permit issued by the Department of Ecology (Ecology) to the City of Yelm.1 The decision dramatically impacted the State’s water rights permitting program by denying authority to Ecology to allow any type of mitigation for potential impacts to adopted minimum instream flows (MIFs) other than 100% in-kind, in-time,…
Bassett Case Appealed to Supreme Court
On January 3, 2017, I filed a notice of appeal in the Bassett v. Ecology case on behalf of plaintiffs Magdalena and Denman Bassett, Judy Stirton, and Olympic Resource Protection Council. This sends their challenge of the Dungeness River Instream Flow Rule to the Washington Supreme Court. The next step is filing a Statement of Grounds for Direct Review by the…
Superior Court Denies Bassett Petition
On December 2, 2016, Judge Gary R. Tabor of the Thurston County Superior Court signed the final order denying Plaintiffs’ challenge to the validity of the Dungeness River Instream Flow Rule, Chapter 173-518 WAC. The Plaintiffs, including the Olympic Resource Protection Council, are property owners, realtors and builders living in the Dungeness basin who were significantly impacted by the Dungeness…
Opening Brief filed in Bassett v. Ecology: Validity of Dungeness Instream Flow Rule Challenged
On July 29, 2016, Tom filed the Plaintiffs’ Opening Brief in the first judicial appeal under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) of a Department of Ecology instream flow rule. The case, Magdalena Bassett, et. al, v. Department of Ecology, alleges that Ecology’s Dungeness River instream flow rule (Chapter 173-518 WAC) violates the APA and exceeds Ecology’s statutory authority on numerous…
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,…