Tom has accepted a law seminar teaching assignment at Law Seminars International’s June 14-15, 2018 “Water Law in Washington” conference in Seattle, Washington. Tom will be on a panel discussing “Mitigation under the Foster Legislative Task Force and Pilot Projects,” at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 14th. On-line registration for this seminar is open at www.lawseminars.com. Tom represents two of…
Tag: mitigation
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,…
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…
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/Rural Water Supply Dilemma
Introduction 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.[2] New ideas need to be explored and vetted to move beyond common misconceptions and a dysfunctional status quo. The state’s…
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…
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…