Information for water conservancy board members

• Water Conservancy Board Training Notebook - Oct. 2021

These video modules are available to support water conservancy board member training requirements. Together, they make up 10 hours of the 32-hour training required for new board members, and can be used by existing board members to fulfill all or part of their 8 hours of continuing education required each year.

Required for new board members (10 hours):

• Introduction to Washington water law
• Washington’s water right claims, permits, and certificates
• Hydrogeology and water right changes
• Relinquishing water rights in Washington
• Determining the extent and validity of water rights
• Washington’s Trust Water Rights Program
• Beneficial use of water
• Tribes and their water rights in Washington
• Legislative Training
• Open Public Meetings Act and Public Records Act
• Significant Case Law for Water Right Changes
• State Auditor Reporting Requirements

Available for continuing education (2 hours):

• Water Right Search
• Well Report Viewer and Water Conservancy Board websites
• Trust Water Right Program Update

• Open Public Meetings Act and Public Records Act
• Open Government Training

​Instructions for Application to change or transfer an existing water right - May 2020

The following process documents are provided by the water conservancy board in Stevens County.

• Process overview
• Application guidance
• Processing guide
• Application processing checklist
• Permit provisions list (xls)

Water Conservancy Board rule and statute

• Chapter 90.80 RCW
• Chapter 173-153 WAC

Washington water law

• An introduction to Washington water law — a treatise written by the state attorney general
• Washington state water law: A primer — describes how contemporary state water law evolved and summarizes the major water laws of Washington and significant case law
• Municipal Research Services Center — funded by counties and cities; provides legal answers regarding the Open Public Meetings Act, Public Records Act, record retention schedules, etc.

Water rights policies and procedures

• Water rights policies and procedures

Attorney general opinion

• AGO 2006 No. 17 — Water conservancy board consideration of water right transfer applications and our review of board records of decision

Relevant case law

Summaries

• Timeline of significant water resources statutes, case law, and administrative rules — 2000 to 2015
• Summary of significant cases for change applications

Cases

• Acquavella — otherwise known as Acquavella III; validating surface water rights
• Campbell and Gwinn — use of the permit exemption
• Cornelius — application of Washington’s Municipal Water Law
• Foster — our authority in applying the overriding considerations of public interest standard
• Grimes — perfection of a water right; beneficial use
• Kim — “industrial” irrigation under the permit exemption
• Merrill — requirement to review perfection, validity, and extent of a water right
• Motley-Motley — relinquishment
• Postema — impairment test
• Schuh — public interest test
• Sinking Creek — requirement to review perfection, validity, and extent of a water right
• Sullivan Creek — public interest, enlargement, and impairment tests
• Swinomish — applying the overriding considerations of public interest standard
• Theodoratus — perfection through beneficial use, rather than “pumps and pipes”
• Twisp — abandonment, requirement to review perfection, validity, and extent of a water right
• Union Gap — verifying exemptions to relinquishment
• Additional water resources-related case law

State environmental policy act (SEPA)

• SEPA guidance
• Chapter 197-11 WAC — SEPA rules
• Chapter 43.21C RCW — state environmental policy

Forms

Search for water rights or well logs

• Water Rights Search — Our statewide water rights web map
• Water well report (log) viewer — Search and view well reports

Common terms, definitions, and acronyms

• Water resources common terms and definitions

Newspapers approved for publishing public notice by county

• Newspapers approved for publishing public notice by county

Legal descriptions

• Property legal descriptions manual - Washington State Department of Natural Resources; for water right transactions

Aerial photos

Aerial photos are useful to verify historical water use, particularly for water claims.

• Aerial photography — United States Department of Agriculture; available for most counties for the price of a CD
• National Agriculture Imagery Program Status
• Central Washington Historical Aerial Photograph Project
• TerraFly
• Washington Coastal Atlas

Washington Irrigation Guide

• Washington Irrigation Guide — United States Department of Agriculture/Natural Resources Conservation Service Washington

Water availability

• Water availability in your watershed

State auditor

Water conservancy boards must file a fiscal report each year and are subject to annual audit by the State Auditor’s Office. Kayley Anderson, of the State Auditor’s Office, has offered to answer questions.

• The Washington State Auditor’s Office

State of Washington

• WA.gov — can be used to find information regarding state agencies, maps and mapping information, services offered by the state, recreation, employment, emergency information, etc.