Locke Vetoes First Proposal To Rewrite State Water Laws Decision Likely The Easiest He’ll Face On Water Legislation

Gov. Gary Locke on Wednesday vetoed the first of several proposals to rewrite state water law. He is reserving action on several others.

Locke vetoed provisions of a measure that would have required the state Department of Ecology to issue a water permit partly on the promise that some of the water would be returned to the general flow in the form of septic system discharges.

Environmentalists opposed the provisions, arguing that replacement water intended to mitigate the impact of a water permit should be of equal quality. “We don’t think water from septic systems is of equal quality,” said Joan Crooks, a spokeswoman for the Washington Environmental Council.

In his veto message, Locke said he supported looking for ways to return water to the flow. But he said counting septic discharges as a mitigation was a bad idea.

It was probably the easiest call on water legislation Locke will have to make as he faces a midnight Tuesday deadline to act on all 1997 legislation.

“We’re still fighting over the other water bills,” said his chief legislative aide, Marty Brown.

Among them is a measure that would give counties far more control over water management and allocation, one that would grant an amnesty to users who are drawing water illegally, and one that would allow residents on Lake Washington to water their lawns with water pumped from the lake.

In other action Wednesday, Locke signed a Senate measure that would boost the penalties for first- and second-degree manslaughter and for second-degree murder.

Jenny Wieland of Marysville, whose 17-year-old daughter Amy Ragan was shot to death by a youth in 1992, was credited by sponsor Rep. Jeri Costa, D-Marysville, as the main force behind passage of the measure.

Wieland’s daughter was shot by a 19-year-old man, Trevor Oscar Turner, who was fooling around with a loaded handgun in an Everett apartment. He pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter, for which he served two years and three months in prison.

Wieland said that wasn’t enough, and in signing the law, Locke agreed. The penalty for first-degree manslaughter was boosted from a range of 21 to 41 months to a range of 78 to 95 months.

The penalties for second-degree manslaughter and second-degree murder also were increased.