House votes to store up water

OLYMPIA – In what the governor says could be the most significant breakthrough in Eastern Washington water law in 30 years, the state House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly late Monday to forge ahead with a plan to store and tap water along the Columbia and Snake rivers.

“It’s a big deal,” said Rep. Timm Ormsby, D-Spokane, who was on the task force that drafted the proposal over the past year.

House Bill 2860 would require the state Department of Ecology to identify potential water conservation and storage projects in the Columbia River Basin, and sets up an account to pay for those projects. Proponents want the state to contribute $200 million to that account.

The goal is to find ways to conserve or capture water and use it for fish, fields, cities and industry. Some ideas include damming tributaries, using aquifers as storage areas, and buying water rights from farmers.

“It would use those high-flow months, like January to April, to supplement the low-flow, July-to-September months,” said Ormsby.

Gov. Chris Gregoire said she supports the proposal – as well as the price. If the state’s going to get serious about its water problems, she said, it requires “real money.” Gregoire said she supports spending $100 million to $200 million over 10 years.

Former Gov. Gary Locke first proposed the plan in 2001. Locke had made water a key focus of his final term, but much of his work was stymied by the legal thicket and bitter disputes that have long made up Washington water policy.

Locke had proposed spending $79 million to buy water, research water storage and develop conservation measures.

A year ago, the Colville Confederated Tribes signed an agreement to allow the state to take water from Lake Roosevelt during summer months, but state lawmakers wanted to study the issue more first. They created the task force, which spent months meeting with conservation groups, tribes, farmers and local officials.

“We’ve reached a historic point,” said the bill’s prime sponsor, Rep. Bill Grant, D-Walla Walla. “Ever since I came here, we’ve talked about what we were going to do about water…and every year we came to loggerheads. It seemed like nothing could get done.”

“This bill is about growth, about cities, about industry and about the future of Eastern Washington,” said Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Sunnyside.

Of the “new water,” at least one-third would stay in streams for fish, up to two-thirds could go for other uses.

Some Republicans said the bill, which passed 94-4, was a major leap of faith. It remains to be seen, they said, whether the governor and legislative leaders follow through.

“This is all promises,” said Rep. John Serben, R-Spokane, noting that the $200 million hasn’t been appropriated. “There’s nothing guaranteed in here.”

Rep. Bruce Chandler, R-Granger, called it the most difficult vote of his time as a lawmaker.

“I’m going to do something that’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” he said. “I’m going to tell my constituents to have faith in the Department of Ecology. … I’m standing here tonight, telling them to have hope and to believe us.”

The bill now goes to the state Senate.

Gregoire watched the debate from the House sidelines.

“I think it’s time to stop talking,” said Gregoire, a former head of the Department of Ecology. “It’s time to get going.”