State Closing Taps On West Side Water Most Permits For New Water Systems Denied By Ecology Department

Water, water everywhere? Not as far as the state Ecology Department is concerned.

Already the agency has denied hundreds of requests for water from developers, water districts, farmers and home builders this year.

Responses to about 600 permit applications last week underscored the agency’s message in recent years: Parts of the state, especially in the Puget Sound region, don’t have enough water for everyone who wants it.

About 60 percent of the permit applications from Eastern Washington were approved, while about 60 percent of those from the West Side were rejected, said Ecology spokeswoman Renee Guillierie.

“We’ve said consistently for the last several years that we are running out of clear, clean water, and these decisions to some extent reflect that reality,” Ecology Director Mary Riveland said.

The denials didn’t affect individuals seeking to drill small wells for new family homes on large rural lots, but applications from some cities, housing developments, water districts and golf courses were turned down.

“The denials were across the board,” said Ray Hellwig, who oversees the agency’s northwest water resources program. “We tried to be consistent and not deny any one type of water user.”

The impact depends on the availability of alternative sources for those whose applications were rejected.

A denial “isn’t the end of the world,” Hellwig said.

In some cases, the alternative means connecting development sites to existing water systems, said Carol Fleskes, manager of the department’s shorelands and water resources program.

Bab Banderra at the Woodinville Water District officials said denial of that agency’s application would mean a doubling of water rates.

“Our customers will notice it immediately in January of next year,” she said.

Groundwater supplies, critical to maintaining river flows, have been overburdened by previous development, agency officials said. The denials protect “senior” water rights granted to maintain flows for fish, individuals and municipal and industrial systems.

Since the 1850s, anyone in Western Washington who wanted water dug a well or diverted water from a river or stream.

Now, demand is so high that water levels in underground aquifers that feed the wells are dropping, affecting waterways and the wildlife that rely on them.

“The increased pumping of groundwater and the increased paving of surface … have led to decreased flows in our rivers,” Hellwig said.

No state permit is required for a new well in a rural area outside a water district if it draws less than 5,000 gallons, enough for four or five new single-family homes, Fleskes said.

A spokesman for the Washington State Drilling and Groundwater Association said the denials were no surprise.

“We think it’s just a typical bureaucratic ploy for a money grab,” said Mike Matson.

The flood of permits and denials marked completion of a specially funded push to clear a backlog, mostly in the central Puget Sound region. Another 4,000 applications, some more than 5 years old, still await processing. The agency is seeking $2.3 million to increase staff and speed the process further.

In addition, Gov. Mike Lowry has requested $4.5 million from the Legislature to help local governments find ways to share water.