Lacey to pay for water rulings

The following article appeared in the March 27, 2005 edition of The Olympian.

In amongst all the issues involved in dealing with the Department of Ecology, the water rights application backlog is one that's a head-turner. A private business that has a process that gets hung up and causes delays for customers will devote additional resources to fix the problem. If the business fails to do so, the customers go elsewhere. Enough customers go elsewhere, the business fails.

Not so with Ecology. "You've been waiting fifteen years for your water right to be processed? It's going to be awhile longer. How much longer? We don't know. You're willing to pay us extra? Why, you pony up enough to pay for the technical work, and we'll run you up to the head of the line! How much is it going to cost? We don't know, and neither do you."

Such a deal!

Oh . . . by the way . . . this doesn't mean that we are necessarily going to actually grant you that water right you want . . .

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Lacey to pay for water rulings
Cutting check will speed state’s water-right decisions

By Christian Hill
The Olympian

LACEY — The city will use public money in its effort to secure more water to serve growth.

In a March 1 letter, the city notified the Washington state Department of Ecology that it wants to pay the agency to make a decision sooner on the city’s request for more water.

It’s a process known as cost reimbursement, and the city hopes it will speed its five applications to allow water withdrawal from new wells that would be drilled in Hawks Prairie, the city’s ­fastest-growing area.

First come, first served

Ordinarily, Ecology processes the most senior applications first. In order to ease a mounting backlog of applications, however, state lawmakers revised the rules so applicants can pay to process applications ahead of theirs as well as their own.

The city’s money will pay for Ecology to hire an outside consultant to complete the technical review, but the agency still will decide whether to approve or deny an application. The city doesn’t yet know how much that review will cost, but the money for it probably would come out of the fund that pays for maintenance and new projects for the water system.

City Manager Greg Cuoio said the city will be paying to process applications that already are next in Ecology’s stack.

“We’re not paying for anyone who has a water right application ahead of us,” he said in an interview earlier this month.

Ecology is tied up with applications for water rights in the McAllister sub-basin, where Lacey has other applications pending.

It could take years for the agency to consider the Hawks Prairie applications if the city doesn’t pay for the review, Water Resources Manager Peter Brooks said.

“We don’t want to wait that long,” he said.

Hawks Prairie is developing rapidly because it has large tracts of vacant land.

Lacey halted development in its urban growth area because it is running out of water it has the authority to pump from the ground. Its water utility serves customers in the city and its urban growth area.

The city must get approval from Ecology to withdraw more water. It has the rights to pump 8,274.8 acre-feet each year. An acre-foot is 325,851 gallons.

It has requested an additional 10,500 acre-feet in 10 applications to serve the city through full build-out. The applications date back to 1994.

Six of those applications are for water rights for new wells that will be drilled in the Hawks Prairie area. The city has said it will pay for the review of five of them, totaling 5,666 acre-feet. The five applications were submitted last year.

Next step

If Ecology approves the applications, the city will explore where it could withdraw the best quality of water among possible new well sites in Hawks Prairie.

A utility engineer would be hired do that work, Brooks said. This year’s city budget included money to create that position, and that employee will be tasked with other duties.

The money to pay for the reviews probably would come out of the portion of the water utility fund that is generated by developer fees, Brooks said.

This week, a local developer announced plans for a sprawling retail development on 800 acres of land northwest of the Interstate 5 interchange at Marvin Road.

On Thursday night, the City Council authorized applying for nearly $10 million in state grant money to help pay for infrastructure improvements for the proposed development.

The city’s willingness to pay for review of its water-rights applications isn’t being driven by the proposed development, Assistant City Manager Scott Spence said.

“It’s unrelated,” he said. “We’re trying to solve our long-term water needs for the community.”

Christian Hill covers the city of Lacey and the military for The Olympian. He can be reached at 360-754-5427 or chill@theolympian.com.