| Momentum Bucket | Early Stage |
| Legal Title | AN ACT Relating to extending the water supply milestone for the Yakima river basin integrated plan to 2035; |
| Bill Description | Extending the water supply milestone for the Yakima river basin integrated plan to 2035. |
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What this bill does
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This bill amends existing Washington statutes (RCW 90.38.010, 90.38.110, 90.38.130 and provisions of the RCW 79.155 community forest trust statutes) to implement changes related to the Yakima River Basin integrated plan. It defines a "water supply facility permit and funding milestone" as a date before June 30, 2035 when permits are approved and funding is secured to begin construction of one or more water supply facilities designed to provide at least 214,000 acre-feet. The bill updates program definitions (including “integrated plan,” “net water savings,” “trust water right,” and “water conservation project”) and makes RCW 90.38.110 subject to expiration on July 1, 2035.
The bill authorizes the State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to purchase land to be held in the community forest trust for purposes that include protection of Yakima River Basin functioning, exempts those purchases from several existing community forest statutory restrictions, and requires board of natural resources review and approval while relieving the board from considering one statutory acquisition criterion. It directs DNR to manage purchased lands in consultation with the Department of Fish and Wildlife, requires a transitional postacquisition management plan until the milestone or June 30, 2035 (whichever is sooner), establishes a Teanaway community forest advisory committee with specified representative categories, and specifies disposal options for purchased land depending on whether the milestone is met.
The bill creates procedural and fiscal changes: it requires the State of Washington Water Research Center to review and comment on cost‑benefit analyses for integrated-plan water supply projects costing more than $100 million before construction funding is appropriated, limits administrative overhead for implementing RCW 90.38.110 to no more than 12 percent of appropriations for that section, and treats common school trust investments used for these land purchases as loans from irreducible principal with a 9 percent annual interest payment (allocated 6 percent to the common school construction account and 3 percent to the real property replacement account). The act is declared an emergency and takes effect June 30, 2025. Important context is missing or unclear in the provided text: the amendments are shown without the prior statutory language for comparison, the transitional plan deadline includes a June 30, 2015 date that predates other effective dates and is unexplained, and some cross-referenced fiscal mechanics and implementation details are not included.
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Why it matters
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If enacted, big Yakima integrated-plan water supply projects costing over $100 million will need an independent review and written comments from the State of Washington Water Research Center before construction funds are appropriated, which will likely add time and review costs (the center can hire other universities or consultants) and could affect the timing of spending; at the same time administrative overhead for the program is capped at 12 percent so a larger share of appropriations must go to project work. The bill also directs DNR to buy land into the community forest trust to protect basin functions, using loans from the common school trust’s irreducible principal that will accrue 9 percent annual interest (allocated 6 percent to the common school construction account and 3 percent to the real property replacement account), which creates a clear, ongoing financial obligation against school trust accounts and could reduce available school trust resources until repaid.
Those land purchases must be managed under a transitional plan with stakeholder input and overseen by a new advisory committee until the water-supply permit-and-funding milestone is reached or June 30, 2035, and if the milestone is not met the board must either transfer the land into common school trust ownership or dispose of it under the same terms as if the milestone had been met; how much this will cost in total, the exact budget effect on trust accounts, and the practical implications of a past date referenced for the management plan are not fully clear from the extracted text.
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| Official Documents | View Full Bill Text |
| Date Introduced | 01/29/2025 |
| Originating Chamber | House |
| Biennium | 2025-26 |
| Total Campaign Dollars Backing Bill | $646,349.06 |
| RIVERS AND BRIDGES |
| WATER AND WATER RIGHTS |
| Representative Dent (Primary) |
| Representative Dye |
| Representative Dufault |
| Representative Manjarrez |
| Representative Mendoza |