Washington Administrative Code › Title 173 - Ecology, Department of (See also Titles 197, 317, 372, and 508) › Chapter 173-518 - Water resources management program for the dungeness portion of the Elwha-Dungeness water resource inventory area (WRIA) 18 › Section 173-518-030 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 24-14, July 15, 2024
The definitions provided in this section apply only to this
				chapter.
"Allocation"
means the designation of specific
				amounts of water for beneficial uses.
"Appropriation"
means the process of legally
				acquiring the right to use specific amounts of water for beneficial uses,
				consistent with the ground and surface water codes and other applicable water
				resource statutes.
"Beneficial use"
means uses of water as defined in
				chapters
				90.03 and
				90.54 RCW and WAC
				173-500-050.
"Closure"
means that water is no longer available
				for future appropriations without mitigation to offset the use. This is due to
				a finding by ecology that further appropriations from the closed stream(s) or
				hydraulically connected groundwaters would impair senior water rights or cause
				detriment to the public interest.
"Consumptive use"
means use of water that
				diminishes the volume or quality of the water source.
"Control station"
means a specific location where
				stream flows and water levels are measured.
"Critical period"
means for a given stream the
				thirty-day period with the lowest stream flow available to support a critical
				life stage for fish, as determined by Washington state department of fish and
				wildlife, ecology, and tribes, typically during the late summer or fall.
"Cubic foot per second"
or
"cfs"
means the rate of flow representing a volume of one cubic foot passing a given
				point during one second.
"Domestic use"
means use of water associated with
				human health and welfare needs, including water used for drinking, bathing,
				sanitary purposes, cooking, laundering, and other incidental household uses.
				The incidental uses must minimize the consumptive use of water. Examples of
				incidental household uses include, but are not limited to: Washing windows, car
				washing, cleaning exterior structures, care of household pets, and watering
				potted plants. Domestic use does not include other uses allowed under the
				groundwater permit exemption: Outdoor irrigation of up to one-half acre of
				noncommercial lawn or garden, stockwatering, and industrial use.
"Dungeness water exchange"
means a water bank
				pursuant to the Water Resources Management Act, chapter 90.42 RCW.
"Ecology"
means the Washington state department of
				ecology.
"Existing water right"
includes perfected riparian
				rights, federal Indian and non-Indian reserved rights, or other perfected and
				inchoate appropriative rights, including water rights established under
				RCW
				   90.03.260 through
				90.03.290 and
				90.44.050.
"Hydraulically connected"
means saturated
				conditions exist that allow water to move between two or more sources of water,
				either between surface water and groundwater or between groundwater
				sources.
"Instream flows"
means a stream flow level set in
				rule to protect and preserve fish, wildlife, scenic, aesthetic, recreational,
				water quality, and other environmental values; and navigational values. The
				term "instream flow" means "base flow" under
				chapter
				90.54 RCW, "minimum flow"
				under chapters 90.03
				and 90.22 RCW, and "minimum instream flow" under chapter 90.82 RCW.
"Interruption"
means a temporary halt or reduction
				in the rate and volume of withdrawal under water rights established after the
				effective date of this rule during periods when the flow in the river or stream
				falls below the instream flow levels set in WAC
				173-518-040.
"Maximum depletion amount"
means a limit on how
				much impact to water resources resulting from groundwater withdrawals will be
				allowable under this rule before ecology declares water is not
				available.
"Mitigation"
means action taken to offset impacts
				from future water appropriations on closed surface water bodies or senior water
				rights, including the instream flow levels set in WAC
				173-518-040, as provided in WAC
				173-518-070.
"Nonconsumptive use"
means a type of water use
				where either there is no diversion from a water source, or where there is no
				diminishment of the amount or quality of the water source.
"Permit-exempt withdrawals"
or
"permit
				exemption"
means a groundwater withdrawal exempted from ecology water
				right permitting requirements under
				RCW
				   90.44.050, but which is otherwise subject to
				the groundwater code and other applicable regulations.
"Proponent"
means the person or entity that seeks
				a new appropriation of surface or groundwater, including through a permit
				exempt withdrawal.
"Public water system"
means any system that
				provides water for human consumption or municipal purposes through pipes or
				other constructed conveyances. This includes both systems that meet the
				definition of municipal water supplier in
				RCW
				   90.03.015(3) and Group B
				systems as classified by the Washington department of health, and excludes a
				system serving one single-family residence or a system with four or fewer
				connections serving residences on the same farm.
"Reserve"
means a limited allocation of water for
				future new uses not subject to interruption when stream flows fall below the
				levels adopted in this rule.
"Stream flow"
means the amount of water flowing
				down a stream.
"Subbasin management unit"
means a stream segment,
				reach, or tributary basin where a particular instream flow level, reserve,
				water diversion, or withdrawal limit applies.
"Timely and reasonable"
means the timing and cost
				involved in providing potable water service by a public water system to a
				property consistent with Washington department of health guidance and local
				coordinated water system plan definitions.
"Water budget neutral"
means either placement of
				other water rights into the trust water right program or stream flow
				improvement with appropriate assurances, that are at least equivalent to the
				amount of impact to surface water resulting from consumptive use of a proposed
				project.
"Water resource inventory area (WRIA)"
means one
				of the sixty-two areas designated by the state of Washington through chapter
				173-500 WAC to delineate area boundaries within the state for water management
				purposes.
"Water right change or transfer"
means a change in
				the place of use, point of diversion or withdrawal, number of points of
				diversion or withdrawal, or purpose of use (including season of use), of an
				existing water right. A water right change application must be filed with
				ecology for approval. If approved, the modified water right will carry the
				priority date of the original water right.
"Water right permit"
means a permit that
				represents approval by ecology to appropriate water for a beneficial
				use.
"Withdrawal"
means the extraction and beneficial
				use of groundwater, or the diversion and beneficial use of surface
				water.
Statutory Authority:
				  Chapters
				  90.54, 90.22, 90.82,
				  90.03, 90.42, and
				  90.44 RCW. 12-23-054 (Order 07-17),
				  § 173-518-030, filed 11/16/12, effective
				  1/2/13.