Washington Administrative Code › Title 173 - Ecology, Department of (See also Titles 197, 317, 372, and 508) › Chapter 173-152 - Water rights › Section 173-152-020 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 24-14, July 15, 2024
For the purposes of this chapter the following definitions
				apply:
(1) "Acquisition" means, for
			 the purposes of WAC
			 173-152-035, buying or leasing
			 water rights using the Columbia River account.
(2) "Application" means an application for a
			 new water right, a change or transfer to an existing water right, or both made
			 under chapters 90.03
			 and 90.44
			 RCW.
(3) "Applications to change or
			 transfer" means applications made under
			 RCW
			 90.03.380 or
			 90.44.100.
(4) "Columbia River account" means, for the
			 purposes of the WAC
			 173-152-035, a fund that is
			 created, funded, and spent as provided in chapter 90.90 RCW.
(5) "Columbia River basin" means, for the
			 purposes of WAC
			 173-152-035, water resource
			 inventory area (WRIA) 29, located in southwest Washington, and WRIAs 30 through
			 62 located in central or eastern Washington where water sources flow into the
			 Columbia River upstream of Bonneville Dam. A map of the Columbia River basin by
			 WRIA is shown on map A.
(6)
			 "Columbia River mainstem" means, for the purposes of WAC
			 173-152-035, all water in the
			 Columbia River within the ordinary high water mark of the main channel of the
			 Columbia River between the border of the United States and Canada and the
			 Bonneville Dam, and all groundwater within one mile of the high water mark.
			 Water is within the mainstem if it is within a straight line drawn across the
			 mouth of each tributary to delineate the mainstem channel. The mainstem channel
			 does not include any of the backwater areas on tributaries nor does it include
			 tributary surface water rights within one mile of the Columbia River.
(7) "Competing applications" means all
			 existing applications for a water right from the same water source, whether for
			 a new water right or for a change or transfer of an existing water
			 right.
(8) "Department" means the
			 department of ecology.
(9) "Lower
			 Snake River mainstem" means, for the purposes of WAC
			 173-152-035, all water in the
			 Lower Snake River within the ordinary high water mark of the main channel of
			 the Lower Snake River from the head of Ice Harbor pool to the confluence of the
			 Snake and Columbia rivers, and all groundwater within one mile of the high
			 water mark. Water is within the mainstem if it is within a straight line drawn
			 across the mouth of each tributary to delineate the mainstem channel. The
			 mainstem channel does not include any of the backwater areas on tributaries nor
			 does it include tributary surface water rights within one mile of the Lower
			 Snake River.
(10) "Mitigation"
			 means measures that in perpetuity offset impacts on a water source to eliminate
			 detriment to the public interest or impairment.
(11) "New application" means any application
			 for a permit made under
			 chapters
			 90.03 and
			 90.44 RCW.
(12) "Nonconsumptive" means water use where
			 there is no diminishment of the amount or quality of the water
			 source.
(13) "Pool" means, for the
			 purposes of WAC
			 173-152-035, a reach of the
			 Columbia or Lower Snake River mainstems inundated and under the downstream
			 hydraulic control of dams operated by:
(a)
			 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
(b)
			 U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.
(c) Any
			 mid-Columbia public utility district.