Opinion ID: 1405352
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Change applications under RCW 90.03.380

Text: Okanogan Wilderness League (OWL) makes the same argument in this case that it presented in Okanogan Wilderness League, Inc. v. Twisp, 133 Wash.2d 769, 947 P.2d 732, as to what is required before transfer of a water right may be permitted. Under RCW 90.03.380, the right to use water which has been applied to beneficial use in this state is appurtenant to the land where it is used; however, the right can, without loss of priority, be transferred to another (or others) and become appurtenant to other land or place of use, or a change in point of diversion or the purpose of use can occur, provided in each case that there is no detriment or injury to existing rights. RCW 90.03.380. [4] OWL maintains that the Pollution Control Hearings Board (Board) erred in approving changes in defendant R.D. Merrill's water rights because the Board considered only whether water rights had been historically perfected without regard to the extent to which the water rights had been actually beneficially used at the time of the applications for change. Historic perfected use is not the measure of a water right subject to change under the statute. Okanogan Wilderness League, Inc., 133 Wash.2d at 777-81, 947 P.2d 732. Moreover, a change application under RCW 90.03.380 is precluded where a perfected right has been abandoned or otherwise extinguished. Id. at 781, 947 P.2d 732. Thus, even if a use was historically perfected, it may have been lost in whole or in part as a result of abandonment or relinquishment. If so, the asserted right (whether in whole or in part) may not be changed or transferred under RCW 90.03.380. Accordingly, issues of abandonment and relinquishment are relevant to the question of beneficial use under RCW 90.03.380. The amount of water actually beneficially used is also not determined solely with regard to the amount actually applied to beneficial use immediately prior to transfer (or change) requests, and immediate prior use is not the measure of the right which may be transferred or changed. Quantifying a water right for purposes of RCW 90.03.380 based upon beneficial use immediately prior to the time of a transfer or change application could result in an incorrect measure. For example, the amount of water applied to irrigation uses may be considerably higher or lower in a given season or year depending upon, among other things, rainfall, temperature, and recent years' history of drought or rainfall affecting surface and groundwater resources. Neither the statute nor any authority cited by OWL supports the conclusion that the sole inquiry is whether water has been beneficially used continuously up to the time the change in diversion point is sought. Okanogan Wilderness League, Inc., 133 Wash.2d at 780-81, 947 P.2d 732. Okanogan Wilderness League, Inc. also resolves an additional claim made by plaintiff Burkhart that the Department improperly conducted a de facto adjudication of the rights to use waters of Early Winters Creek and the Methow River. In order to decide whether to approve a change under RCW 90.03.380, the Department must tentatively determine the existence and extent of the beneficial use of a water right. Okanogan Wilderness League, Inc., 133 Wash.2d at 778-79, 947 P.2d 732. Quantification of the right and whether the right has been relinquished or abandoned in whole or in part are matters the Department must address in deciding whether to approve a transfer or change application. Id.