Washington's Battle for Owner's Water Rights

[James Marszalek]

Hello All,

For those who don’t know, the Washington State Supreme Court Decision “Hirst vs. W. Washington Growth Management Hearings Board”, known simply as the “Hirst Decision”, has effectively put a halt to all new well permits in Washington State. Through this decision, the government is launching a new offensive against individual property rights regarding wells, and publicly available water.

The article below is a good read, but here’s what this means for you:

• -If you are looking to buy land, you need to know getting the well permit approved is highly unlikely.

• -People who live on properties with an existing well may also be targeted. If the well is in a restricted area, they may be forced to connect to city water, or re-drill the well.

• -Land development on well driven properties are at a crawl, if not a complete halt.

In January, the WA State Supreme Court will address the issue, and will attempt to create a new system and regulations to re-open permitting for wells.

Here’s the article:

https://www.wethegoverned.com/hirst-decision-by-supreme-court-unleashes-wrath-of-futurewise-upon-property-owners-by-taking-their-water/

Hopefully you aren’t affected. I have a client who just had to rescind his land offer because the county denied his well permit, siting this case. I spoke to 3 separate well companies, all of which are at a stand-still until this gets worked out.