Ag Community Continues To Wait For Hirst Bill In State House

Farmers, ranchers and rural Washingtonians continue to wait for the state House Agriculture & Natural Resources Committee to pass Legislation specifically targeted at addressing the Hirst Decision.  Rep. Vincent Buys told the Washington Ag Network the Hirst Decision makes it very challenging for rural Washingtonians to use their water, or develop wells, without meeting very difficult requirements.  Buys added that’s why so many in the ag community were happy with the Senate passing Senator Judy Warnick’s legislation dealing with Hirst.

First he said Senate Bill 5239, would exempt household wells.

“That was the intention of the original legislation when it was passed back in 1945, and so this really says look, counties can rely on Ecology’s determination that there’s not an impairment, then that allows the counties to go forward where Ecology has said you’re not impairing.”

Buys said he’s confident the Warnick bill addresses the chief concerns of the Hirst Decision while keeping the state and counties out of court.

Click Here to read the details of SB 5239.

If you have a story idea for the Washington Ag Network, call (509) 547-1618, or e-mail gvaagen@cherrycreekradio.com