hirst

When lawmakers in Olympia announced a compromise on the Hirst decision had been reached, leading to the passage of the Capital Budget, few were happier than Senator Judy Warnick.  The Moses Lake Republican led a charge to address the ruling since the court decision came down in late 2016.  In...

After nearly a year of intensive negotiations, an agreement was reached on a Hirst water rights fix and Thursday evening, lawmakers passed the bill from the House floor.  The decision last week was not only a relief in Olympia, but across the entire Evergreen state.  ...

When it comes to water availability across the Evergreen state, one Northeast Washington lawmaker says the metropolitan areas should share the same regulations as rural areas.  As lawmakers in Olympia continue to debate over Hirst, and what should be done, property owners in rural portions of the state are caught in the middle.  Re...

If you ask lawmakers in Olympia the biggest issue for the 2018 session, the answer most likely will depend on where they live.  Representative Vincent Buys, the ranking Republican on the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee said for rural Washingtonians, Hirst is the biggest ag issue, if not one of the biggest issues of the session.  ...

It’s not just state officials who are expressing concern and frustration over the Legislature’s inability to come up with a Hirst Fix during the 2017 session.  Franklin County Commission Brad Peck told the Washington Ag Network, Hirst has created an environment where land owners, whether developers or farmers, are unsure about what they can and cannot do with their property.   “I thin...

The Washington senate Ag, Water Trade and Economic Development Committee could be dissolved in early 2018.  Senator Judy Warnick who chairs that Committee said she received that information following Tuesday’s election, in which Democrats claimed control of the state senate.   “...

It’s been one year since a Whatcom County court ruled on what eventually came to be known as the Hirst Decision. That ruling has impacted rural Washington counties across the state, by making land owners responsible for studies to determine what impact construction projects could have on nearby water resources, rather than the Department of Economy issuing the findings.  ...

Republicans in the Washington House said they are frustrated that Judy Warnick’s Hirst Fix died in House committee.  Representative Vincent Buys, the ranking Republican on the House Ag Committee, told the Washington Ag Network many house Democrats do not want the kind of development that would take place under a Hirst Fix.   “...

In Olympia, Wednesday was the deadline for bills to progress forwarded, to be considered for the remainder of the 2017 session.  However, SB 5239, dubbed the Hirst Fix did not advance.  The legislation sponsored by Moses Lake Republican Judy Warnick would have addressed several components of last fall’s Hirst Decision.  Representativ...

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 requireme