WAC 173-153-080
What public notice is given on a water
right transfer application before a board? (1) Upon
acceptance by a board of a water right transfer application in
accordance with this chapter, the board shall publish a public
notice of the proposed water right transfer in accordance with
RCW 90.03.280. This notice must be published at least once a
week for two consecutive weeks in the legal notice section of
a newspaper of general circulation in the project area of the
county or counties where the application proposes to use,
divert, withdraw and/or store water. Ecology must provide the
board with a list of newspapers generally acceptable for the
publication of public notices. The board should consider
publishing an additional public notice in other areas that
could be affected by the transfer proposal. The public notice
of each individual application for transfer must include the
following information:
(a) The applicant's name and city or county of residence;
(b) The board's assigned water right change application
number;
(c) The water right priority date;
(d) A description of the water right to be transferred,
including the number of any water right document, that
embodies the water right such as a permit, certificate or
claim filed under chapter 90.14 RCW, the location of the point
of diversion or withdrawal; the place of use; the purpose(s)
of use; the period of use; if for irrigation purposes, the
total acres irrigated; and the instantaneous rate and annual
quantities as stated on the water right document;
(e) A description of the proposed transfer(s) to be made,
including, when applicable, the proposed location of point(s)
of diversion or withdrawal; the proposed place(s) of use; the
proposed purpose(s) of use; if for irrigation purposes, the
total number of acres to be irrigated; and the instantaneous
rate and annual quantities of water associated with the
proposed water right transfer including the description of a
transfer that includes only a portion of a water right;
(f) The manner and time limit for filing protests with
ecology under RCW 90.03.470 and WAC 508-12-170; and
(g) The manner for providing written and oral comments or
other information to the board, including the board's mailing
address and the place, date, and time of any public meeting or
hearing scheduled to consider, discuss, or decide the
application.
(2) The board may require the applicant to review and
confirm the information in the public notice prior to
publication. If the board does so, the applicant assumes
responsibility for any errors contained in the description of
the application published in the public notice.
How does the board verify that proper public notice of
the application was made?
(3) The board must send a copy of the public notice to
the ecology designated regional representative at the same
time the public notice is submitted for publication.
(4) Before issuing a decision on an application, the
board must first receive a notarized affidavit of publication
from each newspaper in which the public notice regarding the
application was published, and the board must verify that
publication occurred correctly. The board must also allow at
least thirty days following the last date of publication of
the notice, to allow for protests or objections to be filed
with ecology before the board issues a record of decision.
How are errors or omissions in the public notice
corrected? When does a public notice need to be republished?
(5) The public notice must be republished in all
newspapers of original publication when an applicant
substantively amends an application for a transfer of a water
right subsequent to publication of the notice, or when the
publication contains a substantive error or omission occurs in
the publication. All parties who were sent the original
application as required by WAC 173-153-070(22) and/or the
original public notice must be sent corrected copies of any
amended transfer application and/or an amended public notice. For the purposes of this subsection, the term "substantive
error or omission" for publication purposes, refers to any
item identified in subsection (1) of this section that is
omitted from or inadequately characterized in the public
notice. An application is considered substantively amended if
it expands the intent of the original proposal or results in a
substantial change, such as an alteration to the proposed
point of diversion or withdrawal, proposed purpose(s) of use,
or to the proposed place of use.
[Statutory Authority: RCW 90.80.040. 06-18-102 (Order
05-18), § 173-153-080, filed 9/6/06, effective 10/7/06;
03-01-039 (Order 01-13), § 173-153-080, filed 12/9/02,
effective 1/9/03. Statutory Authority: Chapter 90.80 RCW. 99-23-101 (Order 98-11), § 173-153-080, filed 11/17/99,
effective 12/18/99.]