Washington Administrative Code
Title 173 - Ecology, Department of (See also Titles 197, 317, 372, and 508)
Chapter 173-152 - Water rights
Section 173-152-030 - Organization and management of workload except under chapter 90.90 RCW
Current through Register Vol. 24-06, March 15, 2024
The department will organize and manage its daily water rights workload as established in subsections (1) through (5) of this section, except for applications processed under WAC 173-152-035.
(1) The department may establish regions and maintain regional offices or field offices for the purposes of maximizing the efficiency of its work. Regional offices and their geographic jurisdictions as of the effective date of this rule are as follows:
(2) The department will make decisions on applications within a region or within a regional or field office's geographic area in the order the applications were received except as allowed under RCW 90.03.380(5)(c), and except as provided for in subsection (3) of this section and WAC 173-152-050.
(3) The department may, based on the criteria identified in subsection (5) of this section, conduct investigations and make decisions on one or more applications for the use of water from the same water source. A regional office may investigate more than one water source at a time.
(4) When the department investigates multiple applications for water from the same water source, it will make decisions in the order in which the applications were received, except as allowed under RCW 90.03.380(5)(c) or provided for under WAC 173-152-050. The department will consider each application individually under the requirements of chapters 90.03, 90.38, 90.42, and 90.44 RCW, as applicable.
(5) Criteria for selecting a water source include, but are not limited to:
Statutory Authority: RCW 43.21A.064(9), 43.27A.090(11), chapters 90.03, 90.44, 90.54, and 90.82 RCW. 11-01-126 (Order 09-05), § 173-152-030, filed 12/20/10, effective 1/20/11. Statutory Authority: RCW 43.21A.064(8) and 43.27A.090(11). 98-06-042 (Order 97-14), § 173-152-030, filed 2/27/98, effective 3/30/98.