As a Kittitas County Resident, What do I care about the Hirst case on water?

Let’s cut through the “mud” in this Hirst decision about water and find out what it does to you if you own a piece of property in Kittitas County-staff.

Vested Rights and the Hirst Decision

Whatcom County v. Hirst raises a number of questions, many of which I addressed in my earlier posts. One outstanding question, however, relates to the application of Washington’s vested rights doctrine. Specifically, whether one can have a vested right to use a permit-exempt well as the water source for development (subdivision or building permit)?

The answer: it depends. If the regulation provides that a permit-exempt well will no longer be acceptable as an adequate provision of water for development, there could be vesting against that regulation. However, if the regulation provides that permit-exempt wells will need to be backed by mitigation certificates from water banks, all applications would be subject to that regulation. (MORE)

 

Source: MRSC, Local Government Success | By Neil Caulkins, Originally posted  Jan 23, 2017