Coho Water Resources

Hirst & Foster

Coho is abreast of the complex legal and policy issues that affect water resources management in Washington State. Two recent legal decisions have constrained the development of water supplies in some areas:

• The Foster decision in 2015 upheld rigorous mitigation strategies for new water rights.
• The Hirst decision in 2016 clarified that counties must determine the legal and physical availability of water in issuing building permits based on small domestic ("exempt") wells.

These decisions resulted in great consternation across Washington State. In response the Washington State legislature passed a bill (ESSB 6091, 2018) that offers a path to address the Hirst decision and to examine the possibility of out-of-kind mitigation for new water rights, which is currently blocked by the Foster decision. The evolving State policy based on this bill can be monitored on the Department of Ecology website (https://ecology.wa.gov/Water-Shorelines/Water-supply/Streamflow-restoration).

This new law is complex and leaves significant ambiguity about the possible outcomes of efforts (see The Hirst-Foster "Fix"). The proposed response to Hirst presented by Coho in the Daily Journal of Commerce remains valid and should be considered.

Coho not only closely follows these developments but can clearly communicate their legal, political and technical complexities to a variety of audiences, including elected officials, supporting staff, stakeholders, and the public. We can work with you to develop solutions that are technically rigorous, address legal issues, and result in good water resource management.