Title
Water Conservancy Boards Review
Report Type Final Report 
Date Published December 2004 
Publication Number 04-12 
Mandate

C 371 L 02

Online Availability Requires version 4.0 or later of Adobe Acrobat Reader Software
Abstract
In the 2002 Supplemental Operating Budget, the Legislature directed JLARC to review water conservancy boards.  These are units of local government that make recommendations to the Department of Ecology about applications for water right transfers.  JLARC’s report explains what water conservancy boards are and what they do, why Washington has these boards, how boards are supported at the state and local level, and how the work of the boards compares to similar work conducted by Ecology.  The report also raises two issues that emerged during the course of the study and offers two recommendations to address those issues.  The first issue has to do with internal consistency in Ecology's interpretation of state laws, rules, and policies affecting water right transfers.  The second issue is the wide disparity among the individual boards in terms of what work the board members do themselves to support their decisions vs. what work the boards require an applicant or an applicant's consultant to do.
Author(s)

Cindi Yates, Project Supervisor
Linda Byers, Analyst
Eric Thomas, Analyst
Print Availability Request hard copy from the JLARC Publications Officer
Number of Pages 131 
Keywords Water, Conservancy, Boards, Ecology 
Category Economic Development/Natural Resources