Municipal Water Law

Planning/Engineering

Legal Challenges

The Municipal Water Law

NEW: Supreme Court Decides Fate of Municipal Water Law - On October 28, 2010, the Washington State Supreme Court affirmed the constitutionality of the Municipal Water Law (MWL). The Court upheld the sections of the law that were invalidated on June 11, 2008 by the King County Superior Court.

These sections were the definitions of municipal water supplier and municipal water supply purposes, and the "in good standing" status of water rights based on system capacity rather than water use. The Supreme Court found that these sections do not violate separation of powers or facially violate the right to due process.

Growing communities, agriculture, industry, and the importance of conserving water for fish have placed an increasing demand on our state's water resources.  To help meet these growing needs, the state legislature passed the Municipal Water Supply-Efficiency Requirements Act (PDF 100KB), commonly called MWL. The law was challenged and portions were invalidated by the lower court ruling. The Supreme Court's decision restores those sections. See the MWL Legal Challenges page for more information about the lawsuit.

We believe the law will:

• Provide more certainty and flexibility for water rights held by water systems.
• More closely tie water system planning and engineering approvals by the Department of Health to water rights administered by the state Department of Ecology.
• Improve the ability to plan for future growth.
• Offer greater flexibility to solve public health problems with water right changes and transfers.
• Advance water use efficiency.
• Assure greater reliability of safe drinking water for communities.

The Department of Health is implementing MWL through:

• Water Use Efficiency. On January 22, 2007, the Water Use Efficiency rule became effective to help conserve water for both the environment and future generations by requiring municipal water suppliers to use water more efficiently.
• Planning and Engineering. On February 14, 2008 our Planning and Engineering Rules (PDF) were incorporated into WAC 246-290.
• Coordination with the Department of Ecology - In April of 2007, in conjunction with the Department of Ecology we updated procedures for coordinating water resource issues related to public water systems that involve both agencies. We and the Department of Ecology also developed a Memorandum of Understanding (PDF 32KB), Joint Review Procedures and an Agency Responsibilities Outline (PDF 20KB) that documents who is responsible for implementing each section of the MWL.

 
• Memorandum of Understanding between the Departments of Health and Ecology on Interruptible Water Rights, April 2009 (PDF 760KB)

• Flowchart for Interruptible Water Rights processing (PDF 71KB)

Municipal Water Law Contacts:

Water Use Efficiency

Michael Dexel, Rule Implementation (360) 236-3154

Planning and Engineering Requirements

Linda Kildahl, Rule Implementation (360) 236-3186

Regional Office contacts:

Northwest
Jennifer Kropack, Technical and Planning (253) 395-6769
Richard Rodriguez, Planning (253) 395-6771

Eastern
Christine Collins, Planning, (509) 329-2122
Heather Cannon, Planning (509) 329-2121

Southwest
Corina Hayes, Planning (360) 236-3031
Darin Klein, Planning (360) 236-3138