Washington Water Rights After the Hirst Fix

On February 10, 2018 Anne Udaloy delivered an online presentation for the ECC community entitled Washington Water Rights After the Hirst Fix: What Just Happened? Where Do We Go From Here?

The talk covers the Hirst decision and it’s recent legislative ‘fix’, the history of Washington State water management policy, and next steps.  View Anne’s slide presentation here.

“Our water resources belong collectively to the public. Our water resources have not been quantified and are not being effectively managed-instead, we veer from crisis to crisis.”

“Both the Democrats and Republicans want to assure their constituents it’s fine to build more homes and use more water and achieve their dreams. No one enjoys delivering bad news. No one wants to tell constituents that they own undevelopable property, or that the limits we face are real and implacable, or that their dream was always an illusion.”

“We need a means for managing our increasingly scarce water resources. This must be science-based, transparent, and effective. The role of government is to provide a fair and transparent science-based process for water resource allocation and management. ESSB 6091 is not fair, or transparent, or science-based. We should and must demand more from our representatives.”

Watch the recording of the presentation: