August – October 2010
Please note: The Water Smart Washington Online Forum ended on October 12, 2010. Thank you to all that participated. All comments received during this forum will be included in a report supplement to the Legislature and Governor. When completed, a link to the supplement will be posted on the Water Smart Washington – Washington State Water Management Reform web page.
THE REPORT
The Washington Department of Ecology is working to reform its water management practices to meet increasing demands for water in a time of limited new water supplies.
Ecology has put its recommendations for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the Water Resources Program in a report to the Legislature and the Governor: “Water Resources Program Functions and Funding Structure-Recommendations for a Sustainable and Efficient Program.”
The Water Resources Program’s ongoing mission is to work with Washington communities in support of sustainable water resources management to meet the present and future water needs of people and the natural environment.
Efforts to fulfill the mission have been handicapped in recent years by inconsistent funding resulting from dependence on the State General Fund and the need to update 19th century-based water laws which are inadequate to meet 21st Century challenges.
The report makes recommendations to the Legislature for improving the funding of water resources management and making the Water Resources Program more efficient in the delivery of ten basic services.
- Department of Ecology News Release – September 17, 2010 New Ecology report recommends active water management to reduce reliance on taxpayer funding; ensure adequate water
YOUR FEEDBACK
Comments and Feedback
Ecology distributed this report to stakeholders and interested parties in order to receive comments and feedback to further inform and guide our program as we prepare for the upcoming legislative session.
Ecology will continue to accept comments on the report through the end of the year, to further inform and guide our program as we prepare for the upcoming legislative session.
We encourage you to provide us with comments and feedback within this timeframe.
Please provide any comments and feedback that you have on the Report.
> > Tell us what you think by leaving a new response at the bottom of this page. If you want to reply to a posted response use the Reply at the end of each response. You can also:
- Provide your comments with attachements via e-mail to Barbara.Anderson@ecy.wa.gov
Reform water practices? Don’t flatter yourself. When water resources is removed from DOE it might be able to start doing it’s job. Try looking at other states.
Don’t ask users to pay until you are actively managing existing water rights. Is there any oversight once one is issued? Is metering data received, reviewed, acted upon, in perpetuity? If so, I can see why you need to charge an annual fee and agree you should get it.
Don’t exhaust yourselves worrying about us. The notion that you need even more money in order to “manage” our water for us is really silly. We can do it ourselves, without paying you more taxes.
Oh yes. we can do it ourselves. Sure we can, to the detriment of fish species and water quality among other things, as we consistently see. I believe I have heard the statement “the definition of insanity is repeating the same behavior with the expectation of different results”.