By law, the water in the state of Washington belongs to the citizens. The Department of Ecology, which is under the governor, is trying to usurp this law through the courts, and if they continue to be successful as they were in Skagit County, then everyone with a private well will be required to meter their water. I don’t believe the Department of Ecology is doing this for any ecological reason; it’s just another government bureaucracy’s attempt at squeezing blood from a turnip.
Sen. Kirk Pearson has sponsored bill 5801/2015 that if passed would reestablish the Water Resource Department that existed in 1970. The agency would be administered by a seven-member commission elected by the people. Please voice your support for this bill by calling Sen. Pearson’s office at: 360-786-7676 or email your support to kirk.pearson@leg.wa.gov.
The Department of Ecology does not own the water in this state; we the people do. In fact, government owns nothing, the people do, and our elected representatives tend to forget this fact.
Gary Lewis
Arlington
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