JUDICIAL DEVELOPMENTS

November 2007

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Yakima County Superior Court Affirms Relinquishment of Water Rights Sought by City
City of Union Gap and Ahtanum Ridge Business Park, LLC, v. Washington Department of Ecology

On October 9, 2007, the Yakima County Superior Court upheld a ruling by the Washington Pollution Control Hearings Board (PCHB) that an intended transfer of an industrial water right to the City of Union Gap did not occur soon enough to avoid relinquishment. According to the PCHB, the “determined future development” exemption in the relinquishment statute “does not apply to plans that could be fully implemented in less than five years.” The Superior Court affirmed the PCHB’s conclusion that Union Gap’s plan to acquire the water rights of a defunct slaughterhouse was not sufficiently “definite” by the time the five-year relinquishment period had expired. Total forfeiture of the water rights will result, unless the Superior Court ruling is overturned on appeal. See the February 2006 issue of this Reporter for a discussion of the PCHB ruling in the Union Gap case, 10 West. Water L. & Pol’y Rptr. 98 (Feb. 2006).