Politics from the Palouse to Puget Sound

Monday, November 05, 2007

BREAKING NEWS: Moscow appeals Hawkins water right

Well, now we know the identity of one of the three parties filing appeals against the Hawkins water rights transfers that I reported on last month: the City of Moscow (my guess is King Solomon's Palouse Water Conservation Network is in there, as well as the Sierra Club.) The real question is whether these groups have any legal standing to appeal.

And just before the Moscow City Council election tomorrow. Perfect timing. I guess Linda Pall was wrong. Moscow must have the resources to continue the war against Whitman County indefinitely. Why not? They get all our sales tax money. Now they turn it against us. I just can't wait until the next big retail development is announced in Moscow. Payback is a bitch. From the Moscow-Pullman Daily News website:
The city Moscow has appealed the decision to grant water right transfers to Boise-based Hawkins Companies for the proposed development of a 700,000-square foot shopping center off of the Pullman-Moscow Highway.

The city filed the appeal with Washington’s Pollution Control Hearings Board.

The appeal stems from a Department of Ecology decision in October that affirmed the Whitman County Water Conservancy Board’s recommendation to approve three water rights transfers to be used for the development just across the state line from Idaho.

Moscow cited in its appeal that each water right was located in two different bodies of public groundwater and the transfer would impair existing water rights, not be in the public’s interest and would improperly modify the manner of the rights’ intended use. The appeals also cited Ecology’s failure to conduct an analysis of the average amount of water use from the rights over the past five years.

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