Section 173-545-030 - DefinitionsFor the purposes of this chapter, the following definitions shall be used:
(1)"Allocation" means the designation of specific amounts of water for specific beneficial uses.(2)"Appropriation" means the process of legally acquiring the right to specific amounts of water for beneficial uses, as consistent with the requirements of the ground and surface water codes and other applicable water resource statutes.(3)"Beneficial uses" means uses of water for domestic, stock watering, industrial, commercial, agricultural, irrigation, hydroelectric power production, mining, fish and wildlife maintenance and enhancement, recreational, thermal power production, and preservation of environmental and aesthetic values, and all other uses compatible with the enjoyment of the public waters of the state.(4)"Consumptive use" means a use of water whereby there is a diminishment of the overall amount or quality of water in the water source.(5)"Closure" means a finding by the department that no water is available for future appropriations. WAC 173-545-100 identifies the periods when, and in what quantities, water may be available for future appropriation. If the maximum allocation is zero, no water is available. Practically, it means a permit to appropriate water for a beneficial use will not be approved from a stream or aquifer that results in a diminishment of the stream or aquifer during any period of time that water is unavailable and, unless otherwise excepted, no water is available for new or expanded exempt withdrawals under RCW 90.44.050.(6)"Department" means the Washington state department of ecology.(7)"Domestic water use" means, for the purposes of the reservation of water in this chapter, use of water associated with human health and welfare requirements, including water used for drinking, bathing, sanitary purposes, cooking, laundering, and other incidental household uses.(8)"Existing water right" includes perfected riparian rights, federal Indian and non-Indian reserved rights or other perfected and inchoate appropriative rights.(9)"Hydraulic continuity" means the interrelation between groundwater (water beneath land surfaces or surface water bodies) and surface water (water above ground, such as lakes and streams).(10)"Instream flow" as used in this chapter, has the same meaning as a minimum instream flow under chapter 90.82 RCW, a base flow under chapter 90.54 RCW, a minimum flow under chapter 90.03 or 90.22 RCW, or management flow in the Wenatchee watershed plan. The instream flow constitutes a water right under chapter 90.03 RCW.(11)"Irrigation associated with a residence" means irrigation of not more than one-half acre of lawn or garden per dwelling.(12)"Nonconsumptive use" means a type of water use where either there is no withdrawal from a water source or there is no diminishment in the overall amount or quality of water in the water source.(13)"Plan" or "watershed plan" means the Wenatchee watershed management plan, approved by the Wenatchee watershed planning unit on April 26, 2006, and by the Chelan County commissioners on June 26, 2006.(14)"Planning unit" means the Wenatchee watershed planning unit (WWPU), or a successor approved by the WWPU. The WWPU was established in 1999 in accordance with chapter 90.82 RCW, Watershed Planning Act. The WWPU presently consists of the main planning unit, the steering committee, several technical subcommittees (e.g., water quantity/instream flow, habitat, water quality, growth and land use, outreach), and other interested stakeholders.(15)"Public water system" means any system providing water for human consumption through pipes or other constructed conveyances, excluding a system serving only one single-family residence and a system with four or fewer connections all of which serve residences on the same farm. Water use shall be consistent with WAC 246-290-020 or as it may be recodified.(16)"Reservation" means an allocation of water set aside for future domestic use, municipal use, and stock water use (except feedlots). For the purposes of this chapter, the reservation is not subject to the instream flows set in WAC 173-545-050 and 173-545-060. "Reservation" is the same as "reserve" and "reserved water" in the Wenatchee watershed management plan.(17)"Stock water" means the use of water by animals consistent with the Chelan County Code, Section 11.88.030. It does not apply to feedlots and other activities which are not related to normal grazing land uses.(18)"Stream management unit" means a stream segment, reach, or tributary used to describe the part of the relevant stream to which a particular use, action, instream flow level or reservation of water applies. Each of these units contains a control station. A map of the control points is included in this chapter (WAC 173-545-170).(19)"Withdrawal" means the extraction of groundwater or diversion of surface water.(20)"WRIA" means water resource inventory area. This term can be used interchangeably with "basin" and "watershed."Wash. Admin. Code § 173-545-030
Statutory Authority: Chapters 90.82, 90.54, 90.22, 90.03, and 90.44 RCW. 08-01-045 (Order 07-06), § 173-545-030, filed 12/12/07, effective 1/12/08. Statutory Authority: Chapters 90.54, 90.22 and 75.20 RCW. 83-13-016 (Order DE 83-8), § 173-545-030, filed 6/3/83.