Kitsap County is rolling out a permit fee and water-use limits for some new drinking water wells, under a state law enacted last month.
Senate Bill 6091 was enacted Jan. 19 to fix issues raised by the controversial "Hirst decision," a 2016 state Supreme Court decision that effectively curtailed construction of homes that relied on wells in rural areas of the state. Rules created by the law affect water right permit-exempt wells — the type of wells most commonly used to provide water to individual homes in areas that aren't served by water system — approved after the legislation was enacted.
Under the law, Kitsap County must begin charging a $500 fee on building permits for projects that utilize new permit-exempt wells. Of the money generated by the fee, $350 will go to the state and $150 will be divvied among local agencies.
Each home connected to a new permit-exempt well will be allowed to withdraw up to 950 gallons of water per day, averaged over a year. That limit will be lowered to 350 gallons per day if a drought emergency order is issued.
The combined withdrawal limit for all connections to a single well remains at 5,000 gallons per day. Building permit applicants must record information about water use limitations on the title for the property before a permit will be issued.
Jim Bolger with Kitsap County said most households draw much less than 950 gallons daily and the restrictions should have little effect on development in the county.
"I don't think we're going to feel any major pinches from this," Bolger said, adding that permit-exempt wells typically don't have meters, making enforcement of the rules tough to enforce.
Kitsap Building Association president Wayne Keffer agreed the restrictions likely won't impede home construction but said any new building permit fees are unwelcome.
"Fees add to costs and those costs always get passed on," Keffer said. "They all affect the affordability of housing."
SB 6091 created a number of other requirements that will have little impact in Kitsap. For example, Bolger said the county's existing stormwater management rules likely already cover stormwater requirements outlined in the law, and building permit applicants in the county are already required to prove that a well has an adequate water supply to support their project.
While the fee and water use restrictions took effect immediately, the law also requires committees in several areas of the state, including Kitsap, to inventory water resources and create management plans.
A similar watershed planning effort collapsed in Kitsap a decade ago. Kitsap Public Utility District general manager Bob Hunter said studies generated for that earlier planning session can be dusted off to support a new watershed plan.
Hunter said taking a careful look at water resources will be critical as the peninsula's population swells.
"It's a great opportunity to get all the agencies, the county, the cities, the tribes, to the table," he said. "We need to plan, and we need to protect our groundwater, which is our drinking water."
Kitsap's watershed plan is due by 2021.
For information on the new permit-exempt well requirements, call 360-337-5777.
