CLE ELUM, Wash. - The Washington State Department of Ecology says it has no choice but to cut off the drilling of new water wells in Upper Kittitas County, and in many cases, that includes the connection of existing wells that aren't part of current building permits.
For Cle Elum resident Lisa Graham, that means a well drilled on her property five years ago cannot be connected to her future home on property east of town.
"The moratorium hit and basically shuts us down in our steps," says Graham who was developing the property and permits one step at a time as she could afford it. She hoped to sell one parcel with a 10 year well on it to help finance her home. Now she says she cannot use either well.
The story is similar to several others in the upper county which includes the Cle Elum and Roslyn areas. Some residents say properties valued and tens of thousands of dollars as future home sites are now, without water wells, basically primitive campsites.
DOE Public Information Officer Joye Redfield-Wilder says she understands the frustration, but says senior water rights owners downstream are demanding her department determine if development in the upper county is threatening their water supply and until they find out, they have to ban new wells.
"We're going through this bumpy time. We've had some legal rulings. We've had concerns raised. We have court orders,' says Redfield-Wilder, who says the state has to protect the multi-million dollar agriculture industry downstream and the water rights of groups established decades ago.
Some residents living under the moratorium say they understand senior water rights and are willing to compromise, but say the mortorium is killing their future plans and their investments.
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