OLYMPIA — Sen. Janea Holmquist, R-Moses Lake, introduced legislation Monday, calling for stricter requirements on the Department of Ecology when they are considering a moratorium on water use.

Senate Bill 6536 requires Ecology have information based upon peer-reviewed scientific evidence of impairment before imposing a moratorium. Ecology would also be required to establish an alternative water source for use by those affected before implementing a moratorium.

“Water moratoriums, like the one issued last year in upper Kittitas County by the Department of Ecology, have a devastating economic and social impact on the citizens of an affected area,” Holmquist stated. “At a time when every job counts and our state is facing yet another deficit, Ecology effectively bankrupted much of upper Kittitas County by destroying local property values.”

The senator declared she would introduce the bill while attending a hearing on the issue in Cle Elum last fall.

“This is also part of a DOE agenda to take away the citizen’s right to exempt wells,” she stated. “DOE’s leadership is on the record stating that it wants to eliminate all exempt wells so it has total control of our state’s water. It’s the Legislature’s job to tell DOE what to do regarding exempt wells. It is not appropriate for DOE to go county by county and systematically get rid of exempt wells.”

She claims moratoriums placed on water use is a way for those in favor of slowing growth to reach their goal.

“Ecology could not give me one example of a well going dry in upper Kittitas County, yet they insisted on depriving citizens of their fundamental right to access drinking water, hurt local property values and hindered basic property rights – all in the absence of any compelling evidence,” Holmquist stated. “This never should have happened and I am committed to working diligently on this issue to guarantee it doesn’t happen again.”