Staff from the City of Yelm are working with the state to help find water solutions through a new pilot program.

City Administrator Michael Grayum and Community Development Director Grant Beck presented to the Joint Legislative Task Force on Water Resource Mitigation recently about the pilot program and Yelm’s role.

The task force was established to develop and recommend a mitigation sequencing process and a scoring system to address such appropriations and to review the Washington Supreme Court decision in Foster vs. Dept. of Ecology.

The 2015 Foster v. Ecology, City of Yelm and Washington Pollution Control Hearings Board decision reaffirms and reinforces that instream flows adopted in a rule must be protected from impairment. The decision affects water right change applications, mitigation packages and water banking.

Through this pilot program, Ecology plans to issue permit decisions for up to five water resource mitigation pilot projects, said Dave Christensen, policy and program manager with the Ecology. The hope is to use pilot projects to inform the task force and enable the processing of water right applications that address water supply needs.

“Standards set by Foster are going to be very difficult in some situations and very doable in others,” he said. 

Through the pilot program, Ecology is hoping to develop a permanent guidance document for water rights approvals.

Yelm will be participating in the pilot program as one of the Top 10 fastest growing cities in the state. 

In 2000, the city had roughly 3,200 residents. Currently it has roughly 8,600 and in 2040, it is predicted the city will have an estimated 25,000 residents.

After the Foster Decision, the city was denied its pending water rights application, leaving the city with enough water rights to approve about 62 more building permit applications.

The city is currently not approving any applications for new subdivisions, Beck said.

At the current construction rate for new houses, the city has about three years before it runs out of available water for new growth.

“We’re running up against a cliff for water rights,” Grayum told the task force. “It’s a serious issue and challenge for us, but also a significant opportunity for Yelm and the region.”

Yelm has actively been working toward finding available water for growth for more than 20 years.

Water for water mitigation was always the goal, Beck said, and the city did that with the exception of in the shoulder season.

“There was no definitive guidance,” he said. “We just wanted to do the best we can.”

Yelm worked to mitigate its impact on water resources by finding existing water rights it could purchase and then retire and also be doing things like creating its reclaimed water facility, which processes used water and recharges it back into the environment. 

“Yelm has a long history of being a good steward,” Grayum said. 

Currently, staff are doing their “due diligence” and accounting for water drop for drop as well as combing water logs for any potential rights it can acquire and retire. 

Ecology hope to have conceptual mitigation plans in the fall for review. 

Through the pilot program, participating cities will submit a proposed mitigation strategy with the expectation that the city has the support of all impacted parties, such as area tribes.

Ecology will review and post the plans for a formal comment period for 30 days. And then a final decision would be posted for 45 days.