More on Exempt Wells

Mark (Class XXV) sent me a link to a story on how exempt wells are being abused in Kittitas County. In a nutshell, while the town of Roslyn rations its precious water (Roslyn holds a junior water right dating to 1908; the Yakama tribe holds the senior water right), McMansions in Suncadia and environs are poking wells into the aquifer, taking full advantage of the exception for wells drawing 5,000 gallons or less.

The Seattle Times calls it a "huge loophole," the very word I used in my talk. While this issue wasn't chosen as a policy project, it's a looming problem on both sides of the mountain, and developers are taking super-size advantage, with over 7,000 exempt wells drilled last year.

In other class news, David sent me a copy of his thank you note to Court (Class XXI) and I got a nice note from Ellen thanking me for being class liaison, which was an unexpected pleasure.