The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

WALLA WALLA COUNTY—The Walla Walla County Board of Commissioners seeks applicants to fill an alternate position on the Walla Walla Water Conservancy Board. This member will serve as an alternate in a reserve capacity as a replacement for absent or recused commissioners. Terms on the water conservancy board are six years.

In compliance with state statute RCW 90.80.050(2), for equal representation, applicants need to meet one of the following criteria to fill these vacancies.

• Individual water right holder who diverts or withdraws water for use within the area served by the board

• Must appoint one person who is not a water right holder, except as provided in subsection (5) of this section (5). For the purposes [of] determining a person’s eligibility to be appointed as a commissioner who is not a water right holder under this section, a person is not considered to be a water right holder: (a) By virtue of the person’s receiving water from a municipal water supplier as defined in RCW 90.03.015, or (b) if the only water right held by the person is a right to the type of residential use of water that is exempted from permit requirements by RCW 90.44.050 and that right is for water from a well located in a county with a population that is not greater than one hundred fifty thousand people.

• Shall choose from among persons who are residents of the county or counties or a county that is contiguous to the county that the water conservancy board is to serve.

The Water Conservancy Board is a three-member citizen body that typically meets once a month, on the first Wednesday of each month. Duties consist primarily of conducting public meetings and expediting the administrative process for voluntary water transfers and change applications within the county of non-contested water transfers among water rights holders.

Application packets can be obtained from the County website, http://www.co.walla-walla.wa.us, or by calling the Commissioners’ Office at (509) 524-2505. Interested persons are encouraged to call or email (wwcocommissioners@co.walla-walla.wa.us) with questions regarding the open position.

Completed application packets must be returned to the county commissioners’ office by 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, August 31, 2022. Please submit your completed application to wwboardcomm@co.walla-walla.wa.us or by mail to Walla Walla County Commissioners’ Office, Public Health and Legislative Building, 314 W Main/P.O. Box 1506, Walla Walla). Per RCW

90.80.05 a commissioner must complete the training required under RCW 90.80.040 before participating in a record of decision.

Interviews will likely be conducted by the county commissioners.