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County to test selling SEED water rights to support farmworker housing after Ecology policy change
Summary
Yakima County staff will draft a purchase‑and‑sale agreement to test using county‑held water rights for a proposed Borton Fruit project (296‑bed H‑2A housing), and commissioners agreed to pursue a public hearing and terms that could include forfeitable earnest money; the step is framed as a trial pending a larger county water‑bank effort.
Yakima County commissioners directed staff Feb. 27 to move forward with drafting a purchase‑and‑sale agreement that would allow a private developer to acquire county‑held water rights to support a proposed farmworker (H‑2A) housing project.
County Public Services staff presented the matter as a “test case” prompted by a recent change in the Washington State Department of Ecology’s interpretation of rules governing exempt wells and municipally defined water uses. The change requires developments with more than 15 connections, or that serve more than 25 people for 60 days per year, to be treated as municipal uses for Ecology permitting — a designation that…
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