$2.7M in expenses

See schedule owwt keeps water in stream throughout washington state using a number of strategies. Water rights program: we lease and buy water from water rights holders, temporarily or permanently to leave instream, to improve and protect flows, especially during periods that are critical to the survival of imperiled salmon and steelhead. Washington water trust also works to develop innovative solutions with water rights holders who are looking for a more cost-effective ways to use their water. Drawing from an extensive network of partnerships with agricultural producers, conservation districts, irrigation districts, land trusts, landowners, legal experts, hydrogeologists, state agencies and other stakeholders, as well as with sovereign tribes, washington water trust is able to bring to the table balanced, mutually beneficial ideas that are proven to work.water rights acquisition and transferin washington, water rights represent legal authority granted by the state government for water right holders to withdraw surface or ground water for multiple uses. Water rights identify the source of water withdrawal, how it may be used, when it can be diverted, how much can be diverted, and its seniority relative to other water right in the same watershed. If water is ever in short supply, an individual holding a "senior" water right may be the only one able to draw water from this source. The right to use water may be transferred from one user to another, and rights can be bought and sold. Acquisition is an important tool for streamflow restoration because water rights may also be purchased and transferred to the state trust water program where they can be protected against withdrawal for flow restoration. Washington water trust engages in the purchase, lease, and sale of senior water rights in priority basins as a strategy to benefit flow and habitat. For more detail on water rights and the process of acquisition and transfer, see washington water trust's website.water bankingwater banking represents a management tool to provide flexibility to water users. Many regions of washington have populations and associated water uses that have grown to capacity; there the state may determine that in the absence of offsetting mitigation, no new water rights can be created because rivers and aquifers are becoming dangerously low. New requests to start using water, e.g., to provide for a newly built home, need to mitigate for this use by finding an existing water right (or use) that can be retired. Water banks or exchanges in areas of water scarcity, provide a mechanism to buy senior water rights and sell them to new water users that both help protect surface water flows in rivers and streams and provide for sustainable growth. Washington water trust operates the dungeness water exchange in the dungeness watershed. For more detail, see washington water trust's website.consultation: water management alternatives, recycled water, and water rights assessmentswater rights in the western united states are multi-dimensional, and critical to ecology and the economy. Washington water trust works with water right holders, e.g., property owners, farmers, irrigation districts, and local and state governments, to provide a thorough understanding of their water rights. Developing water management alternatives, including the use of recycled water, means working with diverse and often competing interests to find solutions that can work for all. Solutions may include finding efficiencies in how water is used, changing where water is sourced, finding new ways to store water and changing where water is sourced.emergency drought initiativesduring periods of drought which are becoming increasingly common, the impacts on the state's rivers and streams can be devasting. To address these conditions, washington water trust engages in drought programs that keep water instream during hot dry summer months. For example, washington water trust has instituted a dry year leasing program in the dungeness watershed. Under this program, washington water trust negotiates short term leases from willing irrigators and agreements under which irrigation districts jointly agree to stop diverting water during critical low flow periods. These leases and agreements result in lower diversions and higher instream flows that benefit the watershed and salmon and steelhead.