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Water Bank Feasibility Study
Spokane County, in conjunction with Stevens and Pend Oreille Counties, evaluated the use of a tri-county water bank to address existing and potential regulatory constraints on existing and new water use, in Water Resource Inventory Area (WRIA) 55, the Little Spokane Watershed.
The feasibility study was completed in June 2015. Spokane County has since developed a water bank for a portion of WRIA 55, but it does not extend into Pend Oreille or Stevens Counties.
A water bank is an institutional mechanism that facilitates transfer of senior water rights between buyers and sellers. While individual parties can currently buy and sell water rights without a water bank, a water bank can reduce transaction costs and allow the distribution of one large water right to multiple small uses.
- Development of a Policy Advisory Group to guide and inform all aspects of the project
- Evaluation of water bank structural and operational options
- Evaluation of demand
- Evaluation of supply
- Market evaluation
- Development of an operational framework
- Development of a final report
Project Documents
- LSWB Policy Advisory Group Phase II Meeting 1 Summary AND Presentation - July 2016
- LSWB Policy Advisory Group Phase II Meeting 2 Summary AND Presentation - July 2016
- Water Banking Demand Evaluation, Supply Assessment and Water Transfer Framework Considerations (PDF)
- PAG Meeting 1 Meeting Summary (PDF)
- PAG Meeting 1 Presentation October 15, 2014 (PDF)
- PAG Meeting 3 Summary and Presentation (PDF)
- PAG Meeting 4 Summary and Presentation (PDF)
- PAG Meeting 2 Summary and Presentation (PDF)
- Pend Oreille Interbasin Transfer for Little Spokane Water Bank Seeding Appraisal Study (PDF)
- Final Feasibility Study (PDF)
- Legal, Regulatory, and Policy Framework for Water Banking in Washington (PDF)