Who Has Water Rights in Mountain Lake, Cascade Creek and
Cascade Lake?
There are several water rights affecting Mountain Lake, Cascade Creek
and Cascade Lake that affect OWU.
Click here
to see the water rights on Cascade Lake.
Rosario has filed
applications for water right modifications to convert the remaining
portion of hte 1204 acre ft to domestic use.
Dept of Ecology: Assessing
the validity of a water right.
Water rights in Washington State are prioritized in time with "First in
time, first in line." Older water rights are more senior. It is
very
common with old (often generous) water rights in a given watershed to
add
up to more water than is actually available, especially during an
extended
drought. In the event of a water shortage the water is allocated in
order
of seniority. Adjudication is the formal court process of sorting out
who
has what rights and their seniority.
The following surface and ground waters of the drainage basin of
Mountain Lake, cascade Creek and their tributaries were adjudicated in
1970 in the in the Superior Court of the State of Washington in Islands
County.
The water rights usually specify the intended use. New applications are
going very slowly (OWU is waiting on their 7/31/1978 application).
Water
rights can very easily (and quickly) be converted from one type of use
to
another)
The oldest (most senior) water right is "Class I" the next is
"Class II" etc.
Here are the results of that process are the following adjudicated
water rights (Current owners in order of seniority):
Results of the 1970 Mountain Lake and Cascade Creek adjudication:
Class
|
Current owner
|
File #
|
Priority date
|
Qi CFS
|
Qa Acre ft
|
I
|
Rosario
|
S1*62085AT J
|
1884
|
0.5 - 3.0 *
|
1204*
|
II
|
Olga Water Users
|
S1-*62086JWRIS
|
1908
|
0.56
|
94.0
|
III
|
Wa St Parks
|
S1-*21601AWRIS
|
1920
|
0.02
|
8.4
|
IV
|
Doe Bay Water
|
S1-*62088JWRIS
|
1945
|
0.05
|
12
|
V
|
Doe Bay Water
|
S1-*62089JWRIS
|
1946
|
0.35
|
82
|
(After adjudication)
|
Doe Bay Water
|
S1-22996CWRIS
|
1977
|
0.5
|
87
|
* The volume on the first water right varies by month:
flow
dates
height of 90 degree weir (from
http://www.lmnoeng.com/Weirs/vweir.htm)
3.0 CFS Nov -
Jan
1' 0 7/8"
2.0 CFS Oct, Feb, Mar
0' 11"
1.0 CFS Apr - June, Sept 0' 8 1/4"
0.5 CFS July, Aug 0'
6 1/4" (0.133CFS/34 acre ft/yr
of this was
converted to domestic drinking water in March 2002)
Calculations to show 1204 Acre ft/year.
The total of 1204 acre ft is specified in the water right certificate.
This corresponds
to a draw of more than 6 feet in Mountain lake! Some day I will
digitize
the old moldy documents for reference.
There are more documents to come for Cascade Lake, but they are more
complicated.
Certificates have been issued based the court's decision. Some of the
water rights have been modified since the adjudication process. If
anyone has more up to date information please contact me at:
sandy@olgawater.com
There are many new surface water right applications for water rights
affecting Cascade Creek and Mountain Lake. All new water rights (if
issued) would be subordinate to rights that already exist.
S1-23175 Olga Water Users Inc 7/31/1978 0.8 MU MOUNTAIN LAKE T37 N/R01
W-33
S1-23329 Roehls Plat Property Owners As 3/2/1979 DM MOUNTAIN LAKE T36
N/R01 W-03
S1-23704 Eastsound Water Users Associat 10/16/1980 3.0 MU BIG TWIN LAKE
T37 N/R02 W-21
S1-26308 Olga Water Users Inc 8/14/1991 0.3 DM CASCADE CREEK T37 N/R01
W-33
R1-26574 Doe Bay Water Users Associatio 3/23/1992 DM T37 N/R01
W-34 (548 acre ft)
S1-28143 Alexander Taylor 7/11/2002 0.0 FS IR ST CASCADE CREEK T36
N/R01 W-09
S1-28144 Alexander Taylor 7/11/2002 5.0 FS PO CASCADE CREEK T36 N/R01
W-36
Other surface water right applications of interest on Orcas Island.
CS1-00593C Spring Point Inc 3/13/1998 0.1 96.0 UNNAMED STREAM T36 N/R03
W-12 SW/SE
S1-28129 Orcas Acrhipelago Alliance 3/22/2002 33.0 FS WEST SOUND T36
N/R02 W-04
S1-28130 Westsound Salmon Supporters OA 3/22/2002 6.0 FS COON HOLLOW
T37 N/R01 W-18
For up to date information check the Wa State Dept of Ecology Water
Rghts Tracking System:
www.ecy.wa.gov/cron/wrats/san juan.pdf
Our information on Cascade Lake is not as detailed.
The following may contain duplications as certificates are issued
against an older right.
Rosario Claim 3.0 CFS hydroelectric
Rosario Adjudicated certificate S1-71002 (1910) .7390 (dom mult) 2.6940
hydroelectric 5.0 Acre ft (annual?)irrigation
Rosario Adjudicated certificate S1-71002 (1910) 2.694 CFS709 acre ft/yr
Rosario permit 3/22/1995 0.98 CFS 171 acre ft/yr
How much water is needed to support 50000
people? How large of a "tide" would that cause in the lakes?
How to convert CFS to acre ft
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