Water Rights

The Washington State Department of Ecology issued a Report of Examination (ROE) that approved Cascade’s use of Lake Tapps as a municipal water supply on Sept. 15, 2010, and final water right permits were issued Dec. 10, 2010. Cascade’s Lake Tapps water rights were issued in four parts: water rights for diversion from the White River, storage in Lake Tapps Reservoir, withdrawal for municipal purposes and a change to the approved uses under the 1895 PSE hydro claim. Ecology also issued the Investigator’s Report, which described the project and documented the analysis upon which Ecology based its decision to issue the water rights.

Cascaded issued the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Lake Tapps Water Reservoir Water Rights and Supply Project in January 2010; the Final EIS was issued in June 2010. In February 2014, Cascade issued an addendum to the Final EIS, analyzing the impact of donating a portion of the claim to the Trust Water Right Program (a mitigation condition of the Water Rights). The trust donation did not change the analysis of impacts or alternatives in the Final EIS.

Water Rights Downloads

Environment Impact Statement (EIS) Downloads

It is illegal to draw water from the reservoir

It is illegal to draw water from the Lake Tapps Reservoir to irrigate your landscape or for any other purpose. Residential irrigation systems that draw reservoir water pose a risk for the residence and other users of the water system due to potential cross-connection and back-flow contamination and are not allowed. Illegal water withdrawals will be reported to the Department of Ecology and the City of Bonney Lake Cross Connection Control for enforcement action.

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