Water rights to Rock Creek property soon up for transfer

The water rights for property of the late Floyd Bailey may soon be transferred to Stemilt Growers of Wenatchee. Whitman County’s Water Conservancy Board will conduct a public hearing Wednesday, Jan. 27, on the proposal.

The Bailey right allows for withdrawal of surface water from Rock Creek at a rate of 1.9 cubic feet per second for seasonal irrigation of 155 acres.

Stemilt Growers would use the water right to take the same amount from the Snake River for irrigation of 1,300 acres of orchards located approximately 15 to 20 miles east of Pasco. The company would also use the water for temperature control and frost cooling.

Ed Schultz of Colfax, chair of the county conservancy board, said the hearing is being held in Colfax because the transfer involves a Whitman County water right.

Schultz said he had little information on the specifics of the transfer because the application originated with the Franklin County Water Conservancy Board.

Mark Nielson with the Franklin conservancy board said the application passes many of the initial hurdles in the approval process because it is a surface water irrigation right that will be used for the same purpose downstream of the existing right.

The hearing will be held at 10 a.m. in the public service building auditorium in Colfax. Citizens can protest the application to the state Department of Ecology’s office in Spokane.