Hirst fix to aid well-drillers

The Washington state legislature agreed on a resolution Jan. 18 to the controversial Hirst ruling, affecting rural wells.

Senate Bill 6091 passed 35-14 in the Senate and 66-30 in the House. The votes ended a stand-off which began last year after a state Supreme Court decision on the drilling of new wells – making whether or not the well would draw water from streams and harm fish, up to a landowner to prove it did not.

The Hirst decision came out of a lawsuit brought by environmental watchdog groups regarding how Whatcom County instituted the state’s Growth Management Act. In turn, it left it...