OLYMPIA — Washington ranchers told legislators Jan. 28 they were betrayed and blindsided by the Department of Ecology’s plan to require livestock owners to have a water right to draw stockwater from creeks and rivers.

Ecology says the new policy, announced in December, will clarify historic water laws. Cattlemen told the Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee that the department was rewriting history.

Toni Meacham, a lawyer and rancher representing the Washington Cattlemen’s Association, called the new water-right stockwater policy a “surprise attack on ranchers across the state.”

In response to the plan, Senate Bill 5882, introduced by Sen. Ron Muzzall, R-Oak Harbor, would affirm that livestock owners can draw small amounts of surface water for their animals. The bill cites a historic connection between owning land and water rights.

Ecology maintains that the 1917 water code obligates the agency to grant water rights for beneficial use. The agency says it isn’t rewriting water law, just updating its policy on advising livestock owners.

The current stockwater policy, written in 1994, encourages livestock owners to move animals away from streams and rivers by pumping water into troughs. The policy doesn’t outright say a surface water right is needed.

Responding to complaints, Ecology has put the revised stockwater policy on hold. The Washington State Conservation Commission plans to lead meetings to gather public comments.

Ecology officials asked senators to not pass SB 5882 and let the public discussions go forward.

Washington Cattle Feeders Association executive director Jack Field said the current policy has protected water. The revised policy would “have dramatic, negative impacts on livestock producers of all sizes,” he said.

“This is a very important policy that will touch livestock producers in every legislative district of the state,” Field said.

“The only reason the Legislature may not have heard from every horse, sheep, goat, pig and alpaca owner is because they don’t know about it,” he said.

Stevens County Conservation District manager Dean Hellie said ranchers in northeast Washington have been drawing from streams for more than 150 years.

Ecology’s revised policy sowed confusion and jeopardized conservation projects to improve water quality, he said.

“Hopefully, this bill will pass and clearly answer the question: Do stock have a water right?” Hellie said.

SB 5882 will have to pass the Democratic-controlled Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee by Feb. 3 to stay alive. Besides Ecology, environmental groups oppose the bill.

Ecology water resources manager Dave Christensen said the agency has put the policy “on indefinite hold as we have these discussions around the policy, around the issues of stockwater.”

Sen. Jim Honeyford, R-Sunnyside, said he was worried about what will happen after lawmakers adjourn in March. “I’m always concerned when things are delayed until we leave session,” he said.