# Washington State Sibling Co-op



## Claudia G (Sep 3, 2017)

I am one of 8 siblings looking for 20-40 acres in western Washington. Under $150K would be best. We are meeting up in Elma later this month, to look at some possibilities. Also, if anyone has links to government restrictions in that area, please let me know. I'll be doing research, too. Thanks!


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## JosephSeiss (May 3, 2017)

Fellow Washingtonian here. All I know about restrictions is a recent one, the courts decided to say you can't drill a well on your own land. So, make sure you have a water source already on property.


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## Claudia G (Sep 3, 2017)

JosephSeiss said:


> Fellow Washingtonian here. All I know about restrictions is a recent one, the courts decided to say you can't drill a well on your own land. So, make sure you have a water source already on property.


Mmmm....do you have a source of that decision? I will do some research, too. Definitely would be a factor in looking for land, although the area we are looking at (Thurston or Gray's Harbor counties) receives 37 inches of rainfall each year, so setting up water collection might be a good alternative to a well.


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## JosephSeiss (May 3, 2017)

Greetings,

Well, this is a link to a website that discusses the issue. The author obviously has a conservative spin on it, however, links to the court decision are provided and a general doping out of the impact of the decision.

https://www.wethegoverned.com/hirst...e-upon-property-owners-by-taking-their-water/


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## Claudia G (Sep 3, 2017)

Thank you! I did some research, too, and found out more about the actual court decision itself:
http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/wr/nwro/hirst.html


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## JosephSeiss (May 3, 2017)

Afteru reading the decision I would recommend you choose your county wisely. Avoid King County at all costs. Not only is it the most expensive, but it has never met a regulation or a tax it didn't like. The counties that implement this will likely require an environmental impact assessment which could easily cost you tens of thousands of dollars. Do your homework and choose a county that eschews governmental interference. In all likelihood this will mean east of the mountains, which will also mean a different climate than west. However there are areas in western wa that are a bit more independent minded.

One thing that concerns me is the trend toward this sort of thing in Washington. Collecting rainwater is certainly a good way around this new restriction, but I could easily envision the State finding a way to restrict doing that as well. Lol.


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## Claudia G (Sep 3, 2017)

JosephSeiss said:


> Afteru reading the decision I would recommend you choose your county wisely. Avoid King County at all costs. Not only is it the most expensive, but it has never met a regulation or a tax it didn't like. The counties that implement this will likely require an environmental impact assessment which could easily cost you tens of thousands of dollars. Do your homework and choose a county that eschews governmental interference. In all likelihood this will mean east of the mountains, which will also mean a different climate than west. However there are areas in western wa that are a bit more independent minded.
> 
> One thing that concerns me is the trend toward this sort of thing in Washington. Collecting rainwater is certainly a good way around this new restriction, but I could easily envision the State finding a way to restrict doing that as well. Lol.





JosephSeiss said:


> Afteru reading the decision I would recommend you choose your county wisely. Avoid King County at all costs. Not only is it the most expensive, but it has never met a regulation or a tax it didn't like. The counties that implement this will likely require an environmental impact assessment which could easily cost you tens of thousands of dollars. Do your homework and choose a county that eschews governmental interference. In all likelihood this will mean east of the mountains, which will also mean a different climate than west. However there are areas in western wa that are a bit more independent minded.
> 
> One thing that concerns me is the trend toward this sort of thing in Washington. Collecting rainwater is certainly a good way around this new restriction, but I could easily envision the State finding a way to restrict doing that as well. Lol.


We are looking in Lewis, Thurston, Grays Harbor...maybe Pacific...


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