§ 12.04.015. Water rights.

(a)

All properties making new connections to the municipal water system, which property has, until the new connection, been served by an individual private well, shall be required to properly decommission the private exempt well and cooperate with the city in transferring all applicable water rights to the city of Union Gap. Property owners making connections to the municipal water system who have decommissioned an exempt well and who have transferred water rights to the city of Union Gap shall be compensated for such decommissioning and for such transfer. As and for compensation to such property owners, the city of Union Gap shall pay the costs associated with the decommissioning of the exempt well and the installation of the meter, but shall not pay the costs associated with the property owner's connection to the municipal water system, and the city shall not pay any infrastructure costs associated with the water system and applicable to any particular property upon connection to the municipal water system. After an exempt well is decommissioned on a property and water rights transferred, no new exempt well may thereafter be drilled on that property.

This section shall not have retroactive effect. Any properties that made connections to the municipal water system prior the effective date of this section are not considered "new" connections and not subject to the provisions of this section.

(b)

Property owners that have connected to the municipal water system prior to the effective date of subsection (a) of this section and still maintain private wells on their property may not thereafter discontinue use of municipal water for domestic service. In the event such a property owner does so discontinue use and thereafter utilizes a private well on their property, the property will be subject to the provisions of subsection (a) of this section at such time the property owner desires to continue use of the municipal water system.

(Ord. 2596 § 1 (part), 2008)