## Facts

- Eugene C. Jensen bought land in the Quincy Basin in 1968, an area where the groundwater table had risen after decades of irrigation supplied by the Columbia Basin Project.
- Jensen’s land was not itself served by project irrigation, but the aquifer beneath it was augmented by percolation from nearby project-irrigated lands.
- In 1974 Jensen applied to the Washington Department of Ecology (DOE) for a permit to withdraw “public groundwater”; DOE indicated public groundwater in the basin was considered fully appropriated and placed his application in a priority queue behind existing applicants.
- In 1975 Jensen filed a separate application to withdraw “artificially stored groundwater”; DOE issued a permit conditioned on Jensen entering an agreement with the United States Bureau of Reclamation to pay charges for use of the water.
- Jensen objected to the Bureau’s asserted ownership interest but entered the agreement to obtain the permit.
- In 1981 DOE denied Jensen’s 1974 public-groundwater application, determining no public groundwater was available for appropriation and treating the relevant aquifer water as artificially stored project water.
- Jensen appealed; the Pollution Control Hearings Board (PCHB) affirmed, and the superior court affirmed on judicial review.

## Issues

1. Whether DOE lawfully denied Jensen’s application to appropriate “public groundwater” based on a determination that no public groundwater in the Quincy Basin was available for new appropriation.
2. Whether DOE properly classified the groundwater Jensen sought as artificially stored Columbia Basin Project water rather than naturally occurring public groundwater.
3. Whether alleged procedural errors in DOE’s processing and denial of the application required reversal or remand.

## Decision

- The Washington Supreme Court affirmed the superior court and the PCHB, upholding DOE’s denial of the public-groundwater permit.
- The court accepted DOE’s determination that the aquifer increase relevant to Jensen’s request was predominantly attributable to percolated Columbia Basin Project irrigation water and could be treated as artificially stored groundwater.
- The court upheld DOE’s conclusion that any remaining public groundwater in the relevant area was fully appropriated and unavailable for new rights.
- The court rejected Jensen’s procedural challenges, concluding the administrative process and review mechanisms provided an adequate hearing and lawful decisionmaking.

## Legal Principles

- Water introduced and stored through a reclamation or importation project may retain a distinct legal status as artificially stored project water even after percolating into an aquifer, and it is not necessarily open to appropriation as public groundwater merely because it is underground.
- DOE has statutory authority to determine groundwater availability, including finding sources fully appropriated and effectively closed to new appropriations; courts generally defer to such technical determinations when supported by the record and within agency authority.
- Administrative permitting decisions will not be reversed for alleged procedural defects absent a showing of prejudicial legal error; a formal administrative hearing and judicial review can satisfy procedural requirements.

## Conclusion

The court upheld DOE’s denial of Jensen’s public-groundwater application because the water he sought was properly treated as artificially stored Columbia Basin Project water and because DOE’s determination that no unappropriated public groundwater remained was supported and lawful; asserted procedural irregularities did not justify remand or reversal.


Jensen v. Dep’t of Ecology, 102 Wash. 2d 109, 685 P.2d 1068 (1984)