Six-packs for subdivisions: the cumulative effects of Washington's domestic well exemption.

I. INTRODUCTION

DO not let your chances like sunbeams pass you by For you never miss the water till the well runs dry.

--Rowland Howard (1876)

Under Washington State water law, groundwater cannot be withdrawn from any aquifer unless a permit is first obtained from the Department of Ecology.(1) However, the law exempts withdrawals of up to 5000 gallons per day from permitting requirements for stockwatering, domestic purposes, watering a lawn or noncommercial garden up to one-half acre in area, or industrial uses.(2) Generally, these "exempt wells" are…