After a Washington sewer district merged into an irrigation district, did county approval of a sewer expansion plan remain required?

Plain-English summary

A Chelan County prosecutor asked whether an irrigation district that absorbed a sewer district still had to follow the sewer-district rules for a comprehensive plan and county legislative approval when extending sewer service or making improvements. The AG answered no in 1979. The merger dissolved the sewer district. Although the irrigation district’s board succeeded to the former district board’s powers, the cited planning and approval requirements governed sewer districts as entities, not irrigation districts or sewer systems generally.

“RCW 56.08.020 and RCW 56.16.030, however, simply do not relate to irrigation districts at all nor even to sewer systems, per se.” (Official opinion)

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 1979. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Common questions

Q: Did a merged sewer district continue to exist separately?
A: No. The AG said the sewer district dissolved in the merger and the irrigation district was the sole surviving entity.

Q: Did the surviving board lose every power the sewer district had?
A: No. The opinion said the irrigation district’s board succeeded to the former sewer district board’s powers under RCW 85.08.890.

Q: Why did the sewer-district planning rules stop applying?
A: The AG read RCW 56.08.020 and RCW 56.16.030 as rules for sewer districts’ activities. They did not regulate irrigation districts or sewer systems simply because they handled sewer service.

Background and statutory framework

Under the law the AG examined, RCW 56.08.020 and RCW 56.16.030 required sewer-district commissioners to adopt a comprehensive plan, obtain county legislative approval and secure corresponding approval for plan changes tied to additions or betterments. The 1977 merger legislation allowed a sewer district to merge into an irrigation district. The AG read the cited merger provisions as dissolving the former entity while transferring its powers to the survivor. Its answer addressed only whether the two sewer-district planning statutes continued to bind that survivor.

Citations and references

The opinion discussed RCW 56.08.020 and RCW 56.16.030 as the planning provisions, RCW 85.08.880 and RCW 85.08.890 as merger provisions, and RCW 56.02.100 in its footnote on merger authority.

Source

• Landing page: https://www.atg.wa.gov/ago-opinions/districts-irrigation-sewer-merger-sewer-district-irrigation-districts-extension-sewer

Original opinion text

Attorney General Slade Gorton

DISTRICTS ‑- IRRIGATION ‑- SEWER ‑- MERGER OF SEWER DISTRICT WITH IRRIGATION DISTRICTS ‑- EXTENSION OF SEWER SERVICE FOLLOWING MERGER

RCW 56.08.020 and RCW 56.16.030 apply to sewer districts and not to irrigation districts; therefore, once a sewer district has been merged into an irrigation district, those statutes no longer apply with regard to the extension of sewer service by the surviving irrigation district.

April 2, 1979

Honorable E. R. Whitmore, Jr.
Prosecuting Attorney
Chelan County
P.O. Box 1622
Wenatchee, WA 98801

Cite as: AGO 1979 No. 7

Dear Sir:

By recent letter you have requested our opinion on the following question:

"After a sewer district has been merged with an irrigation district, must the extension of any sewer service and any additions and betterments be in accordance with a general comprehensive plan subject to the approval of the legislative authority of the county?"

We answer this question in the negative for the reasons set forth in our analysis.

ANALYSIS

As indicated in your letter, RCW 56.08.020 and RCW 56.16.030 pertain to sewer districts and require the commissioners of such districts to adopt a general comprehensive [[Orig. Op. Page 2]] plan which is subject to the approval of the legislative authority of the county in which the particular district is situated. In addition, those statutes provide that any additions or betterments be accompanied by an amendment or addition to the general comprehensive plan approved in the same manner as the original plan.

By its enactment of chapter 208, Laws of 1977, 1st Ex. Sess., however, the legislature authorized the merger of sewer districts and irrigation districts; specifically, the merger of a given sewer district into an irrigation district within the boundaries of which the sewer district is located. See, AGLO 1978 No. 31, copy enclosed. Because the sewer district is merging into the irrigation district, however, the end result of any such merger is a dissolution of the sewer district, as such. Accord, RCW 85.08.880 which, notably, is among the statutes expressly referred to in § 3, chapter 208,supra.1/ Therefore, the sole surviving entity is the irrigation district and, in accordance with RCW 85.08.890, its board of directors will succeed to ". . . all the powers possessed at the time of the merger by the board of . . . [directors] of the . . ." former sewer district.

RCW 56.08.020 and RCW 56.16.030, however, simply do not relate to irrigation districts at all nor even to sewer systems, per se. Instead, those statutes only apply to certain designated functions or activities ofsewer districts. For that reason it is our opinion that your question, as above, stated, must be answered in the negative.

[[Orig. Op. Page 3]]

We trust that the foregoing will be of some assistance to you.

Very truly yours,

SLADE GORTON
Attorney General

PHILIP H. AUSTIN
Deputy Attorney General

*** FOOTNOTES ***

1/This section, now codified as RCW 56.02.100, reads as follows:

"The procedure and provisions of RCW 85.08.830 through 85.08.890, which are applicable to drainage improvement districts, joint drainage improvement districts, or consolidated drainage improvement districts which desire to merge into an irrigation district, shall also apply to sewer districts organized, or reorganized, under this title which desire to merge into irrigation districts.

"The authority granted by this section shall be cumulative and in addition to any other power or authority granted by law to any sewer district."