Washtucna elementary students pitched Palouse Falls at House committee hearing last month.

OLYMPIA -- Palouse Falls would become the official state waterfall under a bill receiving unanimous approval in the House today.

The proposal originated with students at Washtucna Elementary School as a way to call attention to the falls, which is a remnant of prehistoric floods that washed across Eastern Washington.

Rep. Joe Schmick, R-Colfax, the bill's sponsor, said, the falls draw so many visitors that the state park that surrounds it is one of the few that actually operates in the black.

Washington might be the only state to have an official state waterfall. HB 2119 was sent to the Senate for consideration.

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