Let's Talk About Adjudication
Join us for a live webinar about WRIA 1 adjudication
We are hosting an online presentation on January 31, 2024 from 5:30 to 7:00 pm to help inform WRIA 1 water users about adjudication. Registration is required. Go to this link to sign up:
Register: Nooksack Adjudication Webinar registration
If you can't make this time, we will post a recording of the webinar on our website shortly after the presentation date.
WRIA 1 adjudication timeline
Adjudication is a legal process that resolves conflicts and competition over water resources. It involves a court review of all water uses in an area to ensure they are being used legally. Adjudication ensures certainty about water resources for long-term planning and instream flow protection.
Starting in Spring, 2024. all water users, except those people that are connected to a public water supply system, will be sent certified mail with instructions on how to file a claim. The claim form will not be due until at least one year after you receive it. After adjudicating the water uses, the court will issue a final adjudicated decree which will lead to adjudicated water rights certificate. These certificates will reflect all the legal water uses in the area. For water rights definitions, see our December 2023 e-newsletter.
Also in this newsletter
Who needs to file an adjudication court claim
Permit-exempt wells
Choose the right claim form
Court claim forms comment period
Who needs to file an adjudication court claim
It is important to note that everyone who uses water directly from a well (groundwater) or surface water (river, stream, lake, or spring), and wants to legally use water in WRIA 1 needs to file a court claim in the adjudication.
We want to make this process as easy as possible. We are working with Whatcom County and local community groups to develop resources and tools. Visit our Nooksack Area Adjudication website to learn more.
If you’re unsure whether you use water from WRIA 1, you can reference the map below or enter your address at the Statewide WRIA Finder tool to find out.
Permit-exempt wells
We get asked this question quite frequently: If I use water from a permit-exempt well, do I have to file a court claim?
The answer is, yes. if you have a permit-exempt well, you must file a court claim to secure a legal right to use that water. All water users who use groundwater (by pumping water from a well) are required to participate in adjudication. Only groundwater use can be permit-exempt, not surface water. These wells usually provide for individual homes, small residential developments, and small farms in rural areas where a public water supply is not available.
As the name implies, permit-exempt wells have not historically required a water right permit from the state. According to state law (RCW 90.44.050) these wells must meet the following conditions:
- Domestic use, established before 2020, of up to 5,000 gallons per day with outdoor watering of lawn or garden up to half of an acre (21,780 square feet).
- Domestic use, established after 2020, of up to 500 gallons per day indoors with outdoor watering of lawn or garden up to 1/12 an acre (3,630 square feet).
- Industrial use, including commercial irrigation, up to 5,000 gallons per day.
- Water for livestock drinking with no daily limitation.
As with other water users, people who use permit-exempt wells must follow the state and local rules for water use and ensure that their water use does not affect other water users. For more information about permit- exempt wells, you can read Ecology’s Focus on: The Groundwater Permit-Exemption. Specific limitations for WRIA 1 are in the WRIA 1 Nooksack Watershed Water Availability focus sheet.
Choose the right court claim form for your water use
Approximately 15% of Washington residents rely on a permit-exempt well for their domestic water source. There are likely more than 10,000 permit-exempt wells in WRIA 1. If you have a permit-exempt well and use water only for your home, you will need to fill out a Small Use Court Claim form during the water rights adjudication process.
Filing with a Small Use Court Claim Form will be a simple process. You will need to provide information such as:
- Whether the home uses 500 gpd or less of water indoors and waters 1/2 acre or less outdoors
- Quantity of water use from a well
- When a home first used a well at this property
- Where water is used
- Location of well
If your property’s water use does not meet these conditions, you will need to fill out the Full-Length Court Claim Form.
Help us improve the court claim forms and instructions
Starting in Spring 2024, we will send a summons via certified mail to people on record who have a water right document or own a parcel outside a water service area. The mailing will include instructions and two forms. These water users will be required to fill out one of two forms based on their water usage: the Small Use Court Claim Form or the Full-length Court Claim Form.
Before finalizing the claim forms and accompanying instructions, we are holding a 60-day comment period as required by RCW 90.03.140(3). We invite recipients of this e-bulletin, as well as Indian tribes, local governments, and special purpose districts, to provide feedback on these draft documents. We appreciate your willingness to share your insights to improve the process and ensure the forms and instructions are in good shape prior to the spring filing.
Visit the online court claim forms comment site, to view the draft claim forms and instructions, and to submit comments.
The comment period opens on January 3, 2024, and closes on March 2, 2024.
Past newsletters
October 2023
November 2023
December 2023
If you have difficulty understanding English or have a disability, free language assistance or other aids and services are available upon request. Please call 564-233-1879.
Si tiene dificultades para entender la lengua inglesa o presenta una discapacidad, puede solicitar asistencia lingüística y otros tipos de ayuda y servicios sin coste alguno. Llame al siguiente número de teléfono 564-233-1879.
Если у вас есть трудности с пониманием английского языка или у вас инвалидность, по запросу предоставляется бесплатная языковая помощь или другие вспомогательные средства и услуги. Пожалуйста позвоните по телефону 564-233-1879.
ਜੇਕਰ ਤੁਹਾਨੂੰ ਅੰਗਰੇਜ਼ੀ ਸਮਝਣ ਵਿੱਚ ਔਖਿਆਈ ਹੁੰਦੀ ਹੈ ਜਾਂ ਫਿਰ ਤੁਸੀਂ ਅਪਾਹਜ ਹੋ, ਤਾਂ ਅਪੀਲ ’ਤੇ ਮੁਫਤ ਭਾਸ਼ਾ ਸਹਾਇਤਾ ਜਾਂ ਹੋਰ ਸਹਾਇਤਾਵਾਂ ਅਤੇ ਸੇਵਾਵਾਂ ਉਪਲੱਬਧ ਹਨI ਕਿਰਪਾ ਕਰ ਕੇ ਕਾਲ ਕਰੋ 564-233-1879.
The Department of Ecology is preparing for the Nooksack water right adjudications over the course of the next biennium. Adjudication is needed to determine how much water is legally available for use and to secure water for long-term planning and instream flow protection. For more information, please visit our Nooksack Adjudication website.
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