Thousands Claim Vested Right to Water in Washington State

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ? Sept. 15, 1998

98-162

Contacts: Mary Getchell, Public Information Manager, (360) 407-6157; pager (360) 534-8590
Candy Pittman, Claims Coordinator, (360) 407-6617

Thousands Claim Vested Right to Water in Washington State

OLYMPIA - During the past year, thousands of Washington residents, businesses and local governments filed claims to one of the state's most precious natural resources: water.

The filings were in response to the re-opening of the Water Right Claims Registry, for the first advertised opening in nearly 30 years. From Sept. 1, 1997, through midnight June 30, 1998, people filed 3,696 water right claims with the Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology).

Keith Phillips, who heads Ecology's water-resources program, said the open filing period generated a lot of interest across the state.

"We spoke with more than 23,000 people during the past year regarding water rights and the increasing demand that's being put on water resources in our state," said Phillips. "One of the key outcomes of the claims registry was working directly with people who have questions about water rights, and gaining a more complete picture of water use in our state."

In 1997, when Gov. Gary Locke signed the Water Right Claims Registry law, he said he hoped the registry process would clear up the "murky past" of water-right claims and end confusion about who should file a claim.

The people who needed to file a claim fell into two categories:

Either they or a previous landowner had been using water from a lake, river or stream since prior to 1917 and had used it continuously since that time; or
Either they or a previous landowner had been using more than 5,000 gallons of ground water per day since prior to 1945 and had used it continuously since that time. Property owners using less than 5,000 gallons of ground water per day did not need to file a claim.

Of the nearly 3,700 water-right claims filed, Ecology accepted nearly 60 percent of the applications, thereby adding 2,118 claims to the 165,000 claims that are already on file with Ecology.

Of the remaining 1,578 applications, Ecology rejected 1,089; returned 265 because they were incomplete; and the agency is still reviewing 224 applications and awaiting additional information from claimants.

Based on the claims registration law, the primary reasons for rejecting claims included: the dates the water was first put to use did not meet the dates applicable to a claim; less than 5,000 gallons of ground water a day was being used and, therefore, did not need a claim; or the water use was in an area of the state involved in a court adjudication to determine the status of previously filed claims.

Filing a claim is just one step in the process of seeking a water right. The next step would be for Ecology or a citizen to file a petition with Superior Court. The court would then conduct a general water-right adjudication to determine the validity of the claim. The court may direct Ecology to issue a water right or determine that the water use is illegal and direct the property owner to stop using the water.

Now that the claims registry is closed, people will need to file a water-right permit application to use most water in the state. Currently, Ecology has about 6,000 water-right permit applications awaiting decisions. With 165,000 water-right claims on file from previous filing periods, much of the water in Washington is already being used.

"We're hoping that the water-right claims process spurs more discussion about the fact that we simply don't have cheap water available where and when people want it," said Phillips. "We hope that sound watershed-management planning, which is getting under way in several communities across our state, will be part of the solution to sustainable water management for people, farms, industries and fish."