Water Resources > Water Right Information

Water Right Information

Do I Need a Water Right?

The waters of Washington State collectively belong to the public and cannot be owned by any one individual or group.  Instead, individuals or groups may be granted rights to use them.  A water right is a legal authorization to use a predefined quantity of public water for a designated purpose.  This purpose must qualify as a beneficial use.  Beneficial use involves the application of a reasonable quantity of water to a non-wasteful use, such as irrigation, domestic water supply, or power generation, to name a few.  An average household uses about 300 gallons of water per day.

State law requires certain users of public waters to receive approval from the state prior to using water - in the form of a water right permit or certificate.  Any use of surface water (lakes, ponds, rivers, streams, or springs) which began after the state water code was enacted in 1917 requires a water-right permit or certificate.

Likewise, withdrawals of underground (ground) water from 1945 onward, when the state groundwater code was enacted, require a water right permit or certificate – unless the use is specifically exempt from state permitting requirements.  While “exempt” groundwater uses are excused from needing a state permit, they still are considered to be water rights.

For more information read:   An Introduction to Washington Water Law

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Formal AGO opinion regarding the groundwater exemption

On November 18, 2005, the state Attorney General’s Office issued a formal opinion regarding how the groundwater exemption, especially for watering livestock, should be applied.

• AGO 2005 No. 17  Water - Water Rights - Department of Ecology - Rules and Regulations

There are four types of groundwater uses exempt from the state water-right permitting requirements:

• Providing water for livestock (no gallon per day limit or acre restriction).
• Watering a non-commercial lawn or garden one-half acre in size or less (no gallon per day limit).
• Providing water for a single home or groups of homes (limited to 5,000 gallons per day).
• Providing water for industrial purposes, including irrigation (limited to 5,000 gallons per day but no acre limit).

Water use of any sort is subject to the "first in time, first in right" clause, originally established in historical Western water law and now part of Washington state law.  This means that a senior right cannot be impaired by a junior right. Seniority is established by priority date - the date an application was filed for a permitted or certificated water right - or the date that water was first put to beneficial use in the case of claims (discussed below) and exempt groundwater withdrawals.

Additional information:

• AGO 1997 No. 6 - Water - Water Rights - Wells - Status in water rights system of exempt ground water withdrawals

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Is My Water Right Valid?

A period of five or more consecutive years of non-use of a water right may result in loss of all or a portion of that water right.  Read more in the following documents:

• Water Right Relinquishment
• Form for Requesting Existing Water Right Information

Tracking Water Right Applications

Ecology tracks water right applications and permits in its Water Right Application Tracking System or WRATS.  A snapshot of this data is provided in the link below.  For the most current information, please contact the appropriate regional office.

• WRTS data (The water right application reports are updated on a monthly basis.  The reports have the date of the last update in the upper left corner)

Internet Posting of Draft and Final Report of Examination (ROEs)

• View and comment on Draft ROEs and view Final ROEs
• Water Resources Program Policy POL-1005 Internet Posting of Reports of Examination

Water Right Changes

With much of our water already allocated in Washington State, new water rights are increasingly difficult to obtain.  As a result, more and more people are choosing to make changes to existing water rights.  Ecology may consider changes to the following elements of an existing water right permit, certificate, or claim:

• Place of use
• Point of diversion or withdrawal
• Additional point(s) of diversion or withdrawal
• Purpose of use

Administrative Policy for Recording the Agreed Division of Water Rights Among Multiple Property Owners POL-1070

For more information, read our publication, Changing an Existing Water Right or Water Right Claim. 

Water Claims

In the 1960's, the Washington State legislature realized the need to document water rights established prior to 1917 for surface water and prior to 1945 for ground water.  These water rights are vested rights.  A vested right is a water right established through beneficial use of water.  A water right claim is a statement of beneficial use of water that began prior to 1917 for surface water and prior to 1945 for ground water. In 1967, the Claims Registration Act was passed to record the amount and location of these vested water rights.

The Claims Registration Act set a specific time window for water users to file their water right claims with the state.  Users of exempt ground-water withdrawals were also encouraged to file claims so that they could establish priority dates for their rights.  Some users were not required to file a claim, including:

• Individuals served water through a company, district, public or municipal corporation (the water supplier should have filed claims for its users);
• Persons with a valid Water Right Permit or recorded Certificate;
• Individuals with a water right determined by Court Decree and recorded through issuance of a Certificate of Water Right by Ecology or one of its predecessor agencies;
• Non-consumptive water uses, like boating, swimming, or other recreational and aesthetic uses, with no physical diversion or artificial impoundment of water; or
• Owners of livestock that drank directly from a surface-water source.

The initial statewide opening of the Claims Registry ended June 30, 1974.  The legislature has subsequently re-opened the Claims Registry three times.  The most recent opening occurred from September 1997 to June 1998.  Statewide, there are roughly 169,000 water-right claims on record.

Claims will remain valid until such time that an adjudication occurs, whereby the validity of the claims must be proven before a court of law.  Adjudication can be initiated by several means, but normally will not occur unless there are significant problems with water availability in an area.  During adjudication, claimants are required to prove that water has been in constant beneficial use prior to 1917 for surface water and prior to 1945 for ground water.  Five or more consecutive years of non-use may invalidate a claim.

For more information, please refer to Water Right Claims

Surface Water, Ground Water and Instream Flows

• Mitigation Measures Used in Water Right Processing: This document reviews mitigation measures that have been approved by Ecology’s regional offices in conjunction with various permit applications.
• Surface Water / Ground Water Interaction - Yakima River Basin Ground Water - Surface Water Study
• Instream Flows

Municipal Water Law

Municipal Water Law - Municipal water is an important element of water management in Washington state. This web page is restricted to issues relevant to the Department of Ecology from the 2003 Municipal Water Law (Municipal Water Supply – Efficiency Requirements Act Chapter 5, Laws of 2003).

Cost Reimbursement: Water Resources Expediting decisions on water right applications

The Cost Reimbursement option A substantial backlog exists for water right applications in Washington State. The Department of Ecology (Ecology) has limited staff to review these applications and, as competition for water increases in the face of additional growth, the complexity of the decision-making has increased.

Thousands of applications have been pending for many years – some for more than a decade. In 2000, the state Legislature created a new alternative (RCW 43.21A.690 and RCW 90.03.265) for any applicant to expedite the decision-making on his or her application. This is the Cost Reimbursement option.

• Focus on Cost Reimbursement

Updating The Washington Irrigation Guide

Ecology, WSU and NRCS have developed a Scope of Work to update the Washington Irrigation Guide.  However, because of the widespread use of this document by Washington State stakeholders, Ecology asked for comments on the proposed scope before funding the work.  Ecology received comments from the public on the scope of work between January 22 to February 22, 2008. Those comments may be incorporated into the scope of work. More information

Adjudication

• Water Right General Adjudications

Forms

• Forms for Water Right Application - Water Right Change - Reservoir - Water Right Claim - Miscellaneous