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Bill would let missed pre‑code water users join Nooksack adjudication; Ecology and local irrigation board back effort
Summary
Substitute Senate Bill 5212 would allow filing an adjudication claim in Water Resource Inventory Area 1 to satisfy past statement‑of‑claim registration requirements, enabling some unregistered pre‑code water users to participate in the Nooksack general adjudication.
The House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee heard testimony March 19 on Substitute Senate Bill 5212, a measure aimed at broadening access to the general adjudication that Ecology filed last year for Water Resource Inventory Area 1 (the Nooksack Basin).
Lily Smith, committee staff, explained that historically the legislature opened a statewide water‑right claim registry in limited periods (1967, 1985 and 1997) and that failing to file during those windows generally waived the ability to assert a pre‑code water right. SB 5212 would provide that, for this adjudication, filing an adjudication claim satisfies the earlier statement‑of‑claim requirement; claims filed during the adjudication would be subordinate to previously established water rights.
Ria Burns, program manager for Ecology’s Water Resources Program, testified in support of the bill’s intent and said the bill “creates transparency and fairness in the WRIA 1 adjudication by allowing individuals with unregistered water right claims to participate.” Burns also confirmed the proposal’s subordination clause so that unregistered claims would not be prioritized above registered or properly established rights.
Bill Clark of the Whatcom Ag Water Board, representing six irrigation districts, told the committee the bill is an “access to justice” approach: it gives homeowners with private wells, farmers and municipal users a way to file in court to determine whether they have a legal water right. Clark said the adjudication notice process is under way and that the adjudication will include both surface and ground water in WRIA 1.
Committee members asked technical questions about scope and the inclusion of exempt wells. Ecology and the irrigation representative confirmed the adjudication covers both ground and surface water and that private well owners will need to file claims to be a party in the court case. No vote was taken on SB 5212 during the hearing.
