Whatcom County residential well users urged to file court claims before May 1, 2026 deadline

Whatcom County residential well users were urged to prepare and file court claim forms by May 1, 2026 so their historic and current water uses are included in the ongoing adjudication of Water Resources Inventory Area 1 (WIRA 1), presenters said at a county workshop.

"That's when your deadline is to file a court claim form," said Cara Coleman, the primary presenter from Aspect Consulting, which is under contract with Whatcom County Public Works to provide adjudication outreach and technical assistance.

The workshop explained why the adjudication matters: the Whatcom County Superior Court case will inventory water uses across the Nooksack Basin and adjacent areas, issue a priority schedule (oldest rights first) and, ultimately, produce adjudicated certificates the Washington State Department of Ecology records on property titles. Coleman said Ecology filed the case in May 2024 and sent summonses and court claim packets to potential claimants in March 2025.

The session focused on residential users who rely on the groundwater permit exemption in RCW 90.44.050. Coleman reviewed the permit-exempt limits that apply and noted there are two relevant sets of rules. Under the pre-2020 rule, an individual domestic use could claim up to 5,000 gallons per day (plus watering up to a half-acre); the updated WIRA 1 rules adopted in 2020 establish lower limits for newer uses: a single home may claim up to 500 gallons per day plus watering up to 1 acre, and a group of homes may claim up to 3,000 gallons per day plus watering up to a half-acre. Coleman emphasized that stock water has no gallon-per-day limit under the exemption and that exemptions can be stacked (for example, domestic use plus stock water).

Presenters walked attendees through the court claim form, which has four parts: part A (claimant information) and part D (signature) must be completed by all filers; part B is a simplified form for small domestic groundwater uses (defined on the form as indoor use of 500 gallons per day or less and irrigation of up to a half-acre) and was created to reduce burdens on homeowners; part C is for all other uses and for claimants who do not fit into part B.

Coleman demonstrated practical steps homeowners can take to preserve a priority date: use county assessor records or well-drilling reports to document a house-completion or well-drilling date (common proxies for priority), gather well logs if available, and estimate current and historical water use. She showed Whatcom and Skagit assessor databases, Ecology’s well-report viewer and two web maps (Whatcom County Public Works and Ecology), and explained the county calculators Aspect developed — residential, irrigation and livestock — to convert everyday use estimates into annual volumes and acre-feet per year for the court form.

The presenters recommended options for claimants: use meter records if available (meter data is not required), or use the county’s calculators and the FAQ documents that cite default values (for example, Washington guidance that averages roughly 60 gallons per person per day). Coleman demonstrated how small differences in fixture flow rates or appliance use can materially change estimated daily and annual use. The workshop also corrected unfamiliar units: one acre-foot equals about 325,851 gallons, and the court form sometimes requests volumes in acre-feet per year.

Coleman and facilitator Megan Bates (also of Aspect Consulting) answered common questions: if a claimant makes a mistake on a filed form there are opportunities to amend later but filing by the May 1, 2026 deadline is critical; part B can be used in some shared-well or accessory-dwelling scenarios but complex situations may require multiple forms; if assessor or well-log records are missing, neighbors, previous owners, historical aerial imagery and Ecology staff can be sources of evidence. On administrative timing, presenters said the legislature set a minimum three-year evidence period after initial filings; Ecology has estimated a best-case wrap-up in about 15 years, but outcomes and timing are uncertain and subject to court scheduling and litigation.

The workshop closed by pointing attendees to in-person open houses Ecology will hold in late May (locations announced for Bellingham-area communities including Ferndale and Lynden), Ecology’s annual adjudication webinar in June, monthly newsletters from Ecology and forthcoming court notices, and the Bellingham Ecology field office staff who will help with questions. "If you make a mistake... There are opportunities to amend a claim later," Coleman said, encouraging people to file on time and seek assistance from Ecology or county staff if they need help.

For more information, presenters directed residents to Whatcom County Public Works’ adjudication page, Ecology’s adjudication web map and the Whatcom County Superior Court adjudication resources; Aspect Consulting also will email the workshop presentation and hyperlinks to attendees.