Nooksack WRIA 1 Water Adjudication: An Overview

Tens of thousands of pieces of certified mail arrived at households in the Nooksack Basin, and local Facebook groups and Reddit have been alive with questions - "what is this? do I need to do anything?"

If you haven't been watching our Infrastructure Updates or read our blog post a couple years back (it's here for reference), here's a quick summary:

• The context: water rights in Washington State have been regulated under the doctrine of prior appropriation (if you use it first, you have a priority right) since 1917
• The problem: The Nooksack Subbasin won't be able to provide infinite water indefinitely. Records of legal water rights are sometimes vague or overlapping, and publicly-recorded documents aren't complete.
• Adjudication: the Dept of Ecology filed a lawsuit through Whatcom County Superior Court asking the Court to oversee an administrative process of (1) retrieving information (from property owners), (2) adjudicating (prioritizing) the individual water rights, and (3) documenting water rights assigned to each property. 

What's happening now:

• Information gathering stage: certified mail went out in mid-March to summon individual property owners to declare their water usage and associated documentation that's available. The Dept of Ecology provided a very detailed guide to filling this out properly.
• Property owners have 1 year to provide the Court with this information.
• Municipal water users have received the notification and information packet, but are exempt from filling out this individually; the City/public water district will handle that - however, all should read the included instructions closely if you use irrigation or well water, or are unsure how your property qualifies.

Key links & resources:

• 2020 Dept of Ecology Legislative Report with an urgent recommendation
• Dept of Ecology webpage, including upcoming community informational events
• Short summary of adjudication from the state Adjudication Manager
• March 2025 Special Edition: detailed info on the claims form
• WA State Well Report Viewer  | Water Rights Search | Whatcom County Property Search