The Chehalis River Council reported on this in Drops of Water late last year.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Linda Pilkey-Jarvis, Environmental Specialist, (360) 407-6644
Mary Getchell, Public Information Manager, (360) 407-6157; Pager (360) 534-8590

Last Chance to Claim a Vested Water Right in Washington State

OLYMPIA -- The time is drawing near for Washington state property owners to claim they -- or a predecessor to their land -- have been using water since a time before state law required a water right, 53 or 81 years ago.

On midnight, June 30, the Washington Department of Ecology will close the Water Right Claims Registry that temporarily has been open since Sept. 1, 1997.

"With water becoming a more and more stressed resource, it is difficult to over-emphasize how important it is to file a water-right claim now. However, it is important to understand that filing a water claim does not guarantee a permanent water right or provide relief to someone using water illegally," said Keith Phillips, Ecology's manager for the Water Resources Program.

A person should file a claim if he or she owns property in Washington state and doesn't have a water right claim, permit or certificate for the water being used. There are specific criteria that make people eligible to file claims, such as where they get their water, how long they've been using their water, and how much water they use.

1. If they or a previous landowner have been using water from a lake, river or stream since prior to 1917, and have used it continuously since that time; or
2. If they or a previous landowner have been using more than 5,000 gallons of ground water per day since prior to 1945, and have used it continuously since that time.

Filing a claim is just one step toward possibly getting a water right permit. The next step would be for Ecology or a citizen to file a petition with Superior Court. Then, the Superior Court would conduct a general water-right adjudication to determine the validity of the claim. The court may direct Ecology to issue water rights in response to some claims, and other claims would be termed illegal water uses and the users would be directed to stop using water.

In 1997, Gov. Gary Locke agreed with the Legislature's desire to reopen the water-right claims registry to give Washington state a more complete picture of water use and put an end to the confusion of who should file a claim.

By the end of May, more than 16,000 people had contacted Ecology, but only 660 people have filed claims so far. Ecology has accepted 345 of the 660 applications as properly filed claims.

"A huge bonus of the filing period has been the educational benefit," said Candy Pittman, Ecology's coordinator for the claims registry. "We've enjoyed this great opportunity to work directly with people and share information with them about water rights."

This is the fourth time in 23 years that the legislature directed the opening of the claims registry. In previous openings, citizens filed a total of 165,000 claims. Only 6 percent of those claims have been adjudicated, where a court has decided which claims are legitimate.

"If history repeats itself, we will see lots of folks filing claims in the next couple of weeks," said Phillips.

Staff at Ecology's Lacey, Bellevue, Spokane, and Yakima offices will be ready, date stamp in hand Monday through Friday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m., throughout June, to receive applications. On June 30, Ecology's offices will be open until midnight.

People seeking information about the water right claims process should contact Ecology's toll-free Water Right Claims Assistance number: 1-800-468-0261.