Whatcom County water rights legal process set to start this week; live-stream available
Hearings will start Wednesday to decide who owns the rights to water across Whatcom County — and how much water they can use in wet and dry years — as part of a lawsuit brought by the state Department of Ecology.
Whatcom County Superior Court Judge David Freeman is presiding over the case, which is called an “adjudication.”
An initial hearing in the case is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Wednesday in the County Council Chambers instead of a courtroom at the Whatcom County Courthouse, 311 Grand Ave.
“Whatcom County Superior Court recognizes the unprecedented size and complexity of the Water Resource Inventory Area 1 water adjudication,” court officials said in an emailed statement announcing the venue Monday.
Capacity of the Council Chambers is 200, and the session will be live-streamed.
In addition, the County Council voted unanimously on June 18 to allow Superior Court hearings on Water Resource Inventory Area 1 adjudication outside the courthouse and outside the city of Bellingham, which is the county seat.
Ecology’s lawsuit could affect 30,000 people with wells and other water users in the Nooksack River Basin, according to previous Bellingham Herald reporting.
Water Resource Inventory Area 1 is the entire Nooksack River basin, including all rivers, creeks, ponds, lakes and groundwater in all of Whatcom and part of northwestern Skagit County.
Government officials often refer to adjudication using the acronym WRIA 1, which they pronounce “WHY-ra.”
Water rights in the Nooksack River basin have been a topic of discussion for more three decades, culminating with a 2016 state Supreme Court ruling that said Whatcom County officials weren’t following state Growth Management Act requirements to protect water resources.
Affected parties include local governments, including Lummi Nation and the Nooksack Tribe, farmers, businesses and rural residents with wells. People who get their water from a utility such as the city of Bellingham won’t be affected, Ecology said.
Ecology has created a website to explain the adjudication process. Whatcom County also created a website with information about how it will work.
Starting this summer, Ecology said it will send forms by certified mail to all property owners in WRIA 1 who are within the area of a recorded water right or outside a public water system service area.
That process is expected to last into 2025, Ecology said at its website.
“In the following years, the Whatcom County Superior Court will review the forms and inventory all legal water rights. The adjudication process will determine whether each water right on a source is legal, how much water can be used, and its priority during water shortages,” Ecology said.