People reliant on a shared well in Whatcom County are expected to fall into three categories for the ongoing water rights lawsuit in the region.
These are “Group A” water systems, where there are 15 or more connections, “Group B” systems, where there are less than 15 connections, and small shared wells, according to a presentation put on by Whatcom County to assist residential well owners navigating the complicated adjudication process.
These well owners, like everyone, are subject to prior-appropriation, which is the idea that a water right holder’s priority is based on the date that water was first being put to use, with earlier users having superior rights.
In times of water shortages, those with more junior rights will be the first to have their water usage restricted.
Whatcom County Superior Court approved the claim forms on Tuesday, Dec. 3 for Water Resource Inventory Area 1, which covers the entire Nooksack Basin, as well as Lake Whatcom, TenMile Creek, Sumas, Point Roberts, Lummi Island and other watersheds.
Residential well users in Group A are expected to have an authorized representative sign the court claim form, which needs to be supported by a water rights document.
However, there is less clarity for how Group B systems will navigate the process, explained Jill Van Hulle of Aspect Consulting, which was hired by Whatcom County to assist with water rights outreach.
Who ends up being ultimately responsible for filling out and submitting the form for Group B systems will be organization-dependent.
“In some cases, you may have a small water system that is being operated for all practical purposes just as effectively as a big water system,” Van Hulle said. “There may be somebody who is dedicated by perhaps a homeowners association, who’s going to be responsible for filling that out.”
In other cases, each individual homeowner might need to fill out the form, as will be the case for small shared-well users.
Residential well users who use less than 500 gallons of water a day or less and irrigate less than half an acre of land will be able to fill out a truncated section of the form. Those with higher water use will be required to provide additional documentation.
The state Department of Ecology, which filed the lawsuit in May, expects to get summons and court claim forms sent to water right holders in February.
Everyone will have until at least May 1, 2026, to complete the form and return it.
Isaac Stone Simonelli is CDN’s enterprise/investigations reporter; reach him at isaacsimonelli@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 127.
