The committee heard testimony Jan. 16 on Senate Bill 5212, which would modify claim‑filing requirements for the water‑rights adjudication filed by the Department of Ecology in Water Resource Inventory Area 1 (WIRA‑1) in Whatcom County.

Staff summarized the background: Washington’s surface‑water (1917) and groundwater (1945) codes created permit systems; the Claims Registration Act created statutory periods when users filed statements of claim. Ecology filed a general water‑rights adjudication for WIRA‑1 in Whatcom County on May 1, 2024. Under current statutes, a failure to file a required statement of claim in the specified filing windows generally results in a deemed waiver or relinquishment of the water right.

Senate Bill 5212 would provide that a person filing an adjudication claim in the WIRA‑1 adjudication after June 1, 2023 satisfies prior statement‑of‑claim filing requirements, allowing certain pre‑codal water users who missed earlier registries to participate in the adjudication process. Sponsor Senator Sharon Shumik said the change is intended to make adjudication more transparent and fair and to give pre‑code users a chance to have their claims heard; she emphasized the bill does not automatically grant a water right.

Whatcom County water interests, represented by Bill Clark of the Whatcom Ag Water Board, told the committee the adjudication will likely involve tens of thousands of parties — Ecology staff estimated the adjudication could involve municipal systems, farmers, homeowners with wells, dairies and other users — and that the bill would provide an avenue for pre‑code claimants to present evidence in court. Clark said the Yakima adjudication process in the 1970s and 1980s provided a useful precedent for legislative accommodation when adjudications open.

The Department of Ecology testified neutral. Ria Burns, Ecology’s water‑rights program manager, said the bill could create fairness concerns for those who participated in past claims registries (1985 and 1997) because registrants in those windows are statutorily subordinate to existing water users; claims newly admitted under this bill would not be subordinate in the same way, which could change priority relationships. Ecology asked to work with sponsors to refine language.

Public testimony was heard and closed Jan. 16; no fiscal note was available at the hearing.