Adjudication is a legal process. It is the foundation for resolving conflicts and competition over water resources. The process begins by serving a summons to all property owners (claimants) in WRIA 1 who are outside the service area of public water supply systems. The claimants will have one year or more to submit a court claim form to the Whatcom County Superior Court that describes their water usage.
In the following years, the 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. Then, over time, Ecology will issue adjudicated certificates for all these uses.
The adjudication will include all areas of WRIA 1, regardless of whether they are directly connected to the Nooksack River system. Use our Watershed look-up tool to learn if your address is within WRIA 1.
WRIA 1 Whatcom County Superior Court Documents - May 2024
At the direction of the Washington State Legislature, Ecology filed a water rights adjudication for the Water Resource Inventory Area (WRIA). This filing involves Ecology submitting legal documents with the Whatcom County Superior Court.
Documents
Please note these documents are historical and may not reflect the most current information. For the latest updates please refer to the 2025 documents above.
Monthly newsletters are sent to provide the most up-to-date information on this adjudication of water rights in WRIA 1 (Nooksack Area) in parts of Whatcom and Skagit Counties. Below, you can find all of the past newsletters and the subjects they covered:
*Please be advised that some information on the newsletters is now out-of-date. We recommend that you refer to the highlighted topics or more recent newsletters for the most up-to-date information.
2025
Topic
Date
We sent a mailer. Your adjudication court claim form is on the way.