WRIA 1 Water Rights Adjudication – Claim Filing Deadline Extended to June 1, 2027

In an order issued on March 9, 2026, Judge David E. Freeman extended the deadline to file claims in the Water Inventory Resource Area 1 (WRIA 1) water rights adjudication to June 1, 2027.

Prior to the Court’s order, the claim filing deadline for potential claimants who were served by the Department of Ecology through a certified mailing was May 1^st, 2026. The deadline extension to June 1, 2027, applies to all potential claimants, regardless of how they were served.

One of the reasons for extending the deadline was to provide a unified deadline for potential claimants who were served by certified mail and those that were later notified through the Department of Ecology’s notice by publication efforts.

While Ecology sent summons packets via certified mail to a reported 22,000 potential claimants, not every potential claimant received a mailing. Some potential claimants may have outdated addresses, others may not have signed for the certified mailing, and still others may have an incorrect address listed on Whatcom County’s official property records. To reach these remaining water users, RCW 90.03.130 provides that Ecology may provide notice of the adjudication action by publication in a newspaper of general circulation for six consecutive weeks. This process is referred to as “Summons by Publication” or “Notice by Publication”  and ensures that potential claimants who were not reached by Ecology’s mailing are provided sufficient notice of the action to have an opportunity to protect their water rights.

Ecology published the summons by Publication in the Cascadia Daily News on March 20, 2026, which can be viewed here. The notice includes information about the adjudication and a list of all the remaining people who need to be notified. Ecology also publisher a version of the summons in the Skagit Valley Herald, which only lists names associated with parcels in Skagit County that are a part of Water Resource Inventory Area 1, which can be viewed here.

Had the Court not signed the March 9^th order extending the claim filing deadline, those potential claimants who were served by certified mail would have been subject to a different filing deadline than those potential claimants served pursuant to Ecology’s notice by publication. By extending the deadline, the Court provided a uniform deadline that applies to all potential claimants – however they were served – and eliminated much confusion that would have otherwise ensued.

While the extension of the deadline to June 1, 2027, provides valuable time to prepare and file claim forms, it should not be treated as a reason to wait. If you received a summons by certified mail from Ecology, or if your name is listed in the Notice by Publication, and you have question about how to protect your water rights, an attorney experienced in water law can help.