Concerning injured workers' rights during compelled medical examinations.

2023-2024 Regular Session Introduced by Steve Conway and 5 co-sponsors

SB 5212 lets precode water users in WRIA 1 file adjudication claims to satisfy old statement-of-claim rules, while preserving priority for pre-1997 permits, and federal rights.

By resolution, reintroduced and retained in present status.

Summary — SB 5212 (2025)

Concerning filing of adjudication claims for precode uses of groundwater and surface water in the Water Resource Inventory Area 1 (WRIA 1) water rights adjudication

Status: Chapter 318, 2025 Laws. Approved by Governor 5/17/2025. Effective 7/27/2025.
Introduced: 1/09/2025. Sponsors: Sen. Shewmake (primary), Sens. Short, Chapman, Nobles.

Purpose / Intent

SB 5212 creates a statutory pathway for persons claiming precode (pre-permit-system) uses of groundwater or surface water located in WRIA 1 (Nooksack watershed and adjacent areas in Whatcom and Skagit counties) to participate in the WRIA 1 general water rights adjudication. The Legislature framed the change to mirror procedures used in the Yakima basin adjudication and to allow precode users who did not register earlier to make claims in the WRIA 1 court adjudication.

Key provisions

Amends RCW 90.14.043 by adding a new subsection specific to WRIA 1:

For any adjudication filed in WRIA 1 after June 1, 2023, filing an adjudication claim form under RCW 90.03.140 (filed in superior court as part of the adjudication) satisfies the statement-of-claim filing requirement of RCW 90.14.041. In short: an adjudication claim = a statement of claim for WRIA 1 adjudications filed after that date.
Filing such a claim:
Does not affect or impair any water right existing prior to July 27, 1997.
Creates a water-right claim that is subordinate to:
- Any permit or certificate issued under chapters 90.03 or 90.44 RCW issued before the claim is filed with the superior court;
- Any statement-of-claim filed in the water rights claims registry before July 27, 1997;
- Any water right whose basis is federal law.

No new appropriations. Fiscal note available.

Who is affected

Primary beneficiaries: holders of alleged precode water uses (groundwater or surface water) in WRIA 1 who did not or could not file a statement of claim in earlier registration periods — they may now assert those uses by filing adjudication claims in the WRIA 1 court process.

Also affects: Department of Ecology (Ecology), the superior court handling the WRIA 1 adjudication, existing water-right holders in WRIA 1, and federally based water rights.

Note: the change provides access to participate in adjudication proceedings; it does not guarantee recognition or seniority of a water right.

Procedural / timeline notes

The provision applies only to the WRIA 1 adjudication filed after June 1, 2023 (Ecology filed the WRIA 1 adjudication on May 1, 2024).

Bill passed both chambers unanimously and was signed by the Governor; effective date is July 27, 2025.

The statute preserves seniority of preexisting rights and explicitly places newly asserted claims behind earlier permits, pre-1997 registered claims, and federal rights.

Stakeholder input

Support: Representatives of agricultural water users in Whatcom County emphasized the measure enables participation in the adjudication process and supports agricultural viability.

Ecology provided informational (“other”) testimony. No formal opposition was recorded.

Bottom line: SB 5212 allows persons with alleged precode uses in WRIA 1 to satisfy the old statement-of-claim filing requirement by filing an adjudication claim in the WRIA 1 court process, while preserving the priority of earlier state-issued permits, pre‑1997 claims, and federally based rights.