All persons using or claiming the right to withdraw or divert and make beneficial use of public surface or ground waters of the state, except as provided in this section, RCW 90.14.043, and 90.14.068, shall file with the department of ecology not later than June 30, 1974, a statement of claim for each water right asserted on a form provided by the department. Neither this section nor RCW 90.14.068 apply to any water rights which are based on the authority of a permit or certificate issued by the department of ecology or one of its predecessors. Further, RCW 90.14.068 does not apply to the beneficial uses of water which are the subject of statements of claim in the water rights claims registry prior to September 1, 1997, or which are exempted from permit and application requirements by RCW 90.44.050 and neither this section nor RCW 90.14.068 requires that statements of claims for such uses be filed during the filing period established by RCW 90.14.068.
RCW 90.14.041
Claim of right to withdraw, divert or use ground or surface waters—Filing statement of claim required—Exemptions.
Applied in 6 court decisions — leading case 92 Wash. 2d 306 - Peterson v. Department of Ecology (1979)
Most recently applied in Willowbrook Farms LLP v. Department of Ecology (April 2003)
1997 c 440 s 2; 1988 c 127 s 73; 1969 ex.s. c 284 s 13.
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Official source: Washington State Legislature. Reproduced from public-domain Washington statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.