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    Landowner's Guide to Washington Water Rights

    Posted 2019
    Source
    Trout Unlimited
    About This PDF

    This handbook was developed to provide basic tools for understanding Washington water rights. If you own land with water rights, want to buy or sell land with water rights, or want to transfer water rights, this handbook can help you become more knowledgeable. Water rights are confusing and there is a great deal of misinformation surrounding them—all of which has caused a variety of Washington landowners considerable difficulty and disappointment.

    Although this guide will not make you a water rights expert, it will provide you with sufficient background to understand the basics of a water right, and help you know what questions to ask.

    Washington’s water law is complex. It is based upon state law and interpreted through administrative rules and case law. Each water right’s parameters are unique to its location, source, and use.

    This handbook is not a legal or technical guide and is not meant to replace legal advice. If you have particular questions regarding a specific water right, we encourage you to seek advice from a technical water rights specialist, the Department of Ecology, a state certified water rights examiner, an attorney who specializes in water law, and/or staff at the Trout Unlimited – Washington Water Project.