Water right forfeiture in Washington state from 1967 to 2019

Water right forfeiture in Washington state from 1967 to 2019

Official Journal of the World Water Council - Water Policy
RESEARCH ARTICLE | JUNE 18, 2026
Matt Yourek; Daniel Haller; Nicholas A. Potter; Kirti Rajagopalan; Kairon Shayne D. Garcia; Jonathan Yoder

ABSTRACT

Under the prior appropriation doctrine of the Western United States, persistent nonuse of a water right may lead to its forfeiture. Although water right forfeiture is statutorily defined, its incidence remains poorly understood. This paper analyzes water right forfeiture in Washington State from 1967 to 2019 to address this knowledge gap. The data primarily come from water right change requests, but we also examine court decisions in general adjudications and orders issued by the regulatory agency. We show that forfeiture following review of a water right change request was relatively uncommon before the 2000s but became substantially more frequent thereafter. We further show that forfeiture rates vary geographically, with some subbasins experiencing much higher rates than others. Additionally, forfeiture incidence varies across water right type, purpose of use, and type of owner, among other dimensions. Compared with change authorizations, forfeiture resulting from State-issued orders has occurred less often, especially in recent years. Finally, we found that adjudication accounts for the majority of the state's forfeiture by volume of water. This analysis provides valuable information for evaluating forfeiture policy and managing water rights.