Wash. Rev. Code » Title 90 · Chapter 90.03
Revised Code of Washington

Wash. Rev. Code § 90.03.010 (2026)

✓ current as of May 2026
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The power of the state to regulate and control the waters within the state shall be exercised as hereinafter in this chapter provided. Subject to existing rights all waters within the state belong to the public, and any right thereto, or to the use thereof, shall be hereafter acquired only by appropriation for a beneficial use and in the manner provided and not otherwise; and, as between appropriations, the first in time shall be the first in right. Nothing contained in this chapter shall be construed to lessen, enlarge, or modify the existing rights of any riparian owner, or any existing right acquired by appropriation, or otherwise. They shall, however, be subject to condemnation as provided in RCW 90.03.040, and the amount and priority thereof may be determined by the procedure set out in RCW 90.03.110 through 90.03.240.
[ 1917 c 117 s 1; RRS s 7351. Prior: 1891 p 127 s 1. Formerly RCW 90.04.020.]
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 46 cases (3 in the last 5 years), 1966–2025 · leading case: Dep't of Ecology v. Campbell & Gwinn, L.L.C., 146 Wash. 2d 1 (Wash. 2002).
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Dep't of Ecology v. Campbell & Gwinn, L.L.C., 146 Wash. 2d 1 (Wash. 2002). · cites it 3× “44 RCW, the groundwater code, is supplemental to the surface water code, chapter 90.03 RCW, and was enacted in 1945 to extend surface water statutes to the appropriation and beneficial use of groundwater.”
State, Dept. of Ecology v. Campbell & Gwinn, 43 P.3d 4 (Wash. 2002). · cites it 3× “44 RCW, the groundwater code, is supplemental to the surface water code, chapter 90.”
State, Dept. of Ecology v. Theodoratus, 957 P.2d 1241 (Wash. 1998). · cites it 4× “applicant will estimate the time needed to actually apply appropriated water to beneficial use, the Department will establish a time period in which water shall actually be applied to beneficial use, extensions of time will be available depending upon the circumstances, and a…”
Dep't of Ecology v. Theodoratus, 135 Wash. 2d 582 (Wash. 1998). · cites it 4× “See RCW 90.03.010; 90.44.020; 90.44.040. Case law is in accord with the statutory requirement that a water right must be based on actual application of water to beneficial use and not upon system capacity.”
Postema v. Pollution Control Hearings Bd., 11 P.3d 726 (Wash. 2000). · cites it 3× “Ecology has not cross-appealed the superior courts' holdings that hydraulic continuity alone does not equate to impairment. To place the issues in context, we begin with general water law principles.”
Postema v. Pollution Control Hearings Bd., 142 Wash. 2d 68 (Wash. 2000). · cites it 3× “To place the issues in context, we begin with general water law principles.”
Swinomish Indian Tribal Cmty. v. Dep't of Ecology, 311 P.3d 6 (Wash. 2013). · cites it 3× “When the 1917 surface water code was enacted, the prior appropriation doctrine was adopted as the sole method for obtaining new water rights, RCW 90.03.010, and a process for appropriating water was established that could result in obtaining a water right certificate for a set…”
Richard A. Fox & Marnie B. Fox, Apps. v. Skagit Cnty., Res., 372 P.3d 784 (Wash. Ct. App. 2016). · cites it 3× “” RCW 90.03.010 (emphasis added). Chapter 90.”
Rettkowski v. Dep't of Ecology, 910 P.2d 462 (Wash. 1996). · cites it 2× “Additionally, we stated the Department had relied primarily on RCW 90.03.010, RCW 43.21A.064(3), and RCW 43.”
Dep't of Ecology v. Acquavella, 112 Wash. App. 729 (Wash. Ct. App. 2002). · cites it 4× “It provides in part that: “Subject to existing rights all waters within the state belong to the public, and any right thereto .”
Port of Seattle v. Pollution Control Hearings Bd., 90 P.3d 659 (Wash. 2004). “RCW 90.03.010. 21 Any person . . . hereafter desiring to appropriate water for a beneficial use shall make an application to the department for a permit to make such appropriation, and shall not use or divert such waters until he has received a permit.”
Lummi Indian Nation v. State, 241 P.3d 1220 (Wash. 2010). · cites it 2× “117, § 1 (currently codified as RCW 90.03.010). The beneficial use of waters is a priority in our state; our state constitution itself specifically provides that “[t]he use of the waters of this state for irrigation, mining and manufacturing purposes shall be deemed a public use.”
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