Revised Code of Washington

Wash. Rev. Code § 90.44.120 (2026)

Penalty for waste or unauthorized use of water

✓ current as of May 2026

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The unauthorized use of groundwater to which another person is entitled, or the wilful or negligent waste of groundwater, or the failure, when required by the department, to cap flowing wells or equip the same with valves, fittings, or casings to prevent waste of groundwaters, or to cap or plug wells producing waters which contaminate other waters, shall be a misdemeanor.

[ 1987 c 109 s 115; 1949 c 63 s 2; 1947 c 122 s 3; Rem. Supp. 1949 s 7400-11A.]

Notes:

Purpose—Short title—Construction—Rules—Severability—Captions—1987 c 109: See notes following RCW 43.21B.001.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 1 case, 1969–1969 · leading case: State v. Ponten, 463 P.2d 150 (Wash. 1969).

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State v. Ponten, 463 P.2d 150 (Wash. 1969). · cites it 2× “To the contrary, an intent to protect beneficial use of water from all subsequent deprivation is indicated by the fact that the statute safeguards against willful or negligent waste of ground water (RCW 90.”

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.