Water use in the Stillaguamish basin

Allowed uses of water

While the rule limits many new water uses, it does not affect:

• Water rights established before Sept. 26, 2005.
• Permit-exempt groundwater use established before Sept. 26, 2005.
• People supplied by city water systems or other large water systems.

Additionally, the rule allows some new uses of water in three limited instances:

1. Single or small group domestic uses relying on permit-exempt wells, limited basin-wide to five cubic feet per second or 3,231,575 gallons of water per day of groundwater.
2. Single indoor domestic uses supplied from lakes and ponds, not to exceed 150 gallons per day, per residence.
3. Stock water uses are limited basin-wide to one cubic foot per second of surface water and 20 acre-feet per year of groundwater.

Tracking new water uses

The rule also requires us to track these new groundwater and stock water uses. We account for new uses annually, based on data from the previous year. The document below with attachments are our most recent records.

• Stillaguamish reservation accounting report  —accounting through Dec. 31, 2023. We also summarize the accounting methods in this report and include a basin map with approximate locations of new water uses, a detailed accounting ledger (Appendix A), and estimated live stock water use (Appendix B).