Water rights search guidance

The Water Rights Search is used to either conduct:

• Map based searches using coordinates or any of nine other tools to navigate the map and retrieve map data.
• Text based water right record searches, using up to 24 different input fields to construct queries and find water rights.

The Water Rights Search application is an efficient tool for anyone researching water right permits, certificates, or claims, or seeking to obtain a water right in Washington. This tool can target just one or thousands of water right records, making it useful to consultants, real estate agents, local government staff, elected officials, and holders of existing water rights.

The web map search and record search pages allow users to query and view data and documents relating to water right permits, certificates, and claims. This includes the mapped place of water use and water sources (existing and proposed) for water right certificates, permits, claims, or applications as described on the documents maintained by Ecology. As of March 2021 we've mapped 70 percent of the water rights and claims of water use documents on file.

Each record found in a search provides a link to available water resource documents that include:

• Water right certificates, water use permits, applications for water use, and claims of water use
• The authorized, claimed, or requested quantity of water (both current and annual) and number of irrigated acres
• The purpose of water use, priority date or date of first use, as well as the owner of record
• Flow data from stream gauging stations