This bill creates a time-limited pilot process for a general adjudication of water rights in the upper Columbia River area by adding a new section to chapter 90.03 RCW and by amending other provisions of that chapter. The change is procedural: it authorizes and requires a state department to initiate the adjudication in Stevens County Superior Court, establishes special service and timing rules for summonses and claims, allows settlement negotiations with federal and tribal claimants and affected federal Columbia Basin project irrigation districts, and includes reporting and funding provisions. The new section expressly does not create new water rights and is set to expire December 31, 2035. Key procedural features set by the bill include pre-filing consultation with the Administrative Office of the Courts and reporting to legislative committees about budget needs; filing a department report with a brief statement of facts and a map to commence the adjudication; court-ordered summonses to federal and federally recognized tribal governments with a return day generally between 100 and 130 days (court may extend for good cause); service by personal delivery or first-class mail (mail service completing five judicial days after mailing) and, where necessary, publication once a week for six consecutive weeks. Special timing rules apply to WRIA 1 adjudications filed after June 1, 2023 (a minimum one-year period to file claims). After completion of the special service steps, most existing adjudication procedures in RCW 90.03 (specified ranges) apply. The bill requires annual status reports during settlement negotiations, a department report identifying additional potential claimants by specified triggers, motions for default against nonfiling defendants, and a department report to the legislature and Office of Financial Management by June 15, 2035 to evaluate the pilot. The bill shifts certain expense responsibilities subject to available appropriations (the state bears state expenses; the county where the adjudication is held may be provided for extraordinary court costs if funded). Definitions provided include “judicial day” and “return day.” The extracted text is incomplete in places: the specific department named in some provisions is not consistently defined in the provided facts (one provision names Department of Ecology for personal service), the geographic boundaries or map of the “upper Columbia River area” are not included, and the amendment text to RCW 90.03.110 and other referenced sections was incomplete in the materials supplied.

If enacted, the bill launches a time‑limited pilot to sort out all water rights in the upper Columbia area, which will create immediate, concentrated legal work for the state agency named to run the process (the department referenced, with Ecology named in some parts), Stevens County Superior Court, and the affected tribes, federal agencies, and irrigation districts. Those governments and any identified private landowners outside city or public water system boundaries will be formally notified and must either file claims, negotiate settlements (including with federal Columbia Basin irrigation districts), or risk default; the state intends to absorb the state’s legal costs but must ask the legislature and the courts for new budget support, so the department and the court will likely need additional staffing, funding requests, and regular reporting on progress and settlements. Practical impacts include higher near‑term costs and workload for the department and for Stevens County courts, potential settlements or clarified obligations for tribes, federal agencies, and irrigation districts, and the likelihood that some rural landowners will receive summonses and need to respond; counties might incur extraordinary court costs that could be reimbursed only if funds are appropriated. Key implementation uncertainties remain in the text provided: the specific department name and the exact geographic boundaries of the “upper Columbia river area” are not defined here, and parts of related statute amendments are incomplete.