An Act
Relating to recognizing access to safe and affordable drinking water as a fundamental human right; establishing water as a protected public trust resource; creating statewide drinking water infrastructure obligations; restricting the commodification and speculative control of water resources; affirming tribal co-governance and treaty obligations; establishing protections against industrial overconsumption of potable water resources; and creating enforcement and funding mechanisms.
Section 1 — Short Title
This act shall be known and cited as the:
"Washington Water Security and Human Dignity Act."
Section 2 — Legislative Findings
The Legislature finds that:
- Access to safe, clean, affordable, and accessible drinking water is essential to human dignity, public health, economic stability, and ecological sustainability.
- The waters of Washington are a shared public trust resource held for the benefit of present and future generations.
- Climate change, aging infrastructure, industrial contamination, aquifer depletion, and privatization pressures threaten the long-term availability and quality of drinking water throughout the state.
- The State of Washington has a moral and constitutional obligation to safeguard public health and natural resources for all residents.
- The state recognizes and affirms the treaty-reserved rights, sovereignty, and stewardship responsibilities of federally recognized tribes, including but not limited to the Lummi Nation and the Nooksack Indian Tribe.
- Water shall not be treated primarily as a speculative financial commodity subject to monopolization, profiteering, or permanent privatization.
- The Legislature recognizes that technological advancement must remain subordinate to the protection of human dignity, public health, ecological sustainability, and future generational access to clean water.
- The Legislature further recognizes that emerging high-consumption computational industries, including artificial intelligence infrastructure and hyperscale data centers, may place significant strain on regional water systems and must not compromise the public's access to safe drinking water.
Section 3 — Declaration of Human Right to Water
(1) Every resident of the State of Washington has the right to safe, clean, healthy, accessible, physically available, and affordable water adequate for personal and domestic use.
(2) All state agencies, political subdivisions, public utilities, and local governments shall consider this right in:
- policy development,
- permitting,
- infrastructure investment,
- environmental review,
- public health decisions,
- emergency planning,
- and water resource management.
(3) The state shall prioritize domestic drinking water access over nonessential commercial water uses during shortages or emergencies.
Section 4 — Public Trust Designation
(1) All surface waters, groundwater, aquifers, watersheds, and naturally occurring water systems within the State of Washington are hereby declared public trust resources.
(2) The waters of the state shall not be subject to permanent private ownership.
(3) Water rights issued within the state shall constitute conditional rights of beneficial use and shall remain subordinate to:
- public health,
- ecological sustainability,
- tribal treaty obligations,
- minimum stream flows,
- and future generational needs.
(4) No state agency may authorize water withdrawals that materially threaten:
- drinking water security,
- aquifer recharge,
- watershed health,
- salmon recovery,
- or treaty-protected resources.
Section 5 — Restrictions on Water Commodification
(1) No person, corporation, partnership, investment entity, or foreign-controlled enterprise may acquire, lease, or control water rights within the state for the primary purpose of:
- speculative financial gain,
- water market manipulation,
- bulk export profiteering,
- or monopolization of regional water supplies.
(2) The buying and selling of water rights as speculative investment assets detached from beneficial use is prohibited.
(3) No municipal drinking water utility may be permanently privatized or transferred to private ownership without:
- approval by statewide public referendum,
- affected tribal consultation,
- and legislative authorization.
(4) The state shall prohibit participation in financial instruments or futures markets that commodify Washington water resources for speculative trading purposes.
Section 6 — Water Infrastructure Guarantee Program
(1) The Department of Health, in coordination with the Department of Ecology, shall establish a statewide Water Infrastructure Guarantee Program.
(2) The program shall prioritize:
- lead pipe replacement,
- PFAS and toxic contaminant remediation,
- rural drinking water access,
- failing well systems,
- tribal water infrastructure,
- drought resilience,
- stormwater modernization,
- flood mitigation,
- wastewater upgrades,
- and climate adaptation infrastructure.
(3) Priority funding shall be directed toward:
- disadvantaged communities,
- rural communities,
- underserved urban neighborhoods,
- and communities facing documented contamination risks.
(4) No resident shall be denied access to basic drinking water service solely due to economic hardship without due process protections and emergency continuity measures.
Section 7 — Watershed and Tribal Co-Governance
(1) The state shall establish Regional Watershed Stewardship Councils.
(2) Each council shall include representation from:
- federally recognized tribes,
- counties,
- municipalities,
- public utility districts,
- conservation districts,
- environmental scientists,
- agricultural stakeholders,
- labor representatives,
- and members of the public.
(3) Councils shall advise on:
- watershed sustainability,
- salmon habitat restoration,
- drought preparedness,
- aquifer protection,
- industrial discharge impacts,
- and long-term water planning.
(4) Nothing in this act shall diminish, alter, or impair tribal treaty rights or sovereign authority.
Section 8 — Industrial Accountability
(1) Entities responsible for contamination of drinking water sources shall bear financial responsibility for:
- remediation,
- monitoring,
- public notification,
- and restoration efforts.
(2) The Department of Ecology may impose enhanced penalties for contamination affecting:
- schools,
- residential drinking supplies,
- salmon-bearing waterways,
- or aquifer recharge zones.
Section 8A — High-Consumption Computing and Industrial Water Protections
(1) The Legislature finds that emerging high-consumption computational industries, including artificial intelligence infrastructure, hyperscale data centers, cryptocurrency mining operations, and advanced digital processing facilities, may impose significant demands on regional water supplies and energy systems.
(2) The State of Washington declares that the allocation of water resources for essential human consumption, public health, ecosystem stability, and treaty-protected resources shall take priority over nonessential industrial computational uses.
(3) No permit for a new high-consumption computational facility shall be approved where the Department of Ecology determines that projected water usage may:
- materially impair municipal drinking water availability,
- reduce aquifer sustainability,
- threaten salmon-bearing waterways,
- impair treaty-protected resources,
- increase drought vulnerability,
- or compromise long-term watershed resilience.
(4) All newly permitted hyperscale data centers and high-consumption computational facilities shall:
- disclose projected annual water usage,
- disclose cooling methodologies,
- conduct independent watershed impact assessments,
- implement best available water conservation technologies,
- and maintain emergency drought contingency plans.
(5) The Department of Ecology may require:
- recycled water systems,
- non-potable cooling systems,
- closed-loop cooling infrastructure,
- seasonal usage restrictions,
- and water offset or watershed restoration investments as conditions of permitting approval.
(6) During periods of drought declaration, emergency water shortage, or critical watershed impairment, the state may temporarily curtail nonessential industrial computational water usage in order to preserve:
- drinking water access,
- public health,
- fire suppression capacity,
- ecological stability,
- and treaty-protected resources.
(7) No high-consumption computational facility shall receive priority access to potable water resources over residential populations, hospitals, schools, agricultural food systems, or tribal communities.
(8) The Department of Ecology shall publish annual public reports regarding:
- industrial computational water consumption,
- watershed impacts,
- energy-water nexus demands,
- and cumulative regional infrastructure burdens associated with emerging computational industries.
(9) No industrial use of water, regardless of technological sophistication or economic value, shall supersede the people's right to safe and accessible drinking water.
Section 9 — Water Security Fund
(1) The Washington Water Security Fund is hereby established in the state treasury.
(2) Funds may be used exclusively for:
- drinking water infrastructure,
- watershed restoration,
- contamination remediation,
- tribal water projects,
- climate resilience,
- and emergency water access.
(3) Revenue sources may include:
- industrial extraction fees,
- pollution penalties,
- climate resilience bonds,
- federal matching grants,
- and legislative appropriations.
(4) Funds established under this section may not be diverted for unrelated governmental expenditures.
Section 10 — Enforcement and Public Standing
(1) Any resident of the State of Washington adversely affected by violations of this act shall have standing to seek injunctive relief.
(2) The Attorney General may bring civil enforcement actions against entities violating this act.
(3) Courts interpreting this act shall construe its provisions liberally in favor of protecting:
- public health,
- ecological sustainability,
- and long-term water security.
Section 11 — Severability
If any provision of this act or its application is held invalid, the remainder of the act or application to other persons or circumstances is not affected.
Section 12 — Effective Date
This act takes effect ninety days after adjournment of the session in which it is enacted.