DOE to curb water rights
State's draft "WRIA" rules could limit development
By Barney Burke
Leader Staff Writer
By Barney Burke
Leader Staff Writer
The constraints of state and local land use regulations might seem like a drop in the bucket compared to new rules from the Washington Department of Ecology, which could make it more difficult to obtain new water rights in Jefferson County.
DOE is scheduled to issue draft rules on in-stream flows in the Quilcene-Snow WRIA (water resource inventory area, pronounced "why-raw") on Oct. 5 under legislation that was adopted in 1998.
according to DOE and Jefferson County Public Utility District 1, the rules would not prevent the PUD from piping water from the Chimacum basin to Marrowstone Island.
Also exempt from the rules are existing wells and any new wells drilled to replace failing wells, said Kathleen Enseñat, a DOE environmental planner. The City of Port Townsend's existing water rights are exempted as well.
The bad news for those who want to obtain water rights in the future is that DOE has concluded that five of the 16 basins the WRIA 17 (Quilcene-Snow) have a deficit of groundwater compared to expected demand through 2025.
The deficit basins are Chimacum, Marrowstone Island,Donovan, Johnson and Ludlow. Water can be transferred from areas with a surplus under certain conditions, said Enseñat.
Other ways to address the deficits include conservation and the development of storage facilities, such as the PUD's tentative plans to purchase Peterson Lake.
PUD resource manager Bill Graham estimated that in the Chimacum basin, the reserve amount of groundwater being allocated by DOE — outside the PUD's service area — would be entirely used up in three years based on the current pace of building permit activities.
Public Comment
Expressing more concerns than Graham were nearly 100 property owners who showed up for an Aug. 31 briefing on WRIA 17 at the meeting of the Jefferson County Planning Commission. Many of them hadn't heard of WRIA until they received an email last week from Judi Stewart, a fruit grower from Clallam County.
"What do we have to do to stop this one?" Richard Hild asked, sounding the tone for many.
"If you need more data [to refine the rules], why is this being rushed through?" asked Jim Hagen, chairman of the county planning commission.
"It leaves nothing for the fish — and I'm a fish guy," said PUD Commissioner Wayne King.
Dennis Schultz, a kiwi farmer, was loudly applauded when he said the rules would "wipe out agriculture in this county."
Several people claimed that a lot of the problem comes from the City of Port Townsend and Port Townsend Paper Corp. dumping unused water into the bay. After the meeting, City of Port Townsend Water Resource Specialist Ian Jablonski tried to dispel that belief, affirming that the city and the mill draw only what is needed from the Big Quilcene and Little Quilcene rivers, which was about 11 million gallons a day last week.
"Water rights exceed available water," Enseñat tried to explain. She said the state has not been issuing new water rights for several years already because of the impact of low stream flows on salmon.
"So the basic citizen is being shafted?" replied Norm MacLeod. He and others said that the draft limits allow a ridiculously low amount of water, such as a residential garden allowed just 1/12 of an acre.
But at least one man stood up to say that he feels the problem is very real — and significant. "Water is more important than oil," said John Pitts of Quilcene, who has seen streams in his area dry up in recent years and said he is concerned about declining snowpacks. "This is a finite resource; it does not expand."
Once the draft rules are published, there will be a public comment period and an opportunity to refine them, said Enseñat. However, "it's much more difficult to change after the rule is filed," she said.
Marrowstone Island
Meanwhile, water continues to be a contentious issue on Marrowstone Island, where the PUD is working on a new system to pipe water there.
Ray Harker, who has opposed the PUD project, said WRIA is a "pretty good" way of protecting everyone's rights. He also said he has no intention of using WRIA to thwart PUD's plans.
Harker said that his views have sometimes been misconstrued. "We [he and his wife, Mary] are not trying to stop the PUD from doing anything. We're trying to make sure they're doing it right."
Harker, who has lived on the island for eight years, said he's an environmentalist who's simply trying to protect the streams and salmon. That has "nothing to do with water on Marrowstone Island," he said. Harker sees himself as a steward of the land and said the issue is much broader than whether an island resident has enough water to flush his toilet all the time." It's about "protecting the environment," he said.
Dave Keeler, who has lived on the island for 20 years, said his well went bad about a month ago, and he's having water trucked in at 85 cents a gallon.
"It's frustrating," said Keeler, when you don't have enough water for your family and you have to wear dark clothing because the water stains it. He has erected a plywood sign on his Schwartz Road property to make his views known.
Keeler said he hasn't had a chance to read up on WRIA but is concerned about it based on what he knows so far.
Like Harker, Keeler said the Marrowstone water issue "has nothing to do with water." But in Keeler's view, the issue is "I'm here and you can't come here."
DOE is scheduled to issue draft rules on in-stream flows in the Quilcene-Snow WRIA (water resource inventory area, pronounced "why-raw") on Oct. 5 under legislation that was adopted in 1998.
according to DOE and Jefferson County Public Utility District 1, the rules would not prevent the PUD from piping water from the Chimacum basin to Marrowstone Island.
Also exempt from the rules are existing wells and any new wells drilled to replace failing wells, said Kathleen Enseñat, a DOE environmental planner. The City of Port Townsend's existing water rights are exempted as well.
The bad news for those who want to obtain water rights in the future is that DOE has concluded that five of the 16 basins the WRIA 17 (Quilcene-Snow) have a deficit of groundwater compared to expected demand through 2025.
The deficit basins are Chimacum, Marrowstone Island,Donovan, Johnson and Ludlow. Water can be transferred from areas with a surplus under certain conditions, said Enseñat.
Other ways to address the deficits include conservation and the development of storage facilities, such as the PUD's tentative plans to purchase Peterson Lake.
PUD resource manager Bill Graham estimated that in the Chimacum basin, the reserve amount of groundwater being allocated by DOE — outside the PUD's service area — would be entirely used up in three years based on the current pace of building permit activities.
Public Comment
Expressing more concerns than Graham were nearly 100 property owners who showed up for an Aug. 31 briefing on WRIA 17 at the meeting of the Jefferson County Planning Commission. Many of them hadn't heard of WRIA until they received an email last week from Judi Stewart, a fruit grower from Clallam County.
"What do we have to do to stop this one?" Richard Hild asked, sounding the tone for many.
"If you need more data [to refine the rules], why is this being rushed through?" asked Jim Hagen, chairman of the county planning commission.
"It leaves nothing for the fish — and I'm a fish guy," said PUD Commissioner Wayne King.
Dennis Schultz, a kiwi farmer, was loudly applauded when he said the rules would "wipe out agriculture in this county."
Several people claimed that a lot of the problem comes from the City of Port Townsend and Port Townsend Paper Corp. dumping unused water into the bay. After the meeting, City of Port Townsend Water Resource Specialist Ian Jablonski tried to dispel that belief, affirming that the city and the mill draw only what is needed from the Big Quilcene and Little Quilcene rivers, which was about 11 million gallons a day last week.
"Water rights exceed available water," Enseñat tried to explain. She said the state has not been issuing new water rights for several years already because of the impact of low stream flows on salmon.
"So the basic citizen is being shafted?" replied Norm MacLeod. He and others said that the draft limits allow a ridiculously low amount of water, such as a residential garden allowed just 1/12 of an acre.
But at least one man stood up to say that he feels the problem is very real — and significant. "Water is more important than oil," said John Pitts of Quilcene, who has seen streams in his area dry up in recent years and said he is concerned about declining snowpacks. "This is a finite resource; it does not expand."
Once the draft rules are published, there will be a public comment period and an opportunity to refine them, said Enseñat. However, "it's much more difficult to change after the rule is filed," she said.
Marrowstone Island
Meanwhile, water continues to be a contentious issue on Marrowstone Island, where the PUD is working on a new system to pipe water there.
Ray Harker, who has opposed the PUD project, said WRIA is a "pretty good" way of protecting everyone's rights. He also said he has no intention of using WRIA to thwart PUD's plans.
Harker said that his views have sometimes been misconstrued. "We [he and his wife, Mary] are not trying to stop the PUD from doing anything. We're trying to make sure they're doing it right."
Harker, who has lived on the island for eight years, said he's an environmentalist who's simply trying to protect the streams and salmon. That has "nothing to do with water on Marrowstone Island," he said. Harker sees himself as a steward of the land and said the issue is much broader than whether an island resident has enough water to flush his toilet all the time." It's about "protecting the environment," he said.
Dave Keeler, who has lived on the island for 20 years, said his well went bad about a month ago, and he's having water trucked in at 85 cents a gallon.
"It's frustrating," said Keeler, when you don't have enough water for your family and you have to wear dark clothing because the water stains it. He has erected a plywood sign on his Schwartz Road property to make his views known.
Keeler said he hasn't had a chance to read up on WRIA but is concerned about it based on what he knows so far.
Like Harker, Keeler said the Marrowstone water issue "has nothing to do with water." But in Keeler's view, the issue is "I'm here and you can't come here."
(Contact Barney Burke at bburke@ptleader.com)
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