WRIA 17 instream flow rule-making process update

News releases concerning the instream flow rule will begin appearning in our local newspapers in a couple of weeks.  The WRIA 17 Planning Unit will be seeing the drafts prior to the information being published in the papers.

We should be seeing the first public meetings on the process sometime in April, and more substantive meetings will be taking place starting closer to summer.

The following information was sent to The Olympic Water Users Association by Tom Anderson, who is the lead on the Department of Ecology's WRIA 17 instream flow rule-making process.  He was providing information for the community in response to questions asked by members of the OWUA.

"I left your meeting last month with requests for answers to two questions. What follows is what I have learned and I offer it as the best information I was able to obtain with a reasonable amount of effort.

On the question about the flip charts I learned that:

“Tom: Here is what happened. The agency conducted two workshops and met with the planning commission at least once. Evidently flipcharts were used to gather comments, etc. as to concerns over draft rule ideas.  Staff took those flipcharts back to the office, modified the draft rule as they saw fit, and discarded the flip charts. So, starting with the Nov. 10 legislators meeting, documentation was developed and shared with all parties interested.  Transcripts were made available for the Nov. 10 meeting and summaries of flipchart notes were distributed for our ad hoc planning meetings to develop a flow rule RFP for contract help (you guys).”

"If there are further questions about the flip charts I would be glad to push this further if in asking the question you can give me clarity as to the value of doing so."

"The other question was about the expenditure of $750,000 for the instream flow effort. No one the I was able to track down at Ecology could recognize this exact figure. The best accounting of money spent to date that I was able to come up with is:"

“Hi Tom - First of all, I think folks are confused as to where the WRIA planning money has been spent.  Perhaps it's the current instream flow-focus that has made some people believe that's all the Planning Unit has been doing this past 7 years.  In fact only about one third of the funds we have provided to date have gone primarily to support instream flow work.

Here's my best recollection of the funding WRIA 17 has received since it began comprehensive watershed planning under RCW 90.82:

$500,000 Watershed Planning, base grant.  That went to organizing the Planning Unit, developing the required watershed status report (Level 1 Technical Assessment) and the development of the required comprehensive watershed plan.  Major expenditures included:

• $140,000 - USGS surface/groundwater study of Chimacum, Tarboo and Big and Little Quilcene.
• $75,000 - Parametrix Level 1 Technical Assessment
• $36,000 - Triangle Associates for meeting facilitation
• $145,000 - Sound Resolutions for meeting facilitation and project management
• $60,000 - Cascadia for drafting the final watershed plan

$100,000 Watershed Planning, Water Quality supplemental grant.  This went to the purchase of a state-of-the-art GPS system the county is using (among other things) to specifically identify areas of seawater intrusion.  This money also went to developing a Water Quality Monitoring Plan for the WRIA.

$60,000 Watershed Planning, Water Storage supplemental grant.  This produced a WRIA 17 Water Supply Storage Alternatives Report by Economic and Engineering Services.

$26,000 Watershed Planning, Instream Flow supplemental grant.  This was used to develop exceedance curves for most major rivers and streams.

$50,000 special grant to the Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribe to conduct a detailed temperature study of Chimacum Creek and additional habitat and spot flow measurements in Chimacum, Leland, Tarboo and Big and Little Quilcene (to support instream flow technical information).

$3,000 to a local contractor for GIS work to support instream flow setting.

$25,000 special grant to continue facilitation services to the Planning Unit.

$6,000 special grant to Jefferson County to provide for community outreach in support of instream flow setting.

TOTAL OF THE ABOVE $770,000 — ALTHOUGH watershed planning grants total $686,000, with $84,000 coming from other agency accounts."

NOTE THESE NUMBERS DON'T INCLUDE

• HydroLogic Services current contract.
• $15,000 current Planning Unit facilitation grant
• $100,000 Phase 4 - Implementation Grant
• Current USGS study
• Yet to be signed ASR grant.

In summary, you might say the following amounts (totaling $250,000) have been spent in direct support of Instream Flow setting:

WATERSHED PLANNING FUNDS

$140,000 - USGS surface/groundwater study of Chimacum, Tarboo and Big and Little Quilcene.

$26,000 Watershed Planning, Instream Flow supplemental grant.

SPECIAL FUNDING PROVIDED BY ECOLOGY

$50,000 special grant to the Port Gamble S'Klallam Tribe.

$3,000 to a local contractor for GIS work to support instream flow setting.

$25,000 special grant to continue facilitation services to the Planning Unit.

$6,000 special grant to Jefferson County to provide for community outreach in support of instream flow setting.”

The HSC contract is set to top out at about $150,000. The final bill will depend on whether there are any further changes before we are finished. In addition to the above I learned that there are also discussions about funds for deep Chimacum well, WQ study per Phase 3 plan, and Phase 2 of Chimacum GW study for next biennium. It appears to me that the State has made a significant investment in moving Jefferson County forward on questions about water and is continuing to invest dollars in that process."

If more detail than this is desired or if this does not address the question asked please let me know. 

Tom Anderson
HydroLogic Services Co
360-739-1968"

So, we have some of the answers we've been looking for, and we're a long way from getting to where we will have a good indication as to the final form of the instream flow rule that will be brought forward for public review and comment.