Proposal sparks fears for Chimacum farms

The following article appeared in the February 16, 2009 edition of the Peninsula Daily News.

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Proposal sparks fears for Chimacum farms

By Paul Gottlieb
Peninsula Daily News

EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the second of a two-part series on a new water rule proposed by the state Department of Ecology that would affect new wells. Today's story looks more closely at the response to the proposal in the Quilcene River-Snow Creek watershed in East Jefferson County.

It's hard to believe that water would be an issue in the rainy Pacific Northwest.

But it is.

The state Department of Ecology is proposing a rule, called an instream flow rule, that restricts new well use in the Dungeness River watershed in the east end of Clallam County and in the Quilcene River-Snow Creek watershed in East Jefferson County.

This concerns property owners, real estate agents and those interested in development in both counties.

In both watersheds, the proposed new water-use regulations would both limit daily use of a new, permitted well to 500 gallons -- while owners of existing wells could continue to draw up to 5,000 gallons daily -- and place meters on new wells, with possible fines for exceeding the daily limit.

Additional restrictions are proposed for the Chimacum Valley.

"The demand for water in the Chimacum has been so high in recent years that what we're actually proposing is an even more restrictive standard for the sub-basin," said Dan Partridge, communications manager with Ecology's Water Resources Program.

"We're proposing that future water use be limited to indoor use only, until an alternative water supply is available for the sub-basin.

"Once another water source is available, the indoor-only restriction should be lifted."

The additional restriction for the Chimacum Valley would limit the water-reserve to 1,940 gallons per day for 109 new homes, which would be allowed only indoor water use.

At meetings on the proposal, hundreds have worried about the future of small farms in the Chimacum Valley.

"The impacts for new farmers are really huge," Kate Dean, who leads the Washington State University LandWorks Collaborative Outreach at the Port Hadlock Extension office, has said.

"Obviously, nothing can be grown on 500 gallons per day."

Ecology officials have been revising an original instream flow rule since 2005, when Jefferson County residents came out en masse against the proposal, saying they were not given notice or adequate time to comment.

The proposed rule is for the watershed that Ecology calls Water Resource Inventory Area 17, or WRIA 17.

The WRIA planning unit could not meet the state's deadline to write a locally composed rule, so Ecology took over the reins.

Late last year, Ecology returned to Port Townsend, revision in hand.

Streams in the watershed have chronic low flows in late summer and early fall, Ecology said.

Increases in water use can reduce water needed by already threatened salmon and other fish and wildlife that depend on adequate flow, officials say.

Driven by fish

The new rule proposals were sparked by federal regulators, Ecology watershed planner Cynthia Nelson said.

The process is being driven by the federal government's listing of chinook, chum, steelhead and bull trout as endangered, though the paucity of chinook is a major factor, she said.

"The feds drew a line around the Puget Sound and said, 'This is the area where the population of chinook are bad enough to be threatened, an area where we think we need to manage the fish to restore it," Nelson said.

Chinook, for example, spawn in August and September, when stream flows are at their worst, rainfall is at its lowest and water for agricultural and domestic use is in highest demand, she said.

"If we keep issuing water rights and people keep drilling 5,000-gallon wells close to a stream, [the wells] will go dry.

"This is all about trying to balance things a bit more. When people make water-allocation decisions, they will have to consider fish in the equation.

"People are going to get water, but the process is going to be a bit different than how it used to be.

"As a rule, people don't like [the restrictions], because it's a change in the status quo," said Nelson.

Public comment ended Friday for the instream flow rule for the Quilcene-Snow watershed.

The rule could be in its final draft form -- and ready to be considered for adoption -- by summer 2009, Ecology officials said.

The next meeting of the steering committee for the watershed will be from 10 a.m. to noon Feb. 24 at the Jefferson County Library, 620 Cedar Ave., Port Hadlock.

The next meeting of the planning unit for WRIA 17 will be from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. March 10 at the Tri-Area Community Center. 10 West Valley Road, Chimacum.

For more information on WRIA 17, check http://www.wria17.org/.

The Elwha-Dungeness rivers watershed is WRIA 18. The proposed rule affects only the part of the area that is fed by the Dungeness River.

The next meeting on the proposed new rule will be from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday at John Wayne Marina, 2577 W. Sequim Bay Road.

The public can comment on the rule by writing to Ann E. Wessel, instream flow rules coordinator, Department of Ecology, Water Resources Program, P.O. Box 47600, Olympia, WA 98504-7600 or by e-mail to awes461@ecy.wa.gov.

Information about the rule, and about Water Resource Inventory Area 18, can be found at www.ecy.wa.gov/apps/watersheds/planning/18.html.

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Staff writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-417-3536 and
paul.gottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.

Port Townsend/Jefferson County Editor Jeff Chew contributed to this report.