Editor’s note: This is the 11th in a series of articles informing Sequim-area residents about water management issues in their Dungeness River watershed.

It may be hard during the wet cold days of winter to think about water shortages, but it’s a topic a lot of people have been discussing in the Dungeness River watershed.

Over several years, local agencies and governments, Indian tribes and interested citizens have been working with Ecology to draft an instream flow rule for the watershed.

The proposed rule will guide decisions on new water rights and water availability. It will protect existing water rights and incorporate consideration of stream flows for fish into decisions on new water uses.

The Dungeness River supports four fish listed under the federal Endangered Species Act, plus others for which summer flows are critical.

Water in the Dungeness is affected by the rain shadow effect of the Olympic Mountains. Precipitation is limited, especially in the summer and fall, and no storage captures high flows.

What makes it hard
Several factors make meeting water needs difficult:
■ Chronic low flows in late summer and early fall
■ Highest demands for water come when stream flows are lowest.
■ Population growth is among the highest in the state.
■ Most water is legally spoken for, especially in the summer.
Rule elements are based primarily on recommendations from the Elwha-Dungeness Watershed Plan, adopted by the Clallam County commissioners in 2005.
The rule will affect only people who establish or apply for new water rights — including permit-exempt wells — after the rule is adopted.
So what would be the bottom line for such users?
The plan urges using existing water rights and systems wherever possible, so the proposed rule will require hooking up to a public water system if available. For residents unable to do so, water will be available for new homes needing small wells, subject to some conditions of use and making the most efficient use possible of an existing water right.

Mitigating new uses
New water withdrawals, including permit-exempt well use, would require mitigation. Mitigation means acquiring water rights to offset the new withdrawals on senior water rights, including instream flow levels set in the rule.

Mitigation in the Dungeness watershed would be accomplished either by participating in a water exchange (see sidebar), or by proposing a separate mitigation plan.

All new water uses would be metered, which will start providing actual information about how much water is being used, and where.

In many areas, you will need to drill to the second or third aquifer for new wells to minimize effects on streams. This won’t apply in areas that have no deeper aquifers.
Other important rule elements include establishing regulatory instream flow levels for the Mainstem Dungeness, its tributaries, and eight independent streams feeding directly to the Strait.

Flow levels protect fish
Flow levels in the rule are not necessarily in the streams at a given time, but protect senior water rights from impairment by new users and bring fish habitat and other resources into consideration when new water uses are proposed.

The Legislature has instructed Ecology to “protect and preserve instream resources and values,” such as fish and wildlife, aesthetics and recreation.

The water management rule will apply to the Dungeness watershed, as defined from the Bell Creek watershed on Sequim Bay to the Bagley Creek subbasin next to Morse Creek.

Ecology needs your participation to ensure the protection and wise use of water. Using water more efficiently pays off for the people and environment of the Dungeness Valley, now and in the future.

Cynthia Nelson is the Washington State Department of Ecology’s watershed lead for the Elwha-Dungeness watersheds. She long has worked on Dungeness water issues and is helping facilitate adopting an instream flow and water management rule for the Dungeness planning area.


Public can view draft river rule

The Dungeness River Management Team, advisory committees, and local groups and citizens are working with the Washington Department of Ecology to develop an instream flow and water management rule for the Dungeness River watershed.

A preliminary draft rule is now available on the Ecology Web site: www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/wr/instream-flows/dungeness.html
Comments on the draft rule will be accepted until Jan. 5, 2010, and an opportunity to submit formal comments will begin with a public hearing in March.
 
Next steps
That is when the draft water management rule will be published in the State Register. Publication starts a formal rule adoption process which can last no more than 180 days and includes:
■ A public hearing in late March during which oral and written formal comments will be accepted.
■ Ecology’s acceptance of formal written comments for several weeks after the hearing.
■ Adoption of the final rule will occur in August and it will take effect 31 days later.
For questions or further information contact Cynthia Nelson at 360-407-0276 or Ecology rule writer Sarah Ferguson at 360-407-6780.