For Western Washington, Sequim has little rain accumulation at about 17 inches of water each year, but the Dungeness River provides many locals their livelihood year round.

From the local Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe’s fishing practices to local farmers’ needs for dependable irrigation to grow crops, the whole community works together to conserve one of their most precious resources — water.

Ben and Troy Smith are fourth generation dairy farmers at Maple View Farm off Schmuck Road in Sequim.

In 1933 their great-grandfather-in-law started their farm in Clallam County because of its mild climate which allows dairy cows to thrive.

Today, the Smiths milk about 400 dairy cows and grow 700 acres of corn, grass, barley, and a few acres of vegetable seed. The brothers said they believe the key to their farm’s success is owed to their father Gary, who was instrumental in initiating a partnership between locals to better manage water rights to the Dungeness River in the late 1990s.

“At that time, we could foresee some potential issues with water rights for the various groups who share the water resource,” Gary Smith said. “I, along with other irrigators and farmers sat down to discuss solutions to help protect access to the water we needed. That’s when we created the Sequim Dungeness Water Users Association, a group made up of the seven irrigation companies and districts that utilize the Dungeness River for irrigation water.”

Soon after forming, the Water Users Association initiated a meeting with the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe and Department of Ecology to discuss ways they could all work together to monitor and conserve water. After several meetings, the groundwork was laid and in 1998 the first Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed between the three groups. The MOU outlined the irrigators’ specific water rights, and conservation goals going forward.

“We saw this as a win-win for everybody,” Ben Smith said. “This was a great opportunity for everyone to share their concerns and put it all out on the table. We had two goals — protect our current water rights and agree upon responsible water management through open-minded discussions.”

The Water Users also agreed to start more aggressive water conservation practices, such as piping irrigation ditches.

In the last 17 years, irrigators with help from the Clallam Conservation District piped more than 62 miles of irrigation ditches reducing their diversions of Dungeness River water by almost half, they estimate.

Irrigators said piping ditches has proven to be the most effective way to improve the efficiency of the irrigation system, eliminating infiltration and evaporation losses that sometimes exceeded actual irrigation needs.

Joe Holtrop, executive director of the Clallam Conservation District, said he’s proud to play a role in this partnership.

“Water conservation and increasing flows in the Dungeness River and other streams has long been a high priority for Clallam Conservation District,” he said. “Our talent for securing and managing grant funds puts us in an important position to help the irrigators implement some big projects that have really paid dividends for the Dungeness River habitat. And we’re extremely fortunate to have such a cooperative tribe to partner with on these projects.”

For the flow

Water use is measured in cubic feet per second (CFS) and these measurements played a large role in negotiating for the groups. For example, in 1995, the irrigators had a historical water right for over 500 CFS of water. In 1998, while discussing the first MOU, the Water Users Association had agreed to reduce that number to 150 CFS, the current, proven water usage at the time, and to aggressively conserve water.

Over time, the groups realized the original MOU needed some adjustments and in 2012 the second MOU was signed lowering the CFS from 150 to 98.5.

At this time, this agreement had also said that irrigators could never take more than 50 percent of the river flow to keep water at a minimum level necessary for fish passage in the river.

Irrigators say the partnership has worked well particularly during the 2015 drought.

Sequim depends on snowpack for river flow and that year the snowpack had been significantly low. Irrigators said they knew it was going to be a tough season but opted to work together to reduce water use as much as possible.

Ben Smith credits the community, the Tribe, and irrigators for working together with the common goal of getting through the drought with the least amount of negative impact on the river’s health.

“The whole community came together to save water,” Ben Smith said. “The tribe arranged rocks in the river to help water flow and save fish. The Department of Ecology helped by providing funds to farmers who didn’t irrigate the last 30 days of the season to compensate for any crops lost. It was so great to see everyone come together during a difficult time.”

Ben Smith said he goes to great lengths to track water usage particularly through phone alerts, especially during irrigation season from April 15-Sept. 15.

When the river gauge hits a certain usage level, he gets an alert on his phone with up-to-date info so he knows where he is at on water usage.

“I’d be lost without these alerts,” he said. “I rely on them to keep my farm in check during irrigation season.”

The next initiative for partnering irrigators is to implement storage. In the last three years, a coalition has joined together to develop plans for an 80-acre reservoir that could store water for late summer irrigation.

A site, owned by the Department of Natural Resources, is already designated as the property.

The biggest hurdle with storage is cost, but the Smith Family feels confident that this will be a long-term solution to a long-term issue.

“Tribe, irrigators, Fish & Wildlife, County Conservation District, every player is involved in this effort,” Ben Smith said. “Each group has their own advantages of partaking in the storage.”

They are hoping to be up and running with the storage in the next decade.

Now, Ben is not only carrying on his father’s torch through the farm but also as President of the Sequim Water Users Association.

Both Ben and Troy serve on several of the irrigation companies and districts to help make sure that they are managed as efficiently as possible and ensure they maintain access to this valuable limited resource which is the lifeblood of their farm and future.

“I feel a lot of pride and a little bit of pressure taking on the farm,” Ben Smith said as he overlooks the farm. “We’re so dependent on water. If we couldn’t rely on irrigation, our farm wouldn’t be a farm anymore. We couldn’t be more fortunate to have this partnership with the Tribe and others, always willing to sit down at the table and locally problem solve our issues, instead of wasting everyone’s time and money in court.”

The Smiths employ about 25 employees between the dairy, crops operation, and Adagio Bean & Leaf coffee shop.

Maple View Farm’s 400 cows produce about 3,500 gallons of milk per day for Darigold, said Ben Smith.

Chelsi Riordan is community relations manager for Dairy Farmers of Washington. Read her original story here: https://wadairy.org/successful-water-conservation-partnership-local-tribe-farmers/.

Matthew Nash contributed to this report. Reach him at mnash@sequimgazette.com.

Maple View Farm off Schmuck Road in Sequim hosts about 400 cows who produce about 3,500 gallons of milk per day for Darigold. Local irrigation helps support crops on the farm too that mostly helps feed the cows. Photo courtesy of Dairy Farmers of Washington

Ben Smith, co-owner of Maple View Farm, tracks water usage on his farm to ensure he’s using the optimum amount of irrigation water. Photo by Dairy Farmers of Washington