SEQUIM — Irrigators in the Sequim-Dungeness Valley have inked a new pact with the state Department of Ecology to protect future water supplies by restricting draws to half of the Dungeness River and cutting off diversions in rare times when the river flow falls to 60 cubic feet per second.
Ecology officials joined members of the Dungeness River Agricultural Water Users Association in signing a memorandum of agreement Thursday.
The document supersedes a similar deal that irrigators struck with Ecology in 1998.
It is intended to ensure adequate water for agricultural uses and the growing community, and clears the way for irrigators to sell water rights as “mitigation credits” for Ecology’s proposed Dungeness water management rule.
The memorandum outlines the efforts of irrigators to conserve water and improve fish habitat.
It also identifies how much water in the state’s trust water program may be sold or leased to new users.
“Between in-stream needs and out-of-stream uses, the water in the Dungeness Basin is spoken for,” said Ecology Director Ted Sturdevant, who was on hand for the signing ceremony at Railroad Bridge Park.
“That means we have to find ways to offset new uses, so future development doesn’t come at the expense of current needs.
“This agreement today is a key part of our plan to mitigate for those new uses, and ensure healthy streams and a healthy economy.”
Controversial rule
The proposed water rule for the Dungeness has drawn considerable controversy as it has evolved.
It would set minimum in-stream flows, create a water exchange and require the owner of new wells to mitigate their use of water by purchasing credits at a yet-to-be-determined cost through the exchange.
Ecology has answered some concerns raised by the public and elected officials by agreeing to put money in the budget to purchase water rights for future development.
Sturdevant said Ecology is still discussing what kind of state investment is appropriate for the water rule.
‘Not quite there yet’
“We’re not quite there yet,” he said at the signing ceremony.
“We’ve got some other pieces that are falling into place, but this is a big one in getting to that place where I think we can all lean back and say we have created a framework that the protects the broader quality of life for this basin.”
Clallam County Commissioner Jim McEntire released a statement last month saying the latest version of the rule is a “huge step forward” because it includes state funding and a new economic cost benefit study.
He added then: “It ain’t over by any means.”
Ecology is still responding to more than 900 comments it received during the public comment period on the rule.
Scores of property owners and area Realtors railed against the proposed rule in an open house and public hearing that Ecology hosted in June 28.
Concerns about rule
Concerns were raised over the scientific methods used to create the rule, the economic study and the unknown costs to property owners.
In response to a letter signed by all three Clallam County commissioners, agency officials said they plan to conduct an independent economic study.
Ecology expects to adopt a rule this fall. It would take effect 31 days after it is adopted.
Existing, active wells will not fall under the auspices of the rule, which covers the eastern half of Water Resources Inventory Area 18 from Bagley Creek to Sequim Bay.
“There’s a lot of pieces to this that make it sound very complicated, even though I think this really is fairly simple,” Sturdevant said.
“We’ve got the water management rule,” he said.
“We’re developing a water exchange with a mitigation plan so that folks have a good, predictable way to make sure they mitigate for new uses in the future.
“We’re developing a memorandum of agreement with the county so that there’s clarity around how all of that works,” Sturdevant added.
“This MOA today is a big part of this whole package.”
Sturdevant described the agreement with the irrigators as a “big step toward clarity and certainty for farming.”
Irrigator and Dungeness River Agricultural Water Users Association past president Gary Smith thanked Ecology for “supporting a cooperative, negotiating process and for the funding to hire an independent facilitator to get this process off to a fast start.”
18 months in works
The agreement took about 18 months to complete.
Members of Agricultural Water Users Association are Agnew Irrigation District, Clallam Ditch Company, Cline Irrigation District, Dungeness Irrigation Group, Dungeness irrigation District, Eureka Irrigation and Milling Company, Highland Irrigation District, Independent irrigation Company and Sequim Prairie Ditch Company.
“The Dungeness water users association and its members have been working toward better water management in the Dungeness Valley for many years and have received a great deal of help from Ecology, the Jamestown S’Klallam tribe and the Clallam Conservation District,” Smith said in a prepared statement.
“Over time, irrigation water withdrawals from the Dungeness River have been cut in half, creating an amount of trust water that will be permanently dedicated to river flow and an amount in the irrigators’ name that can be used as a cushion for changing irrigation needs.”
Voluntary limit
Since the 1998 agreement, the irrigators have voluntarily operated under the 60-cubic-feet-per-second minimum rule.
After weeks of dry weather, the river discharge on Saturday was 197 cubic feet per second at the U.S. Geological Survey gaging station near Sequim.
The ceremony was attended by about two dozen people, including McEntire and his predecessor, state Rep. Steve Tharinger, D-Sequim, who worked on Dungeness Valley water issues before he was elected to the state House in 2010 to represent the 24th District, which covers Clallam and Jefferson counties and part of Grays Harbor County.
“As we move forward into the work of the future on water issues, let’s not think about how we can separate the pie to the advantage of our particular interests, but how can we enlarge the pie to benefit all interests,” Smith said.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5072, or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
