SEQUIM — Round 2 of public hearings over the proposed adoption of a watershed management plan in Clallam County drew more than 200 people Wednesday night.
County Commissioners Steve Tharinger, D-Dungeness, Mike Chapman, R-Port Angeles and Mike Doherty, D-Port Angeles, heard more than two hours of input from citizens who packed the Guy Cole Convention Center in Carrie Blake Park.
At issue was a 500-page document entitled Elwha-Dungeness Watershed Plan — the product of five years of scientific study of how groundwater volume and quality are affected by commercial, residential and agricultural usage.
An animated crowd sometimes taunted commissioners, county planning staffers and supporters of the plan as they delivered information.
They also applauded dozens of speakers who expressed objections to the proposal as crafted and asked commissioners to send it back to county planning staffers before formally adopting it.
Only a handful of speakers voiced support for the plan as written.
Affects private wells
The proposal would reduce the amount of water available for use by owners of private, or “exempt,” wells.
But speaker after speaker cited what they called flaws in the plan — ranging from faulty science to a lack of representation by local water users; and from excessive taxpayer costs in implementing the plan to an unfair impact on residential water users who comprise a small percentage of the amount of water used.
