State water planners have started the process that will decide if the Elwha and Dungeness rivers are half-empty or half-full for both salmon and humans.
The Department of Ecology, aided by Clallam County government and selected citizens, is setting rules for Water Resource Inventory Area 18, better known as WRIA 18, that includes both river basins.
The rules – separate sets for each watershed – will attempt to divvy up their water for both humans and fish.
The rules will affect both economic development and the environment.
By law, Ecology is charged both with managing drinking water for people and with conserving water for salmon.
Once it sets rules, Ecology is expected to end its ban on new water rights in Clallam County, meaning the Public Utility District and other water purveyors could drill new wells to supply new public systems.
Ecology would require such wells, however, to be drilled to the second aquifer – a layer of rock that holds water – or deeper.
The preliminary plan for WRIA 18 – weathered by controversy and winnowed in public meetings – received Clallam County commissioners’ approval in June 2005 after five years of work.
