News Release

Department of Ecology News Release - RELEASED ON Oct. 5, 2000 (FOR USE AFTER Oct. 9, 2000)

00-196

$50,000 grant kicks off Kettle River water planning effort

SPOKANE— Local efforts to develop a plan for future water use in the Kettle River area received a $50,000 boost this week from Sen. Bob Morton (R-Kettle Falls) and the state Department of Ecology (Ecology).

On Monday, Oct. 9, Morton presented the Ferry County commissioners with a check from Ecology to begin the process of "watershed planning" in the Kettle River watershed. The watershed is located primarily in Ferry County but also spans into both Okanogan and Stevens counties.

The grant will help set up a planning unit with representatives from several different agencies in northeast Washington, which will begin a three-phase process.

The organization of the planning unit is the first phase. The second phase will be assessing the current use and future needs for water from the Kettle River. The third phase will be to develop a plan to address those needs.

"In our rural areas, it is very important for the local people to be involved in water resource decisions," said Morton. "That's why I so vigorously supported legislation to promote local control and local planning. I hope we will have broad public input and participation in the planning process so all parties feel their concerns are addressed and their water rights are adequately protected."

"Although it appears we have enough water to meet our needs now, it's vitally important that we prepare for a future when water is less plentiful," said Bradley Duda, of the Kettle River Advisory Board (KRAB).

KRAB is a volunteer board that advises the Ferry and Stevens county commissioners about Kettle River issues. KRAB will be one group represented on the watershed-planning unit.

The 1998 Washington legislature established a framework for watershed planning and provided money to help local groups pay for their efforts. This grant is part of $4.7 million earmarked for watershed planning statewide this year.

The planning unit will decide which issues will be addressed during its watershed planning process. The issues may include water availability as well as water quality. The Kettle River is listed on the federal Environmental Protection Agency's list of impaired water bodies because of fecal coliform and pH problems.

The planning unit may also decide to work on bull trout habitat issues. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed bull trout as a "threatened" species under the Endangered Species Act. The Kettle River has been identified as habitat for bull trout.

"What the group sees as major priorities will be one of the first orders of business," said Tony Grover, who oversees Ecology's eastern regional office. "People who live and work in the watershed are the best judges of that."

Contact: Jani Gilbert, Public Information Manager, 509-456-4464; pager, 509-622-1289

For more information about watershed planning: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/watershed/index.html