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Department of Ecology News Release - March 14, 2008
08-066
OLYMPIA - Residents of the Olympic Peninsula and others interested in managing water for people, farms and fish are invited to the second of three community forums on the future of the Dungeness River Basin. The Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) is hosting “A Community Forum: Managing Water in Your Watershed" in Sequim. The meeting is a chance for people to learn more about the instream flow and water management rule process in the Dungeness River area. Comments on approaches to managing water, especially during summer low flows, will be welcome.
The forum will be held Wednesday, March 26, from 4 to 7 p.m., in the Public Meeting Room at the John Wayne Marina in Sequim.
Those attending the forum can find out more about their watershed and the proposed rule through printed materials, posters and one-on-one discussions with water resource managers. There will be a presentation from 6-6:30pm on “Water Management Challenges in the Dungeness,” and a question and answer session will follow.
With the help of the Dungeness River Management Team, advisory committees and other local groups and citizens, Ecology is developing an instream flow and water management rule for the Dungeness River area (part of the Elwha-Dungeness Water Resource Inventory Area, WRIA, 18). Ecology is required by law to adopt rules that establish “instream flows” for each watershed in the state.
The rules establish water rights for streams that extend to fish and other resources that depend on adequate flows in rivers and streams. An instream flow and water management rule affects only water-right decisions made after the rule is formally adopted.
The first draft of the instream flow and water management rule is expected to be available for public review in late 2008.
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Contact: Dan Partridge, 360-407-7139 (dpar461@ecy.wa.gov)
Ecology website on Dungeness watershed: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/wr/instream-flows/dungeness.html
Copyright © Washington State Department of Ecology. See http://www.ecy.wa.gov/copyright.html.
