Ecology issues significant water rights, praises innovative collaborative agreement to allocate water in closed basin

OLYMPIA – The Department of Ecology (Ecology) is issuing significant water right permits to ensure the cities of Lacey and Olympia and the Nisqually Tribe have enough water to support growth and economic development for the next three to four decades.

The decisions also include substantial environmental protections for fish-bearing streams and other area water bodies in the form of a mitigation package.

The City of Olympia permits will be presented by Ecology Director Ted Sturdevant at the Jan. 3, 2012, Olympia City Council meeting.

The water supply package is the first of its kind in Western Washington. It is the result of a multi-year, collaborative effort by the cities of Olympia, Lacey, and Yelm, and the Nisqually Tribe. These entities pooled their resources and worked hand-in-hand with Ecology, pioneering a solution for the water-limited Nisqually and Deschutes basins.

“This is the type of creative solution that we hope other communities will embrace in the future,” Sturdevant said. “It shows that it is possible to meet the challenge of allocating finite water resources to protect our salmon and at the same time enable communities’ growth and economic health.”

Collaborative solutions to water supply programs are becoming increasingly important in the state because many basins are over-appropriated in terms of available water. In such “closed” basins, water right applicants must present a plan to offset the impacts of new wells. The permits issued by Ecology will allow:

Olympia to transfer its water rights at McAllister and Abbott springs to the McAllister Wellfield. The McAllister Wellfield will be significantly more protected, more productive and meet water supply needs for generations to come for both Olympia and the Nisqually Tribe.
Lacey to gain nearly 6.6 million gallons per day of new water to meet the anticipated demand from build-out of its service area at currently planned densities, which are required by the state Growth Management Act.

Another portion of the package – Ecology’s decision to approve a permit for Yelm that allows the city to receive rights to an additional 840,000 gallons per day of new water – is under appeal to the Pollution Control Hearings Board, which handles all such appeals. If Ecology’s decision to approve the permit is upheld, the permit will meet Yelm’s anticipated growth over the next 20 years and avoid the need for a building moratorium. Resolution to the appeal is expected during the first quarter of 2012.

Peter Brooks, Lacey water resources manager, said: “The City of Lacey appreciates Ecology’s willingness to consider innovative approaches to resolving complex regional water rights requests. With the new water rights, Lacey will be better able to meet our Growth Management Act obligations.”

Olympia City Manager Steve Hall said, “The development of the McAllister Wellfield is a historic moment for the City and the Nisqually Indian Tribe. With Ecology’s approval of our water right transfer, we can now begin the mutual journey of providing a more protected and sustainable supply of water to our growing communities.”

Cynthia Iyall, Chairman for Nisqually Indian Tribe, said: “The water resources agreement between the City of Olympia and the Nisqually Indian Tribe provides both parties with an assurance of adequate water to support long-term needs. But the agreement does much more. It provides a framework for responsible and sustainable growth within the region, centered on the careful stewardship of one of the region’s most precious resources, groundwater. The agreement also provides the Tribe with the opportunity for renewed access to Medicine Springs (McAllister Springs), a location of tremendous cultural and spiritual significance to the Tribe. The Nisqually Tribe looks forward to working with the City of Olympia, and also with the City of Lacey and the City of Yelm, in implementing this historic regional agreement.”

The package developed by the cities and the tribes includes actions to offset the impacts of new wells in the Deschutes and Nisqually River basins, on Woodland and McAllister Creeks and nearby lakes. For example, the three cities purchased the low-lying portion of a sheep farm – some 197 acres -- on the upper Deschutes River south of Yelm and the water rights attached to that portion of the farm. The farm owner will retain the upland portion of the property, approximately 100 acres. In collaboration with the Squaxin Island Tribe, the cities will restore water to the river and perform a variety of restoration projects on the purchased property to improve salmon habitat and river water quality.

All of this translates to improved stream flows and better stream health by reducing the release of nutrients and sediments in the upper watershed.

In addition, the Squaxin Island Tribe and the three cities have joined to create the Budd Inlet/Deschutes River Environmental Stewardship Coalition. The coalition will develop a strategic plan to improve the biological health of the watershed and will manage a $500,000 fund that each city will contribute to equally. The fund pays for restoration projects in Budd Inlet and the Deschutes River watershed. The result will be improvements in water quality along with enhancements to habitat for salmon.

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Media Contacts:

Linda Kent, (360) 407-6239, linda.kent@ecy.wa.gov

Rich Hoey, City of Olympia Director of Water Resources, (360) 753-8495, rhoey@ci.olympia.wa.us

Joe Cushman, Nisqually Indian Tribe Planning Director, (360) 456-5221 cushman.joe@nisqually-nsn.gov

Peter Brooks, City of Lacey Water Resources Manager, (360) 438-2675, pbrooks@ci.lacey.wa.us

For More Information:

Olympia-Yelm-Lacey water supply project (www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/wr/swro/olyyelmlacey.html)

Ecology’s social media (www.ecy.wa.gov/about/newmedia.html)