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Dungeness Water Management

The Dungeness is a watershed with a significant history of water resource planning.  Locally, the County, Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe, and Dungeness Water Users Association have worked together for many years to address river flow and salmon habitat restoration, water quality concerns, flooding, and water supply.  Ecology, along with other local, state, and federal agencies, has participated in and supported these efforts.

Water Management Rule

Work on a water management rule for the Dungeness watershed resumed in late Fall 2011.  Adoption of a rule is an important part of water resource planning, to protect stream flows and water for domestic (household) needs. 

Work on a water management rule began in 2006, as Ecology joined with local governments, Tribes, business owners, environmental and civic organizations, residents and others in eastern Clallam County to draft rule language.  Rule development was put on hold in late 2010, while local water resource managers focused on some key issues outside the scope of a rule: water supplies for development, resource protection, and flow restoration.  The delay in rulemaking also lined up with Governor Gregoire’s November 2010 executive order to suspend most rulemaking for one year unless critical.

In February 2011, an Agreement in Principle (AIP) was created, outlining water management areas for work while rulemaking is on hold.  The AIP was signed by Clallam County, the Sequim-Dungeness Water Users Association and Ecology.  The Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe conveyed their support via a letter from Tribal Chairman Ron Allen.  Signers of the AIP agreed that within 18 months a Dungeness water management rule would be in place (August 2012).

To keep the issues listed in the AIP moving forward, the Local Leaders Water Management Work Group (LLWG) was formed and meets regularly.  In addition to AIP signers, their discussions include the City of Sequim, Clallam County PUD, and the Clallam Conservation District as well as some members of the public.  Building on the work done by the LLWG, community outreach efforts have now resumed.

Preliminary Rule Language - your feedback is requested

Ecology is collecting feedback on the following Preliminary DRAFT Rule Language for Chapter 173-518 WAC.  You can provide your feedback, through February 17, 2012, to: Ann Wessel via e-mail at: ann.wessel@ecy.wa.gov. 

Note: This is not the formal proposed rule.  Ecology will not be preparing written responses to the feedback we receive on this version of the rule.  The formal rule comment period will start after the proposed rule is filed with the state code reviser’s office.

• Preliminary DRAFT Rule Language - Chapter 173-518 WAC
  • Summary of Preliminary DRAFT Rule Language - Chapter 173-518 WAC

Open Houses held in January

Two open houses were held in Sequim, on January 30 and 31, 2012 that featured information stations where citizens got answers to questions about water management issues in the basin and the proposed rule. 

• Dungeness water rule put to test - news article by Mark St. J. Couhig, Sequim Gazette  February 1, 2012
• Question and Answer - Setting Instream Flows in Dungeness River Basin - to provide more detail about the use of scientific studies related to instream flow
• Instream Flows for the Dungeness River - presentation by Brad Caldwell, Ecology and Hal Beecher, Fish and Wildlife January 30, 2012

Dungeness Water Watch

What is the purpose of the rule?

The proposed rule would guide water use planning and decision-making for new water users, and set policies to help protect the availability of water supplies for current and future needs of people and the environment. 

The Elwha-Dungeness Watershed Plan obligated Ecology to develop a water management rule, and many sections of the existing draft rule are based on its recommendations.  The Plan included a number of recommendations for management of new water supplies and water rights, water quality, instream flows and fish habitat. 

For more information on the history of Dungeness rule development, click here.

Why is a rule needed?  Pressures on Dungeness water supply

The Dungeness watershed has many water challenges.  The amount of water available for use varies greatly across the watershed and throughout the year.  In the mountains, precipitation averages 80 inches a year, compared to Sequim which gets only about 16 inches a year. 

In addition to the naturally limited water supply in many areas, there is also the problem of high demand at the very time water supplies are naturally lowest: the summer and early fall.  Farm irrigation and lawn-watering are at their peaks, at the same time spawning fish and the natural environment also need water in streams. 

Significant effort and expense has already gone to restoring flows in the Dungeness River, and protection is needed for these investments. 

Population growth in the Dungeness is among the highest in the state, and is only expected to increase.  It is already difficult to get water for new projects since most water is already legally spoken for, especially in the late summer. 

The Dungeness watershed is one of 16 in our state that is considered “water-critical:” basins with a shortage of water for existing needs.  Four fish species dependent on the Dungeness River have come under the protection of the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA), due to human-induced factors such as . insufficient streamflows from water diversions, unstable shifting channels from logging practices, too much salmon harvest and and genetic effects from too many artificial hatchery salmon.   Other species are being considered for listing.  And there are several Dungeness fish species listed as “critical” by the state. 

For all these reasons and more, careful water management is needed for the Dungeness.  A water management rule is one important tool. 

Additional resources on water management

• A Guide to Water and How We Use It in the Dungeness Watershed – June 2010.  Detailed guide on water supply and water management
• Understanding Washington Water Law – Links to answer many of your questions related to adopting an instream flow and water management rule in the Dungeness watershed. 
• Water Resource Management in the Dungeness Watershed - Revised June 2010.  A look at the demands on water and the Elwha-Dungeness Watershed Plan
• Watershed planning in the Dungeness – a 2009 PowerPoint presentation by Cynthia Nelson, Ecology Watershed Lead (See the Watershed Plan here.)

The Dungeness River Management Team (DRMT) is a partnership of individuals, stakeholders and governments in the Dungeness watershed.  They have worked together for years to develop and implement locally based, long-term solutions to watershed management issues.  The public is invited to attend their monthly meetings.

Sequim Gazette news article series on water issues and planning

During 2007 - 2009, the Sequim Gazette published a series of articles to inform the public on the complex water management issues in the Dungeness watershed.  The articles provide a good overview on the many water and water planning issues in the watershed. 

• Instream flow proposal meets river challenges – A look at the elements of an early draft of the rule, and the challenges it addresses, 12/23/09
• Every drop counts in the Dungeness – Summer water use and the many demands on water, 12/10/09
• Water exchange may provide year-round supply – The challenge of finding water for new year-round uses, and mitigation as one possible solution, 2/12/09
• Water Resource Management: It's a big picture with a lot of players - Proposed Dungeness instream flow rule just one piece of the puzzle, 10/29/08
• Using water wisely for farming - Irrigators help stretch water supply, 7/30/08
• Maintaining the water we can't see - The importance of groundwater in the Dungeness watershed, 6/11/08
• Who is planning for our water? – The many community groups with interests in water, 5/7/08
• Protecting the water for fish - Setting stream flow levels (“instream flows”) is a tool for protecting water systems, 3/19/08
• Whose water is it? - A crash course in Washington water law, 2/20/08
• Go online to track stream flow levels - Stream gauges monitor flow and help guide water resource decisions, 1/2/08
• How’s the water supply in the Dungeness watershed? - A crash course on precipitation patterns and water use, 11/21/07

Informational materials from the rulemaking effort prior to 2010

• Rule concepts – PowerPoint presentation on how water can be provided for growth while protecting existing water rights and stream flows, by Sarah Ferguson, Ecology (2009)
• Elements of an Instream Flow and Water Management Rule – March 2008 Presentation
• Water for People, Farms and Fish – Pamphlet includes information on water management rules, how a rule will affect water users, and options for managing water (from March 2008 community forum, “Managing Water in Your Watershed”)
• Poster Series – 5 informative posters providing basic background information on the subjects of: Water Law, Surface and Ground Water, Fish Habitat, Water supply options, and an overview of Water Supply in the Dungeness (from 11/29/07 workshop)

Scientific data for the Dungeness

Groundwater and Aquifer Recharge

• Dungeness ground water model documentation and all final products from the aquifer recharge grant – Clallam County webpage with links to study documents
• Groundwater presentation – PowerPoint on Dungeness groundwater and aquifers, and influences on groundwater supplies, by Dave Nazy, Ecology Hydrogeologist 2009
• Sequim-Dungeness Hydrogeology - Dave Nazy, Ecology hydrogeologist March 2007
• Surface Water-Ground Water Interactions – USGS study of the Lower Dungeness, September 1999-July 2001

Threatened and Endangered Fish

• Federal Salmon recovery planning - Actions from the Puget Sound Chinook Recovery Plan are ongoing.  The Dungeness River Management Team took part in developing the watershed’s chapter in the draft Puget Sound Chinook Recovery Plan and members of the Elwha Morse Management Team helped in planning for that area. 
• Local salmon recovery planning - The Dungeness River Management Team continues to take part in the North Olympic Lead Entity’s reviewing and prioritizing funding requests submitted to the Salmon Recovery Funding Board. 

Additional resources:

• 16 Fish Critical Basins - map
• Protection of low flow periods critical for fish production - Summary of technical documents by Brad Caldwell, fish biologist, Ecology (2011) – page includes links to studies on instream flows and fish
• SalmonScape, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife's interactive, computer mapping system, is one of the most important tools created thus far to deliver scientific information to those involved in on-the-ground salmon recovery projects.
• Washington State Conservation Commission, Salmon and Steelhead Habitat Limiting Factors Report - WRIA 18 Salmon and Steelhead Stock Designations and Associated Status

The Watershed Plan

The final Elwha-Dungeness Watershed Plan was developed and approved under the Watershed Planning Act, Ch.90.82 RCW. 

An extended Clallam County review of the Plan included several meetings with stakeholders, public meetings, and hearings.  Members of the planning teams reviewed public comment and amended plan recommendations where consensus could be reached.  The Clallam County Board of Commissioners unanimously adopted the plan on June 7, 2005. 

Some Plan recommendations related to rule development include:

• Adopt by rule the recommended instream flow levels for streams and tributaries.
• Protect and continue to restore flows in the Dungeness mainstem.
• Negotiate measures to provide future drinking water while protecting late summer and fall stream flows.
• Develop aquifer and off-channel storage and conservation as sources of new water supplies and as a means to minimize effects on late season stream flows.
• Emphasize the need for new development to use existing public water systems wherever possible. 

Elwha-Dungeness Watershed Planning Website

Other Resources

• Clallam County Water Related Information (Puget Sound Action Team)
• Climate Change and Global Warming - Projected climate changes will also affect future water supplies.  Currently, winter precipitation stored as snow in the Olympics provides much of the summer stream flow.  Global warming may shift both the timing and form of precipitation, leading to reduced winter snow retention, increased winter flooding and potentially critical effects on late season flow levels.
• Ecology River and Stream Flow Monitoring Network – shows sites and types of surface water gauges, with real-time flow information
• Environmental Information Management (Ecology) – access to a database of over 12 million environmental records on air, water, soil sediment, aquatic animals and plants in Washington State
• Jamestown S'Klallam Tribal Homepage
• Well Log Search and View (Ecology) – searchable database of the location, ownership, construction and other details on completed water wells
• WRIA 18 Elwha-Dungeness watershed page – Ecology webpage with links to studies, publications and outside links
• Working for Washington’s Future: Healthy Watersheds, Healthy People – Ecology publication on watersheds, how the health of watersheds is intertwined with that of people, examples of successful watershed improvement efforts, and a resource list. 

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