Clallam: Current well-water users can continue current consumption, “water lawyer” says

Well-water users in the Elwha and Dungeness valleys can continue their current consumption under a proposed water resources plan, a self-described “water lawyer” said Monday.

Shirley Waters Nixon, a part-time Port Angles resident and staff attorney for the Center for Environmental Law and Policy in Seattle. said the state’s prior appropriation doctrine establishes that “first in time is first in right” to water.

Nixon addressed Clallam County commissioners at their work session Monday.

The three commissioners will hold the last of three public hearings on the Elwha-Dungeness Watershed Plan at 10:30 a.m. today in Room 160 of the Clallam County Courthouse, 223 E. Fourth St. in Port Angeles.

Two previous hearings have been before packed audiences, including about 200 at a session last week at Guy Cole Convention Center in Sequim.

Future water allocations

Future users would be the losers in any water-allocation or limitation scheme, Nixon said.

So-called “junior users” would include any stream-flow requirements set by the state, she added.

The Elwha-Dungeness plan sets no such regulations, however.

Commissioner Mike Chapman, R-Port Angeles, said it is a planning and policy document, not a regulatory or legislative one.

“There’s no proposal to get people off their wells,” he said.

Nor does it mandate metering people’s wells. Such actions could come only from the state Legislature, Chapman said.

What’s next?

Commissioners will face three choices after today’s hearing: adopt the plan, reject it, or remand it to planning agencies for refinement.

They likely will make no decision today, said Chapman and Commission Chairman Steve Tharinger, D-Dungeness.

The board will probably will spend at least another work session discussing the plan again.

“We’ve got a lot of testimony to digest,” Chapman said.

“We haven’t made up our minds.”

More in News

Kelly and Dan Freeman of Port Ludlow examine a 1958 Edsel on display during Friday evening’s 29th annual Ruddell Cruise-In at Ruddell Auto in Port Angeles. The event featured hundreds of antique and vintage automobiles from across the region as well as food, music and other activities. (Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)
Classic show

Kelly and Dan Freeman of Port Ludlow examine a 1958 Edsel on… Continue reading

Sequim School District officials report it could take upwards of 2 1/2 years to break ground on a new elementary school. Voters approved a $146 million, 20-year construction bond in a Feb. 11 special election that includes a new elementary school, renovated high school and more. (Matthew Nash/Olympic Peninsula News Group)
Sequim schools eye bond timeline

Bigger projects may be 2 years away

Sequim volunteer Emily Westcott has led the flower basket program along Washington Street since 1996. This year she’s retired to focus on other endeavors, and the city of Sequim and the Sequim School District will continue the partnership. Westcott is still seeking donations for downtown Sequim Christmas decorations through the Sequim-Dungeness Valley Chamber of Commerce. (Matthew Nash/Olympic Peninsula News Group)
Sequim flower basket program shifts to city, school partnership

Westcott retires, plans to keep decorating downtown for Christmas

Clallam first in state to implement jail healthcare program

County eligible to apply for Medicare reimbursement for services

Writers to converge in Port Townsend to work on craft

Free readings open to the public next week

Firefighters extinguish blaze in fifth-floor hotel room

Firefighters from East Jefferson Fire Rescue and Navy Region… Continue reading

Mowing operation scheduled along Lake Crescent on Tuesday

Work crews from the state Department of Transportation will… Continue reading

EYE ON THE PENINSULA: County commissioners set to meet next week

Meetings across the North Olympic Peninsula

Peninsula Behavioral Health head discusses the fallout from federal bill

Anticipated cuts to Medicaid could devastate rural communities like Clallam County, leading… Continue reading

Tool library to open in Port Townsend

Drills, saws and more available to borrow

Fire restriction implemented on federal lands

Olympic National Forest and Olympic National Park have restricted campfires… Continue reading