PORT TOWNSEND — A state Department of Ecology official vowed Tuesday to work with Jefferson County businesses and residents to strike a balance between the county’s economy and the need for water to sustain salmon habitat.
Joe Stohr, special assistant to Ecology Director Jay Manning, met for the first time this year with the Watershed Resource Inventory Area 17 planning unit at the Jefferson County Courthouse.
Stohr said the plan is to get the county back on track regarding Ecology’s proposed in-stream flow rule.
Stohr said he envisions a 10- to 15-person planning unit that could work through June 2007 to write a new in-stream flow rule for Jefferson County, all the while moving “in a thoughtful way.”
The controversial rule’s intent is to ensure enough water for humans and stream levels that protect salmon.
20 people attend meeting
Jefferson County Commissioner David Sullivan, D-Cape George, facilitated the meeting before about 20 people in the commissioners’ chambers.
Audience members included representatives of agriculture, real estate and building interests.
Manning, encouraged by North Olympic Peninsula 24th District Reps. Lynn Kessler, D-Hoquiam, and Jim Buck, R-Joyce, and 24th District Sen. Jim Hargrove, D-Hoquiam, enlisted Stohr late last year to work with concerned county residents.
The legislators’ district includes Jefferson and Clallam counties.
Those residents, most of more than 300 at a Fort Worden Commons public forum, protested the proposed in-stream flow rule, many saying they fear the loss of future water rights and in some cases livelihoods and property values.
“We want the planning unit to create something that is complementary to the flow rule,” Stohr said Tuesday afternoon.
“How can we deal with the economy and fish, and find the right balance?”
Stohr in late 2005 apologized to county residents on behalf of Ecology, saying, “We will work to correct any mistakes or inappropriate statements that disrupted the watershed management effort in WRIA 17.”
Examine economic effects
Norm MacLeod, representing Jefferson County-based Olympic Water Users Association, agreed that the subject of economic effects should be discussed upfront in the early in-stream flow rule talks.
Stohr last year called for a new process that builds on the work done by the WRIA 17 planning unit and involves all residents in the Quilcene-Snow watershed.