PORT ANGELES — City officials are pondering imposition of stricter, Stage 3 water conservation measures within the next three weeks as the Elwha River flows slower and slower during the North Olympic Peninsula’s rainless summer, Craig Fulton, city public works and utilities director, said Wednesday.
Fulton told City Council members Tuesday that the city also is looking at other options for city water other than the Elwha River so the waterway remains vibrant for fish.
Fulton said the river is flowing at 340 cubic feet per second (cfs) two months ahead of schedule.
On June 17, city officials issued a Stage 2 water emergency, calling for voluntary conservation measures through an intense public information campaign.
Stage 3 measures, under which the council could limit lawn and garden watering to specific hours and days, could be implemented as the waterway approaches 300 cfs, Fulton said.
Fulton said Wednesday there is a 50-50 chance he will recommend at the next council meeting July 21 that council members impose the Stage 3 emergency.
But he said those odds could change if a weather forecast that calls for a chance of rain Sunday and Monday becomes actual precipitation.
He said the city is not in danger of running out of the water drawn from the Elwha.
River water for city residential consumption courses through a Ranney collector well 60 feet below the surface and the National Park Service intake that takes water from the river surface.
But the river flow is expected to drop to 150 to 180 cfs in September.
“At that level, there are going to be fish impacts,” Fulton said.
That limited a flow would cause the water to heat, lower oxygen levels and provide a breeding environment for salmon parasites and bacteria.
The state Department of Fish and Wildlife, which earlier this year curtailed fishing on the Sol Duc River to protect returning chinook, on Wednesday asked anglers to limit fishing to morning hours to reduce stress on fish, land them quickly and immediately release them back into the water.
“We’re seeing some really challenging conditions for fish in streams and rivers, especially for this early in the summer,” Teresa Scott, Fish and Wildlife drought coordinator, said in a statement.
Higher water temperatures and low stream flows also are creating problems at the agency’s hatcheries, Scott said.
She said the department probably will release some hatchery fish early and transport salmon and steelhead that are unable to make it upstream to spawning grounds.
Fulton said Wednesday that evaporation likely cuts the Elwha’s flow by about 20 cfs during the daytime — about double the estimate he used at Tuesday night’s meeting — while the city consumes about 3.5 cfs daily.
Some of that water returns at night as the river basin recharges the flow, Fulton said.
But only some.
“It’s on a continual downward trend,” he said.
Fulton was hopeful the city could obtain drought-relief and fish-impact grants to seek alternative water sources as the dry weather continues.
He has entered preliminary discussions on seeking new sources with Robinson Noble Inc. of Tacoma, which specializes in hydrogeologic, geotechnical and environmental consulting services.
One alternative being reviewed — no contracts have been signed — is putting wells into existing aquifers, Fulton said.
The goal would be “to make our water system more robust going into the future,” Fulton told council members.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5060, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
