SEQUIM — Limits on water use and steep fees for new wells may be on the Dungeness Valley’s horizon.
The Dungeness River Management Team, an intergovernmental group that strives to solve water-related problems, will this Wednesday hear a presentation on the “instream flow rule,” a proposal aimed at keeping more water in the Dungeness River and surrounding streams.
The rule, which could be finalized by May, could impose water metering and a 500-gallon-per-day cap on homeowners in the Sequim area. That allotment would include 150 gallons of water for in-home use plus 350 for watering gardens and grass, said Sarah Ferguson, the state Department of Ecology’s lead writer of the instream flow rule. During the warmest, driest months of the year, she added, homeowners may be urged to drastically reduce their outdoor water use.
Cynthia Nelson, a watershed planner at Ecology, will discuss the instream flow rule during the Dungeness River Management Team’s meeting, which will run from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. in the River Center in Railroad Bridge Park, 2151 W. Hendrickson Road, northwest of Sequim.
Nelson emphasized that the rule will not affect existing well users. Only those seeking building permits or preparing to activate an already-dug well would face the limits — plus a one-time fee for their water rights.
Such limits are aimed at protect the Dungeness River’s fish and surrounding ecosystem. They’re also designed to preserve farmers’ water supplies, Nelson added.
Nelson’s presentation to the river team is slated for 4:35 p.m. Wednesday. The team has scheduled two 10-minute public-comment periods, at 2:10 p.m. and 4:50 p.m.
In other parts of Washington state, well users have been required to pay new water fees. In Walla Walla, for example, one who wants to build a house and dig a well pays $2,000.
The fee may be much higher in the Dungeness Valley, Nelson said, though she declined to estimate how much.
Population growth, in large part, necessitates the new charges and limits, she said. The tide of housing development across eastern Clallam County becomes a drain on the river, rendering it too shallow to support salmon as they come up to spawn. Four species are endangered: the chinook, the chum, the steelhead and the bull trout.
Ferguson acknowledged that this is the first time water limits have been proposed for the Dungeness Valley.
“There’s a huge projected growth of people moving to Sequim,” she said.
Ferguson added that planning for the new water rules has been under way for years, and stressed that the limits are not finalized.
“There are still a lot of issues being worked out. There is still a lot of time for public comment.”
To address questions about the instream flow rule, the Department of Ecology will hold a public workshop next week. The session will cover how the rule would affect new well users, the establishment of a water “banking” system and how local governments can provide water for growth while protecting farmers’ irrigation rights.
The workshop will be held from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Feb. 18 in the John Wayne Marina public meeting room, 2577 W. Sequim Bay Road. For more information or special accommodations, phone Barb Anderson at the Department of Ecology at 360-407-6607.
Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
