DUNGENESS — Clallam County and the state Department of Natural Resources have agreed on a third-party appraiser to reconcile differing appraisals for 396 acres for the Dungeness Off-Channel Reservoir Project, according to the county transportation manager.
“Funding-wise, the county does have enough money to buy the property for the project,” Steve Gray told Clallam County commissioners at their work session March 20.
“And as the board knows, the DNR did an appraisal, we’ve done an appraisal, and there’s a gap,” he said.
So the two sides agreed on a third-party appraisement review as well as an appraiser who will conduct that review, he said.
The two sides will meet again Thursday to solidify the scope of work, Gray said.
“So, timing-wise, hopefully sooner, but I probably anticipate 60 to 90 days once we get the appraiser working on it until we get the report out,” he added.
“Hopefully by June we’ll have something we can bring back to the board, and hopefully bring this to a head,” he said.
Property acquisition is part of phases one and two, which are budgeted at $6 million.
The long-planned $32 million reservoir off River Road southwest of Sequim will provide 1,600 acre-feet of storage capacity to hold Dungeness River water until the late summer and early fall, when irrigators and fish need it the most.
The proposed off-channel reservoir would have an infiltration area for overland flow and irrigation infrastructure upgrades on state Department of Natural Resources parcels off River Road, according to a staff memo.
The 88-acre reservoir would sit atop a 320-acre parcel that will become a Clallam County park. Water would be diverted from the Dungeness River via Highland Irrigation District’s point of diversion and conveyed through the irrigation district’s canals.
The project was first envisioned about 13 years ago by the Dungeness Reservoir Working Group coalition, which includes Clallam County, the city of Sequim, Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe, Dungeness Water Users Association, Clallam Conservation District, Ecology and Washington Water Trust.
________
Reporter Brian Gawley can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at brian.gawley@soundpublishing.com.
