EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the 10th in a series of articles informing Sequim-area residents on the complex water management issues in the Dungeness River watershed.



by CYNTHIA NELSON

Department of Ecology



A dry spring, summer heat wave and flows consistently dropping in the Dungeness River are causing drought conditions in the Dungeness watershed.

With low snowpack and warm weather, Dungeness River flows have fallen much farther and faster than usual. Daily recorded stream flows are now the lowest in 86 years, which puts extreme stress on the watershed's naturally limited water supplies.

Two of the biggest uses of water - irrigation of commercial crops and residential lawns - are now at peak levels. Simultaneously, migrating and spawning fish and everything depending on adequate river flows need water, too.

Flow is considered one of the most limiting factors for salmon restoration on the Dungeness River, which supports four species of fish currently listed as threatened on the federal Endangered Species List. Decisions right now by individual users on their water use are more important than usual.

This summer's near-drought conditions in the Sequim area not only underscore the need for conservation practices at this time but also the importance of ongoing careful and consistent water management.

The Department of Ecology, in partnership with local government, the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe and a number of water users, is drafting an instream flow and water management rule to set the basic framework for future water allocation decisions.

Because flows in the Dungeness River normally drop steadily throughout October - and late-summer needs for water exceed supply - the rule focuses future water allocation on offstream needs while protecting and restoring late summer/early fall stream flows in the Dungeness River.

A proposed "water exchange" will provide water to help offset new uses. Another possibility would be diverting water during high flows and storing it below ground, switching from surface to groundwater during low flow months.

Five diversions owned by the irrigation companies and districts divert water from the mainstem Dungeness from about river mile 11 to U.S. Highway 101 and deliver irrigation water to about 5,800 acres. A lot of work has been done on the irrigation system to reduce losses and the amount of water diverted from the river for irrigation.

Currently, the Sequim-Dungeness Valley Agricultural Water Users Association is encouraging members to curtail their water use voluntarily by reducing watering lawns, golf courses and playgrounds, and fruit and vegetable gardens that can be watered from other sources.

(A reminder about water rights: all irrigation from the ditches stops on Sept. 15 and ponds fed by irrigation water are for irrigation purposes only.)

The draft instream flow rule is expected to be out for public review this fall and will be posted on Ecology's Web site (see box). Ways of commenting on the draft language will be advertised in the Sequim Gazette and by other means.

Please join us and others working to manage water resources to be better able to cope with drought, increased growth pressure and meeting the needs of all water

users.



Cynthia Nelson is the Washington State Department of Ecology's watershed lead for the Elwha-Dungeness watersheds.





Questions?

For more water conservation ideas, visit:

Clallam County's Web site at www.clallam.net/water

conservation/

The Dept. of Ecology's water conservation Web page at www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/wr/ws/wtrcnsv.html.

For more information on the Dungeness instream flow and water management rule:

Contact Cynthia Nelson at 360-407-0276, e-mail cyne461@ecy.wa.gov or visit Ecology's Dungeness Web site: www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/wr/instream-flows/dungeness.html.