The Kitsap Peninsula & Islands Watershed Management Plan Draft was completed for consideration on March 24, 2005 after promoting and taking comment on the 17-page document in the several weeks preceding. The jurisdictions involved are expected to adopt the plan by the end of April.

Under HB 2514, RCW 90.82, the Watershed Planning Act, funding was authorized for Water Resource Inventory Areas (WRIAs) to create local planning units to develop solutions to local water resource problems in an effort to provide recommendations to the State and jurisdictions about how water management should proceed. The Kitsap Peninsula Watershed Planning Unit (KPWPU) for WRIA 15 includes all of Kitsap County, portions of Mason, Pierce, and King counties. The KPWPU recently completed a five-year, $870,000 planning effort in an attempt to identify issues and conduct technical assessments.

Since late 2000, monthly meetings were held to study and create a new watershed management plan. Members included four counties, five cities, four tribes, four water purveyors, the Department of Ecology, and several caucuses representing stakeholder interest groups. These 30 citizens and agencies strived to provide the Department of Ecology (DOE) with plans that would assist in evaluating water right applications.

If approved, it will be sent to the four counties for adoption and if one jurisdiction does not accept it, the group has a limited time frame in which they can work out the problems before funding runs out this Spring. If no agreement is reached, it can not be adopted by the counties and no plan will be forwarded to the state or local jurisdictions for watershed management. While the assessments completed can be used by the agencies, they will not be eligible for future state implementation funds.

The Squaxin Tribe has already vetoed the 150-page WRIA 13 Deschutes River Watershed Plan in Thurston County and the plan was scrapped late last year, squelching any plans for funding or use of the document without a lawsuit. The Tribe’s position is that future water withdrawals in the 270 sqare mile watershed should be offset by an equal amount of water conservation/reuse. The Tribe wants water resources managed on a government-to-government basis and doesn’t feel that planning started out from the premise that there is a shortage of water, a position the Tribe holds. In their view, the state’s ESHB 2514 planning process is fundamentally flawed since non-owners of water are involved in water quantity decisionmaking. They believe that the only owners of the water are the state, federal, and tribal governments and these are the only entities that should make decisions on water management. The Squaxin Tribe also expressed concern that watershed plans might be interpreted differently in the future than intended.

In the KPWPU’s December 16 meeting, Dave Fuller, Hydrogeologist and Water Resource Manager for the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe (PGST), explained; “There’s an interesting undercurrent in all of this…when the legislature came in and gave water rights to purveyors that were their ‘municipal water districts’ they meddled in the process that HB-2514 set up. That means that all new connections would come in and have senior rights in place of Tribes, stream flows, and other earlier holders of these rights.” The PGST Natural Resources staff participate in WRIA 15 Kitsap Peninsula and WRIA 17 Quilcene-Salmon (east Jefferson County) watershed planning units.

Four tribal governments were involved in the planning process — the Squaxin Island Tribe, Skokomish Tribe and the two Kitsap tribes, Suquamish and PGST. Concerns have been raised that there has been an over-allocation of water rights and that large water suppliers have applications in for additional water rights needed to supply future businesses and expanding population. Studies in the past four years by resource staffers from the four counties, five cities, four large water districts, four tribes, and stakeholder caucus groups revealed that only about 20 percent of our annual precipitation soaks in to recharge aquifers.

Despite difference in position and the future availability of resources, the number of permits currently pending for new water rights in WRIA 15 ranks third in the state and twice the number in surrounding WRIAs. (Schick, KPBJ, 11-9-04). In May 2004, the City of Gig Harbor enacted a building moratorium due to a lack of water hook ups and opted to pay $53,000 to move to the top of the State’s list for processing water rights (Folkerts, KPBJ, 11-9-04).

At the close of the December 16 meeting the KPWPU agreed by consensus to work on the existing watershed plan until areas of agreement were clear, then rework the plan so those sections could be approved. This resulted in the much abbreviated 17-page Public Review Draft (PRD) document.

In Appendix B of the PRD, revised on April 21, 2005 an excerpt from the (Suquamish) Tribal Perspective reads:

“Washington State may have allocated more than its share of the water resources in WRIA 15. Over appropriation to out-of-stream users has left many streams with inadequate flows to sustain fisheries. This situation has developed in part because the State has not aggressively enforced existing water quantity laws and regulations, even when abandonment, pollution, relinquishment, waste, or illegal diversions and withdrawals are obvious. Hydraulic continuity between ground water and surface water is not always obvious and wells have been allowed to reduce stream flows to the detriment of fish and wildlife habitat.

Stream flows necessary to maintain treaty-guaranteed fish runs have seniority over all state-granted water rights. New state water rights and the development of inchoate rights cannot be allowed to jeopardize or interfere with sustainable stream flows.”

In contrast to the Tribe’s position, an excerpt from the City - Water Purveyor (Bremerton, Poulsbo, Annapolis WD, North Perry WD, Manchester WD, Silverdale WD, Kitsap PUD) perspective states:

“Public water systems mission is to responsibly provide adequate supplies of safe drinking water and fire flows for the planned growth in the Kitsap Peninsula urban areas. The larger water systems provide better service – we are more efficient, have the resources to utilize the deeper aquifers and provide safer water.

Our conservation programs have been effective and will become even more so as new DOH regulations take effect. We have seen a consistent reduction in per capita water use in Kitsap County. Several local water systems have taken on stream restoration projects such as for Gorst and Strawberry Creeks. Several systems are working toward utilizing treated wastewater effluent.

However, conservation alone will not meet future needs and new groundwater sources will be needed. Cities and water systems have been active participants on the Kitsap Peninsula Watershed Planning Unit. Our main interest in the process is water rights. More specifically, water systems and cities need to have confidence in an appropriate and timely water rights process. Currently, there is not an effective system for water rights processing. New applications have been on hold for many years. There are questionable water rights and claims on file with Ecology that may not be valid, further causing confusion about over-allocation. Mitigation options are unclear and sporadically applied. At the conclusion of this process we need to be reasonably assured that water rights will be issued.”

Not all involved are happy with the decision to reduce the voluminous work down to just 17 pages. Bernie Buday, Citizen of Kitsap County participant, expressed frustration at recent developments and voiced, “I’m not happy with the process. I believed this was going to be a science-based strategy to determine water resources and cooperative management.”

One group involved, Kitsap Alliance of Property Owners (KAPO), state on their web site that “We recommend the entire report be brought forth as recommendations by the planning unit; appendices to be included in the body of the report - not as unresolved appendages.”

Jeff Lincoln, City of Poulsbo Public Works Director, noted that the process seems to have produced a lot of good work and this should be utilized. “Go about approving what you worked on without the funding or whatever. You still have something you can use,” suggesting that interested parties could and should come together under a different umbrella and pursue the ideas the Squaxin Tribe does not necessarily support.

If the draft plan is approved, the PU could potentially become the Watershed Implementation Group (WIG). The WIG would be responsible for overseeing implementation as well as addressing the non-approved issue areas and moving those forward.

References, technical reports, meeting summaries, resources, published articles, comments, and more at: www.kitsappeninsulawatershed.org. You may view its chapters and send comments on the PRD of the plan via the “Contact Us” page.

Downstream...

On the 26th of April the YWCA honored their fifteen Women of Achievement for 2005 at an award ceremony in Bremerton’s Harborside Convention Center. Honoring generations of women who with compassion, courage, and conviction have changed our lives. As in the past fifteen years, the selection has often included one woman who has instilled ecological stewardship and served as an advocate for the environment. This year, a familiar face to children and parents was honored for her contributions and hope for the future of our children.

Jan Jackson, Librarian at Suquamish Elementary School, helped to create the nature and culture reserve in Suquamish Elementary School. “Gel’kali”, from the Suquamish Tribe and Coast Salish language, means a place for weaving. The pond populated with indigenous plants, reeds and grasses is called the “Basket Marsh” by the classes at Suquamish Elementary and in May of 2002 awarded the Kitsap County Commissioners 11th Annual Earth Day Award in the category of Outstanding Achievement in Youth Leadership.

Last month in honor of EARTH DAY, the Sinclair Inlet Watershed Cleanup volunteers met at the Downtown Bremerton BOARDWALK April 16, organized by Donald Larson, non-profit Kitsap Diving Association, Kitsap Trees & Washington Scuba Alliance dolarson@comcast.net, 360-373-7593. John Denis coordinated the Sinclair Inlet southern shoreline cleanup from Port Orchard/Annapolis Ferry Dock area.

Kitsap Trees will sponsor public education class, taught by Jim Trainer, to learn about trees. “Tree Talk’n” with popular radio personality Ciscoe Morris and Jim Trainer, will be held 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. May 7, at Clear Creek Nursery in Silverdale.