On November 10, 2005, after several months of growing public unease over the provisions of the Department of Ecology's draft instream flow rule for Water Resource Inventory Area 17 (WRIA 17), the three members of the 24th District's legislative team hosted a public meeting in Port Townsend with the Washington Department of Ecology.  More than 300 local citizens attended to learn about the proposed rule and to share their concerns.

The Department of Ecology was represented by Joe Stohr, Special Assistant to the Director.  In his opening remarks, Mr. Stohr shared the following apology and commitments to the residents of WRIA 17:

The Department of Ecology’s Commitments to the
Quilcene-Snow Water Resource Inventory Area (WRIA 17)

1. We will work to correct any mistakes or inappropriate statements that disrupted the watershed management effort in the WRIA 17.   We apologize for any problems that we may have caused.

2. We will not proceed with the effort to set an in stream flow until we establish a new process that builds on the good work done by the WRIA 17 Planning Unit and involves all interested citizens of the basin

3. We have no intentions of coming into your basin and disrupting people’s lifestyles, investments or quality of life.   We have a legal obligation to provide for people’s needs and protect in stream resources.   That is a delicate balance but there are lots of ways to achieve that goal if we work together.

4. We support local small scale farming and are committed to developing workable solutions for farms and salmon including:

a. Recognition that the “Kim Case” is settled law that allows for the use of 5,000 gallons of water per day in support of agricultural purposes; and

b. Providing access to technical expertise and available funding sources for improved water resource management, including modern irrigation techniques to make the most efficient use of water.

5. Our enforcement and compliance efforts will be strictly limited to serious abuses of the water code such as someone using large amounts of water without holding a water right permit and keeping a senior water right user from exercising their full rights.

6. We recognize and appreciate the creativity, experience, and knowledge of the people in the basin and hope to involve everyone interested in the development of innovative solutions designed to better support both human use and in stream resources.

7. We will work to assure that the data used to support water resource management decisions are developed, analyzed and shared in a way that promotes solutions that are scientifically sound, technically feasible and legally defensible.

8. We will work hard to regain credibility in the eyes of the people within the Quilcene-Snow Basin and to attain the common goal of building a modern water management system that supports people and a healthy environment.

OWUA is involved in the process of working to build a more balanced and appropriate instream flow rule with the Department of Ecology and other stakeholders in WRIA 17.  We are working to ensure that the Department continues to honor the commitements they made at the November 10, 2005 public meeting, and that all concerns related to the initial attempt to adopt a rule are considered and responded to.

When Washington's legislators instructed the Department of Ecology to set instream flows by rule, they did not specify what form those rules should take.  As signifcant rules, these are required to meet the standards imposed by RCW 34.05.328, and OWUA will work to those standards throughout our participation in the process.