By state Representatives Dean Takko and Brian Blake, and State Senator Brian Hatfield
A lot of people in Cowlitz, Wahkiakum and other Columbia River counties are swamping a state agency with objections to proposed changes in water-management law. We don’t blame them a bit. The Department of Ecology is recommending changes for Water Resource Inventory Areas 25 and 26 in our lower Columbia River region. Proposals are based on a watershed plan submitted by the locally led Water Resource Inventory Areas Planning Unit.
Now, no one is objecting to the idea of writing new standards for water policy. That’s a fine and needed objective. But people out here in the real world won’t sit still when any public body takes us for granted. We need to make sure, mighty sure, that any new rules respect the property rights of families and businesses in our communities.
Citizens have every right to a safe and dependable water supply. As much as everyone needs water for drinking and other domestic uses, our farming and fishing industries need water for crops and fish runs. The right planning starts at the local level; local input is fundamental to meeting the legitimate needs of families, farms and fish.
In Southwest Washington, people have protested the amount of reserved water set aside for household wells. We agree. Any changes must be reviewed further. Prior to adopting any new rules, the department must work with local planning units to verify reservation sizes and amend the rule proposals if necessary. Folks have also noted the possibility that Ecology will be requiring metering of household wells. It should be noted that this proposed rule doesn’t require metering of household wells. And Ecology does say that it will take a careful look at reservations to make sure they can accommodate future growth.
The standards we set for the safety and maintenance of our natural resources must work for everyone. Communities and industries should be able to trust in the flexibility of these policies – and trust that government agencies in charge of overseeing the policies are held accountable. We have a duty to establish practical goals for the safeguarding of healthy watersheds for every Washington community. Fair and legitimate local planning is paramount if we expect to meet the fair and legitimate needs of families, farms and fish.
Many of the region’s mainstem rivers run high and often flood during wet winter months. However, the late summer and early fall are a different story. During the periods of the year when streamflows drop, there often isn’t enough flow to sustain our region’s five federally listed endangered species. Also, this time of year people put the greatest demands on water, which can draw from the same sources as those that feed rivers, streams and creeks. Keep in mind that the driest months for our waterways are the time we place the highest demand for water.
Low flow reduces the available habitat for endangered species, especially in smaller tributaries that are found throughout the watersheds. Each of us has a hand in safeguarding this natural-resource legacy we leave for future generations. Each of us, too, must own up to the fact that a frightening percentage of watersheds in our state today cannot provide enough water for families, farms and fish. To meet these challenges, water management in these basins is proactively driven by a local watershed-planning process. The Legislature passed the Watershed Planning Act in 1998 to address water-shortage challenges statewide. The 1998 law put water-supply planning and flow-setting in the hands of local people and their organizations.
There are currently 187 pending water-right applications for both the Cowlitz Basin and the Grays-Elochoman Basin. Setting aside reservations of water for future use is an important part of water management. Doing so gives Ecology the information necessary to process pending water-right applications. In some areas of the basins, Ecology hasn’t issued a surface-water or ground-water right since 1995.
Extending public comment through August 31, Ecology will hold additional public meetings in Longview and Morton after the rules are revised. For sure, this is one hornet’s nest that will stay stirred up as long as it’s needed.