PORT ANGELES — Clallam County commissioners Tuesday adopted the Elwha-Dungeness Watershed Plan, capping more than five years of planning and about eight months of controversy.
In the end, the chorus of contention that greeted the plan last fall shrank to a few critical voices that were overmatched by citizens’ support.
Also known as the Water Resource Inventory Area 18, or WRIA 18 plan, it will give the county a voice when the state Department of Ecology begins making rules on water use.
The plan’s aim is to balance the water needs of people, salmon and wildlife as the county turns from a rural region to an urban area from Lake Sutherland to Sequim Bay.
No regulations set
WRIA 18 sets no regulations by itself but sets up a framework to manage stream flows, groundwater reserves, water quality, private and public wells and water systems, sewers and septic tanks, water storage, stream restoration, water conservation, storm runoff and irrigation.
Goals include:
* Cleaning up waters and reopening shellfish beds by fixing ailing septic tanks.
* Protecting water supplies with conservation, reclamation and reuse.
* Recovering salmon stocks and taking them off the Endangered Species List.
* Fostering good environmental practices through education.
The entire plan is posted on the county Web site, www.clallam.net.