The public will have at least two more opportunities during the next two weeks to comment on Clallam County’s proposed Elwha-Dungeness watershed plan.

A second public hearing — the first lasted three hours last week — is scheduled for 6 p.m. Oct. 6 at Guy Cole Convention Center at Carrie Blake Park in Sequim.

Then the hearing will be continued until the Clallam County commissioners’ regular meeting at 10:30 a.m. Oct. 12 in Room 160 of the Clallam County Courthouse, 223 E. Fourth St. in Port Angeles.

The commissioners also will discuss the controversial plan at an Oct. 11 work session, which begins at 10 a.m. Oct. 11 in Room 160 at the courthouse.

County commissioners firmed up the additional public hearing schedule at a work session on Monday.

The Elwha-Dungeness watershed plan — officially known as the Water Resource Inventory Area 18 Plan — proposes solutions to water disputes and other natural resource issues in the area between Lake Sutherland and the Miller Peninsula.

Fish protection vs. growth

Issues include lack of sufficient water in late summer in certain streams to support endangered salmon, and lack of available water rights for new development, according to the proposed plan.

The plan will guide city, county and state policy, development regulations and water rights administration. It also will guide future activities aimed at improving the environment.

The plan, which has taken five years to develop, was the subject of a long hearing before the commissioners last Tuesday.