SEQUIM — The state Department of Ecology has suspended rule-making in the Dungeness water through this year after reaching an agreement with Dungeness Valley irrigators and Clallam County on steps for protecting future water supply and stream flow restoration.

“The agreement is take the next 12 to 18 months, and locally we’ll come up with a proposal to [Ecology] to better meet the local needs,” said Ben Smith, Sequim Dungeness Valley Water Users Association president.

Local collaboration is the key to developing smart water management in the Dungeness, said Ecology Director Ted Sturdevant.

“This agreement is critically important to the future of the watershed, not only because it protects stream flows but also because of its emphasis on restoring stream flows in the Dungeness River and some streams,” he said.

“We recognize the benefits of hitting the pause button on rule-making and creating time and space for local leaders to seek out and negotiate new water supply projects that could benefit all partners.”

Competing demands for Dungeness River water supply varies greatly throughout the year and requires a collaborative effort to manage water, Ecology officials said.

The in-stream flow rule is a proposal that establishes minimum water levels for rivers and streams to protect fish and wildlife habitat.

While snowmelt on the North Olympic Peninsula is the main source of water in the Dungeness River in spring and early summer, flows drop rapidly. By late summer, streams and rivers are almost entirely fed by groundwater.

Farm irrigation and lawn watering are at their peaks in the summer and early fall, the same time spawning fish need water in the streams.

Species in the Dungeness River are threatened, including the Dungeness Chinook, summer chum and bull trout.

Insufficient stream flow is a critical factor.

Demands on the water supply are expected to increase because the area has one of the highest population growth rates in the state.

Five goals

The new agreement emerged during the drafting of a Dungeness water management rule and is built on five goals:

■ Preventing permanent reductions in Dungeness River flows or small streams because of new uses.

■ Supplying adequate and reliable water for new uses.

■ Ensuring sustainable agriculture in the Dungeness Valley.

■ Restoring stream flows in the main-stem Dungeness and where feasible, in small streams.

■ Putting in place an instream flow rule that protects instream resources and existing water rights within 18 months after the agreement is signed.

Steve Tharinger, a Clallam County commissioner and freshmen District 24 state representative said, “I think we all know the challenges we face in restoring flows in late summer, but we have the right people at the table who are committed to finding a solution.”

Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe has sent a letter of support to Ecology, pledging participation in efforts to improve water supply and restore stream flows in the watershed.

Jamestown S’Klallam Tribal Chairman Ron Allen said the tribe was honored to support the partnership that also restores and protects the tribe’s fisheries.

Marguerite Glover, a member of the county’s Water Working Group for the Dungeness Instream Flow Rule process, said she was concerned that there were a limited number of parties signing the agreement.

Public process

“I did not feel there was enough public process,” said Glover, a longtime Sequim-Dungeness Valley real estate agent. “I want everything in the open and out front.”

She wants Clallam County Public Utility District and the city of Port Angeles to also be involved in the process.

She agreed that Ecology is making sure everybody has water in the valley.

The instream flow rule proposes water banks, or exchanges of water, between irrigators and those wanting to buy water.

In a Feb. 15 letter to the Clallam County commissioners, Glover said, “Instead of proposing to limit the number of new wells, the gallons of water taken from new wells, and the use of the water from new wells (i.e., for inside use), why not just require deeper drilling, and limit the wells that are closest to the river?

“Not all wells impact the river. According to well drillers, some wells may even help the river and/or the streams.”

She calls for a rain gardens program.

She complained that meetings of the Water Resource Inventory Area 18 East In-Stream Flow Rule Executive Committee, which has now been deactivated, were not open or advertised to the public.

She said there are no minutes of meetings available.

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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.