PORT HADLOCK — Lynn Kessler sees progress in water talks involving a state in-stream flow rule that proposes dramatic water-use limits in Jefferson County’s prime farmland, but the longtime North Olympic Peninsula state lawmaker told Ecology officials they should listen more and incorporate residents’ concerns and issues into watershed planning.

“I do think it would be helpful to have some of the questions asked answered,” Kessler said, addressing Ecology officials leading the Water Resource Inventory Area 17 planning unit meeting Tuesday night at Washington State University Extension’s Spruce Room.

“When we got into trouble in 2005, it was because when people talked, they only got stared at.”

Kessler, D-Hoquiam, referred to the hostile crowd of more than 300 that jammed into the Fort Worden State Park Commons four years ago, many of whom confronted Ecology officials about their original draft the in-stream flow rule.

Since then, the rule has focused more on restricting future water use in the Chimacum Valley, where much of East Jefferson County’s richest soils can be found.

The rule is intended to protect fish as well as provide ample water for farms and people in general.

The proposal has the agricultural and real estate communities up in arms because Ecology proposes a water reserve for the Chimacum sub-basin at 1,940 gallons per day and does not allow any outdoor watering until new water sources are identified.

The latest draft of the rule drastically reduces daily outdoor water use to new wells from 5,000 to 500 gallons a day.

That could all but close the spigot on water to future agricultural operations in Chimacum Valley and could make it even more difficult to sell homes or property where water access is scarce.

Kessler asked that questions be answered at the time they are asked, but Laura Blackmore, who has facilitated the planning unit since 2006, said it was a matter of limited time that had prevented immediate responses from Ecology officials.

Blackmore urged those attending the planning meetings to write down their contact information so it could be forwarded to those who could answer them.

Saying she appreciated the comments people were asking Tuesday night, Kessler, the state House majority leader, said Wednesday: “I do think that there has been progress, because there was a very contentious crowd at the meeting I attended in 2005.”

Paul Heinzinger, a resident on Marrowstone Island who is appreciative that Jefferson County Public Utility District brought water service to the island, praised Kessler for her position.

“I really appreciate what Ms. Kessler said tonight,” he said. “I think that’s right on. I think the planning unit has the responsibility of considering these things. We never see any action on it. There are a lot of good things that come from the public here.”

He complained that none of the public comments at WRIA 17 meetings were being incorporated into Ecology’s watershed planning process.

Ecology closed the public comment period on the in-steam flow rule last Friday.

Phil Wiatrak, Ecology’s Quilcene-Snow watershed lead, reported that Ecology since 1998 has spent $1.85 million in grants for watershed planning, such as for the in-stream flow rule.

“The Legislature was very, very good to us, that is in WRIA 17,” he said of the stakeholders who comprise Ecology’s panel of watershed experts in East Jefferson County.

The state Legislature appropriated for Ecology $223,000 for the 2010-2011 biennium that will cover continuation of a U.S. Geological Survey groundwater study in East Jefferson County and more watershed planning.

Kessler was less impressed, saying, “We spend $1.8 million grinding around talking.”

She said she wants to see an action plan with specific remedies.

Wiatrak announced a $95,000 grant to conduct a feasibility study of Jefferson County Public Utility District’s 240-acre Peterson Lake, a spring-fed body of water the PUD acquired from the Peterson family in 2005.

A happy Bill Graham, PUD’s water resource manager who applied for the Ecology grant, said the study would cover ways to augment Chimacum Creek’s low flows and dry times using Peterson lake as a reservoir.

At 565 feet elevation, the lake is at the headwaters of Chimacum Creek and has never seen a motor boat or development beyond the Peterson home, PUD officials have said.

“The feasibility study would be to determine if we can raise the lake to increase storage,” Graham said.

The idea would be that if PUD adds water to the creek it could then swap it for a groundwater or surface water right from the state.

Kessler, following the planning unit meeting attended by more than 30 said, “I still think the public feels like they hear them but don’t listen. There was no interaction at all.

“I think they keep the whole us-versus-them thing going in spite of the fact that they are working together,” she said of Ecology.

The lawmaker, who intends to run for a 10th two-year term next year, said she agreed with the PUD and county’s letters to Ecology, raising concerns about the latest in-stream flow rule and its potential impact on the county’s economy.

She said she too supports serious looks at alternative water sources through aquifer storage and recovery of water and reverse osmosis, or desalination of seawater, which the PUD has already found to be feasible.

Aquifer storage and recovery involves pumping water into the aquifer during high flow water periods and recovering that water during seasonal dry spells.

“Both of those options are certainly options we should be pursuing,” Kessler said, adding that she was concerned about the expense and the cash-strapped state’s inability to contribute to the cause.

Port Townsend-Jefferson County Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.