POULSBO — For a very simple product, figuring out how to maintain clean and sustainable water sources in the area is quite complex.
But the Kitsap Peninsula and Islands Watershed Planning Unit for Water Resource Inventory Area (WRIA) 15 is hoping to make the issue as easy as turning on the faucet.
The WRIA 15 group has been promoting its four and one-half years worth of research at numerous open houses in the area, most recently March 17 at the Poulsbo Fire Department.
“It’s been a very large effort with a very large table working on complex issues,†said Natural Resources Coordinator for the Kitsap County Department of Community Development Keith Folkerts.
The planning unit consists of elected officials, water utility districts and stakeholders from King, Kitsap, Mason and Pierce counties. Since late 2000, monthly meetings have been held to study and create a new watershed management plan. The plan aims to ensure all resources are protected from being overtapped or polluted and that there is an adequate amount of clean water for both people and fish. The top issues for the WRIA 15 group have been water quantity and quality, instream flow and fish habitat. There has also been a focus on the fact that this watershed depends on rainfall to recharge its aquifers, not glaciers or mountain snow, like Seattle or Tacoma.
Priority recommendations for the plan include continuing to collect and analyze data; protecting recharge areas; increasing and retaining native vegetation; reusing wastewater treatment plant effluent water instead of sending it to Puget Sound; and simplifying the water rights process.
There are also federal water rights to deal with, which include both tribal and U.S. Navy rights. Four tribal governments have been involved with the planning process — the Squaxin Island Tribe, Skokomish Tribe and the two Kitsap tribes, Suquamish and Port Gamble S’Klallam.
Suquamish Tribe’s water program manager Art Schick said the tribe has been trying to make people aware of the limited water rights in the area and this plan has seemed to help make the point.
There are regular water rights and superior tribal water rights, he explained. If people keep applying for rights as development continues and water rights run out and the tribe has to utilize its “there is going to be a problem,†he said.
Schick explained the tribe has two types of rights: ones on their homelands with the rights to develop on the reservation; and the rights to protect stream flows for fish, which can have a bigger impact on the area.
“Tribes seem to be doing all the work for everyone to protect our fish,†he said.
Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe’s water resources manager and hydrogeologist Dave Fuller said the Little Boston people have the same concerns and interests — to protect and maintain the usual and custom areas in the interest of keeping streams healthy for the fish.
The tribes’ primary concern is maintaining stream flow, Schick said, noting that this is something those who have private wells should also be worried about. If creeks start to dry up, it can be a sign a nearby aquifer is drying up, he added.
A lot of property owners don’t want to see land use mixed up with water planning, but the two do go hand in hand, Fuller added.
Next month, the jurisdictions involved are expected to sit down and adopt the plan. If approved, it will be sent to the four counties for adoption. If one jurisdiction does not want to accept the plan, there is a limited time frame in which the group can figure out where the problem is, as funding for completing this plan runs out this spring. If no agreement is reached, then it will not be sent on to the counties and there will be no plan that can by used by the state or any local jurisdiction for watershed management. However, the assessments completed can be used by the agencies involved but they will not be eligible for implementation funds from the state. More information can be found at kitsappeninsulawatershed.org.
