| New watershed proposal blasted for "lack of scientific evidence" Port Angeles, WA - 9/22/04 - Clallam County commissioners are told a proposed watershed plan needs a lot more scientific work, data and refinement before it is approved. But people who’ve been working on the plan for the past four years say it already contains voluminous information and represents a good start at preserving the “quantity and quality of water”. Commissioners faced a packed house Tuesday morning as they began consideration of the proposed Water Resource Area Inventory Plan or WIRA, a 500 page document that’s been under development since 1999. The plan seeks to outline a master plan for managing water resources in both the Dungeness and Elwha River watersheds with the goal of identifying how much water is available, and how it should be used for everything. In addition to the county, local cities, the tribes and other jurisdictions are being asked to agree to the long-range plan. The objective is to preserve water quality, and quantity while still leaving enough water available for fish and wildlife. The county’s hydro-geologist Ann Soule said the plan was a positive attempt to try and plan future water use at the local level before the state steps in with additional regulations. Local government leaders who had worked on the plan as part of the local watershed planning effort spent the first hour of the hearing “circling the wagons” in support of WRIA plan. But when it was the public’s turn to speak, tempers flared across the podium as the plan came under attack, even from those who had worked on the planning effort in the past. Sequim well driller Keith Winters and others complained that they had been excluded from the plan’s development. Realtors, builders and others complained it could make homes more expensive in the future and nearly all the opponents said the plan wasn’t based on enough scientific analysis. Commissioners made no decisions, except to continue the public hearing to a later date. Commissioner Mike Chapman told PNN the board will discuss the next step at a work session on Monday, including the possibility of having an evening hearing in Sequim. In the meantime, the commissioners’ office will continue to take emails and letters over the proposal. Commissioners are facing three options with the WRIA plan. It can be accepted as drafted, or sent back to the planning team for further work. It could also be rejected, but supporters say that means the state will simply implement it’s own regulations without taking local concerns into account.
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