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Methow Valley News June 24, 1999 Endangered Species Coverage Another MOA could be in the works by Lee Hicks Okanogan County could end up in another memorandum of agreement related to endangered fish and water issues. Less than a year after the watershed planning MOA between the county and state Department of Ecology, a broader group of state and federal agencies is being asked by the National Marine Fisheries Service to develop and sign another water and fish pact. And the county is expressing concern that NMFS and the governor’s salmon recovery team are failing to communicate at the local level. A draft agenda for a meeting set this Wednesday (June 23) addresses discussion of "default" in a proposed MOA that could include closing the basin, including exempt wells, a building moratorium and water rights adjudication. The agenda went out to county, state and federal officials by an e-mail dated June 18, from NMFS senior policy analyst Mike Grady. It called for a meeting at NMFS state offices in Lacey to discuss issues related to endangered species recovery. NMFS is the federal agency that listed salmon and trout species as endangered in the Upper Columbia basin. Last summer, pressure from NMFS led to county commissioners signing a memorandum of agreement that resulted in creation of the county Water Resources Department and the present attempt to develop a watershed plan that could include a "water bank." The NMFS e-mail outlines an agenda that calls for a draft agreement to be done by June 28, and signed by July 15. The latter is the date NMFS has said it would begin reviewing instream flow data in the Methow Valley. Among agenda discussion items are "early action commitments" (through 2001) that include metering, a three-year water conservation schedule, an emergency rule to create a water bank and interim allocation rules, (fish) screens, public education and enforcement. Another agenda section also calls for a schedule and outline for habitat conservation plan negotiations including "flow targets," a water savings plan, implementation schedule and enforcement. Under "default" provisions are discussions to "reinstate" so-called "take" prohibitions under Section 9 of the Endangered Species Act and "target flow conditions" under Section 7 of ESA for irrigation users on federal land. Other items include "closed basin (including exempt wells)," "building moratorium" and "initiate adjudication." The agenda distinguishes between discussion of negotiations of an HCP under "early action" to extend through the 2001 irrigation seasons, and "HCP provisions (2001 on)." The NMFS meeting announcement caught county officials by surprise. Water director Dennis Beich said the county had been working to develop a habitat conservation plan with the state Department of Ecology and Fish and Wildlife agencies and the local Forest Service office. A meeting June 17 of those agency officials included discussions of timing and responsibilities. Another meeting had been set for June 23, but NMFS apparently decided to step into the process. Beich said he contacted Grady of NMFS last Friday to determine, "what was going on." Beich said he explained the county’s efforts to prepare for a habitat agreement by bringing the various agencies together. But, Beich said, Grady responded: "We’ve already done that." Beich said he felt the groups the county had brought together needed to meet and would then get together with NMFS on June 29. "The next thing I know I had the e-mail," Beich said. The county is concerned over NMFS duplicating its efforts. "We feel what we’re trying to do is in line with their goals." "It is really like they do not want the county to be involved," Beich observed. "The county has really been going out of its way to come up with a salmon recovery strategy and plan. And that is without any kind of direction from the state (salmon recovery plan) and National Marine Fisheries. "The county feels we need to be involved in this process and that we need to meet with our partners and view NMFS proposal and finalize ours prior to meeting with the other players in Lacey," Beich said. To that end, the county planned to respond to NMFS that it wanted to stick with the June 29 meeting schedule. The issues have gotten the attention of House Speaker Clyde Ballard of Wenatchee and state Rep. Linda Evans-Parlette. In a Monday telephone conversation with the News, Parlette lamented that, "We can’t get the decision makers at the same table at the same time. At stake, she said, is the "economic vitality of the county." Parlette added that she has asked Ballard to meet with Governor Gary Locke to discuss the communications and decision making problems. "I’m thinking the only way to resolve this is for the governor to go directly to Al Gore," she said, noting that state officials have been told that environmental issues go directly to the vice president’s office. Opinion | Sports |
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