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Methow Valley News September 23, 1999 Endangered Species Coverage Ditch upgrades in place, process remains key by Lee Hicks As an irrigation season, that for many growers was brief, draws to a close, the future of next year’s crops remains clouded by endangered fish issues. Major repairs and upgrades are underway or completed on several major irrigation diversions. But work "in the trenches," so to speak, remains at the mercy of still-developing policy discussions among federal, state and county agencies. As an example of the problems facing irrigators, a new fish bypass, screen and ditch piping has been completed—at a cost in the hundreds of thousands of dollars— in the upper reaches of the Wolf Creek diversion operated by the Wolf Creek Reclamation Ditch. Although finished two weeks ago ahead of schedule and under budget, state Fish and Wildlife officials say, the district was still unable to open its headgate because of low streamflows in Wolf Creek. The impeded diversion of Wolf Creek ditch has an impact not only on 800 acres of agricultural irrigation, but potentially on the operation of Sun Mountain Lodge. The resort’s domestic water supply comes from Patterson Lake, which is filled by the Wolf Creek ditch. Wolf Creek district president Nim Titcomb said the lake was dropping about two inches a week and estimated any gain from brief operation of the ditch this summer could be lost before the end of September. Growers also lost several potential cuttings of alfalfa. Methow Valley District Ranger Laurie Thorpe said the decision not to issue a permit for Wolf Creek, "clearly points out the difficulty we’ll have meeting instream flows." The Wolf Creek ditch was not able to divert water this summer after the Forest Service withheld its permit when informed by National Marine Fisheries Service that its operation, and that of several other ditches, would "adversely affect" endangered and threatened fish species. Wolf Creek irrigators were able to draw from Patterson Lake for nearly three months, but were not able to replenish the lake from the diversion, as is typical. The Forest Service is now grappling with some strategy to provide greater assurances that the ditches on federal land will be able to operate next spring. The agency is required under Section 7 of the 1973 Endangered Species Act to consult with NMFS and other federal species-listing agencies, including U.S. Fish and Wildlife, to avoid taking actions that will harm fish. Thus far NMFS has only addressed the "Section 7" irrigators. But in a recent meeting with the county and state, NMFS served notice it is ready to address irrigation on private land within the Methow basin, regulated by Section 9 of the ESA. A draft letter, not released to the media, was provided to the county and state agencies for comments. Thorpe said recently that attorneys for the Forest Service are looking over the agency’s plans for Section 7 diversions. Irrigation issues in the Methow basin have a high profile throughout the region this year as responses to ESA fish listings in the Puget Sound area join those already in the upper Columbia River watershed. At a presentation to a legal seminar in Seattle Sept. 16, state NMFS director Bob Turner highlighted the Section 7 consultations in the Methow as examples of ESA requirements. In that address, Turner referred to diversions on Forest Service land and the more than 50 private ditches in the Methow basin. "Together they all contribute to a flow problem, an instream flow problem for fish. There is not properly functioning habitat conditions of some of these tributaries because of over-appropriation of water," Turner said. Unlike ditches on federal land, which are subject to Section 7 consultation by federal agencies, Turner said, "The only way we can get to those (private) ditches...is to prosecute them under Section 9 for ‘take’ (a specific term for harming endangered species). "Section 9 is the big hammer of the ESA," Turner said. In explaining possible enforcement under that provision, Turner added, "Whenever there is a take—broadly defined as harm, harass, look sideways at—theoretically that entity that does that to a listed salmon is subject to criminal prosecution under Section 9 and we will be bringing Section 9 cases." Turner added, however, that the agency is working on an "intergovernmental approach" that can accommodate both Sections 9 and 7 diverters under habitat conservation plans, or HCPs. With fish issues, Turner said the state Department of Ecology is the agency to bring together water users because it "has control over state water law." "That model of providing an umbrella organization to bring in entities that are jointly...con-tributing to the problem and can jointly solve it can be lifted out of the Methow and placed all over the state of Washington." Turner said. As work to repair ditches proceeds with funding from the governor’s salmon recovery program and other sources, county, state and federal agencies continue to debate a memorandum of agreement that would likely include a habitat conservation plan. Opinion | Sports |
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