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Methow Valley News October 14, 1999 Endangered Species Coverage MOA: Back to the table By Lee Hicks Outlasting both fishing and irrigation seasons, negotiations aimed at an agreement on endangered fish and water issues in the Methow basin are headed back to the table. Early this week Okanogan County officials were reviewing the latest draft memorandum of agreement crafted by the state Department of Ecology, but based on an earlier county version. County water resources director Dennis Beich and outside counsel Galen Schuler were set to meet Thursday (Oct. 14) at 2 p.m. with officials of National Marine Fisheries Service, Ecology, state Fish and Wildlife, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and others at NMFS’ Lacey offices. Beich said Monday he was reviewing the Ecology version and was relying on assurances from agency officials last week that they had made no substantive changes. The talks toward an agreement began in June shortly after NMFS told the Forest Service in effect that it should not issue special use permits for several irrigation diversions that cross federal land. Sticking points in the negotiations have been NMFS’ insistence on strict target flows for basin streams. The agency has also pushed for stiff sanctions if target flows were not met, among them adjudication of water rights and a building moratorium. The county, however, has attempted to make a habitat conservation plan based on voluntary water conservation the centerpiece of an agreement. Meanwhile, NMFS officials have said they are preparing a letter to irrigators on private land outlining responses needed to aid in the recovery of spring-run Chinook salmon and steelhead trout. NMFS listed both those species as endangered in the basin under the 1973 Endangered Species Act. Opinion | Sports |
Local Interest |