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Methow Valley News January 27, 2000 Endangered Species Coverage A new year brings same fish and water issues Resolution remains elusive but new ideas emerge By Lee Hicks Nearly two years ago the Forest Service began biological studies aimed at addressing endangered fish issues that would affect irrigators using land managed by the agency. A year later in the spring of 1999, the lack of response from the National Marine Fisheries Service resulted in a terse complaint from Forest Service officials and the shutdown of several Methow Valley ditches for much of the summer. Moving toward another growing season, irrigators have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on irrigation system improvements. Although springing from irrigation issues, the debate over basin water promises to affect anything from wells for single family homes to starting or building a business. For much of 1999, Okanogan County and state and federal officials have struggled to complete a "memorandum of agreement" to save and protect fish and preserve water rights. But many of the issues that kept headgates closed last season and threatened local water use remain unresolved. The Forest Service continues to work with National Marine Fisheries Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to find solutions that would provide special use permits for irrigators on federal land. The Valley’s largest employer, Sun Mountain Lodge, remains unsure of whether to re-start a $6 million expansion that would create construction and lodge jobs pending some assurances for its water supply from Patterson Lake—fed by the Wolf Creek diversion. Three ditches on Forest Service land—Skyline, Early Winters and Twisp Valley—plan to sue in the next few weeks for damages arising from last year’s irrigation shutdown. Now the pressure faced by federal irrigators last year is being ratcheted up for about 60 private ditches that must create plans to deal with endangered fish. The proposed memorandum of agreement for private irrigators that involved talks by dozens of county, state and federal officials for eight months is unsigned. And the version presented to a large public meeting Nov. 17 now appears destined for replacement by a proposal from the county watershed planning unit. Through all of this, a movement is gaining public and legislative support to elevate the role of the county’s watershed planning unit in the process to develop a "habitat conservation plan," for the Methow basin that would in theory satisfy provisions of the 1973 Endangered Species Act. Wading cautiously into the new century, this is a summary of the key pieces of the endangered species and water puzzle: The Memorandum of Agreement: Okanogan County officials held a conference call meeting Dec. 21 with the state Department of Ecology to discuss the future of the long-debated MOA. A key sticking point remained a voluntary water conservation plan that would, in effect, provide no assurances for participants against "third party" lawsuits to enforce ESA provisions. But participants could be required to contribute more water if streamflow targets advocated by NMFS are not met. The local watershed planning unit has completed a new draft MOA structured around provisions of state legislation, HB 2514, that established the locally based effort. "The county has basically said ‘no’ to the MOA (as proposed in November) but left the door open to revisions that would be acceptable with the public and the planning unit," explained county water resources director Dennis Beich. The new version will be discussed at a Feb. 2 planning unit meeting. Dick Ewing of Winthrop, a planning unit member, said the new version would emphasize more grassroots effort to develop and monitor streamflows and develop hydrology data. The county has about $67,000 in a federal clean water grant that will be used to hire an expert firm for a basin hydrological analysis. Ewing said the planning unit, "has articulated how NMFS and DOE need to interrelate and work together around the 2514 format." That message was to be conveyed at a hearing this week of the state House Agriculture and Ecology Committee. Section 7 consultations: The shutdown of irrigators who divert on federal land brought attention to the ESA issues in the Methow Valley last spring, although irrigators and the Forest Service recognized the problem was about to erupt. Section 7 of the ESA requires the Forest Service to consult with NMFS and U.S. Fish and Wildlife in forming species recovery efforts. Representatives of the Wolf Creek Reclamation District, which includes the diversion into Patterson Lake, met Jan. 13 in Tacoma with NMFS, USFWS and Forest Service officials. Methow Valley District Ranger Laurie Thorpe said Monday (Jan. 24) that much will depend on whether an agreement to do a habitat conservation plan for the irrigation district can be reached. Thorpe said her agency is hoping for a strategy that would allow sub-basins to develop HCPs, which she said, "is the only way NMFS and USFWS will have some assurance that things will get done." The federal agencies and Wolf Creek users plan to meet again for several days in February to try and draft an HCP, Thorpe said. That agreement could, in turn, be a model for other Section 7 irrigators including Skyline and Early Winters. "If we can’t do that we’re going to be in the same mode as last year, (but) this year at least people will know the Forest Service is going to let people turn on (ditch diversions), then we will start watching target flows." Thorpe said that the flows would be based on field work by the agency’s biologists as to what water is actually needed to help fish at a given time. "We’re not just going to pick a number," she explained. Thorpe’s agency must issue the special use permits that will determine if irrigators whose diversions pass through federal land will be able to operate in the coming growing season. Additional hydrology data for Wolf Creek is being developed by a private firm, Golder Associates, which has extensive experience in the Methow basin. Nearly $800,000 has already been spent on the Wolf Creek ditch for a fish bypass, a rebuilt headgate and new fish screens. One additional project being discussed is to improve Patterson Lake dam to permit greater early season water storage. Fish screen and headgate problems, breaks in the ditch and other factors prevented Skyline Ditch from operating last year. Early Winters Ditch made screen improvements and completed some stream work to improve the headgate operation. Those ditches, along with Twisp Valley would be part of a suit for damages resulting from curtailed operation and threats to their water rights, according to an announcement from the Washington Farm Bureau. About 10 other irrigators that operate under Forest Service special use permits have resolved problems or were determined by NMFS or USFWS not to "adversely affect" endangered steelhead and spring Chinook salmon, or bull trout listed as threatened under ESA. Section 9 irrigators: NMFS sent letters last fall to local ditches operating on private land saying they were subject to Section 9 provisions of the ESA prohibiting "take" of endangered or threatened fish. NMFS enforcement officers visited several ditches as water was shut off in September, including the Methow Valley Irrigation District headgates on the Twisp and Methow Rivers. The federal agency has warned MVID it must improve its fish screens among other measures. The question now is whether the MVID will be allowed to operate this season pending conversion of the ditch to wells and pumps as part of a major upgrade voted by district members and financed by federal funds. In another letter dated during the Christmas-New Year holiday, NMFS told some private ditches they needed to make improvements—and gave them less than three weeks to submit a detailed plan. Smaller ditches continue to face uncertainties. Many need new screens and other improvements, but some of the work will require changes in diversion points approved by the state DOE before funds can be released. The watershed planning unit: The planning unit has the support of regional legislators for a greater role in fish and water issues. One example of productive work at the local level is that of the planning unit’s water budget committee. The members have begun "cleaning up" overlapping water claims and rights that are being carried in the state Department of Ecology’s Yakima water registry. Some of the water information is outdated by decades, committee research has revealed, and thereby inflates the amount of water used in the basin State legislators believe a Methow Valley watershed planning effort, based on provisions of HB 2514, could become a model throughout the Northwest for citizen-based responses to Endangered Species Act mandates. The legislative front: At an afternoon hearing Tuesday (Jan. 25), the state House Agricultural and Ecology Committee was set to hear a Methow Valley delegation describe impacts of endangered species and water issues and proposals for locally based solutions. Scheduled to begin after the News’ weekly deadline, the hearing was to include remarks by members of the county watershed planning unit and others including Okanogan County Commission chairman Dave Schulz. The committee is chaired by Rep. Gary Chandler, R-Moses Lake, and Kelli Linville, D-Bellingham. Chandler was prime sponsor of legislation that authorized county-based watershed planning units. The ag-ecology committee has oversight responsibilities for issues involving agriculture and ecology, including those affecting crop irrigation and water quality. Most Olympia watchers are skeptical that much will get accomplished this "short" 60-day session as lawmakers debate responses to tax changes wrought by Initiative 695 and prepare for campaign 2000. On the fish recovery front, however, some observers see promise in House Bill 2406, sponsored by Democrat Debbie Regala and Republican Jim Buck. Their bill would enable state and local governments to develop salmon recovery plans using "adaptive management" and "critical pathways" methods designed to quickly and scientifically test the effectiveness of habitat projects and focus on those that have the most promise. The bill provides for priority by the state’s salmon recovery funding board for fish "protection and restoration" projects such as development of "baseline hydrological data" in areas where streamflows are an issue in federal endangered species listings. This provision could be well-received in the Methow basin. The county planning unit and many residents who have gone through various water studies of the Methow basin say NMFS and other agencies need to develop and accept better water data in planning fish recovery.
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