HomeMy WebLinkAboutNatural Resources August 15 19954 WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL
5 NATURAL RESOURCES COMMITTEE
6
7 August 15, 1995
8
9 The meeting was called to order at A1:10 a.m. by Committee Chair Larry Harris
10 in the Council Committee Room, 311 Grand Avenue.
11
12 Also Present: Absent:
13 Ward Nelson None
14 Ken Henderson
15
16 COMMITTEE DISCUSSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS TO COUNCIL
17
18 1. NOOKSACK BASIN STEERING COMMITTEE: REVIEW OF WORK
19 TO DATE AND IMPACT OF FEDERAL ON- RESERVATION WATER
20 RIGHTS NEGOTIATIONS (AB95 -224A)
21
22 Harris noted the Steering Committee was formed in 1994 in response to the
23 Lummi- Nooksack Tribes request for the federal governmental to enter negotiations to
24 quantify tribal water rights of the Nooksack Basin. The County became involved with
25 the Steering Committee because it recognized the potential for a Bolt -type decision
26 based on the 1885 treaty regarding water rights. This would have deep impacts on the.
27 County as stakeholders. The County joined the Steering Committee to prepare itself to
28 respond to either negotiations or litigation regarding tribal water right claims. The
29 County budgeted $182,600 through December 1995 to participate in the activities of this
30 committee. The City of Bellingham has also budgeted for this committee.
31
32 Tom Anderson, Manager, Public Utility District, and Chair of the Steering
33 Committee, gave a presentation. From his perspective as a PUD manager, a major
34 concern was the tribes' August 1993 request for water rights for fish habitat in the entire
35 Basin, which would affect the in- stream flow.. If the tribes were to get a senior right for
36 water based on the state's in- stream flow (many times this is below the river level), it
37 would impact the PUD's ability to pump water and supply Cherry Point Industries. The
38 PUD would have to either pay the tribes for the right to use water or curtail funding.
39
40 Following the tribes' November 1993 announcement of a request for federal
41 negotiations, the PUD investigated what that meant. In the initial investigation, it was
42 learned that under the federal guidelines, there was an opportunity for local interest to
43
44
Natural Resources Minutes, 8/15/95, Page 1
1 participate. The cities of Bellingham and Lynden, the Ag Preservation Committee and
2 the PUD then met. The County was asked if it wanted to participate not only because
3 the small systems and private property owners were not represented, but because it was
4 obviously going to be a convoluted political process. Bellingham's interests are primarily
5 on the upper watershed; the PUD's, on the lower river; the County's in the central area.
6 The agreement among these entities allows for flexibility in participation.
7
8 Contact was established with people in Wyoming, Idaho and Montana who had
9 been involved in this process. Negotiated process is much preferred over litigation: the
10 problem of creating an adversarial atmosphere is avoided and litigation tends to become
.11 narrow, leaving out some of the ancillary and corollary problems.
12
13 Money was spent on direct legal research. An ethnohistorian was then employed,
14 whose work will be available shortly to the committee. One of the main purposes of the
15 Steering Committee was to form an alliance with other people who were likely to be
16 affected by a potential litigation and share costs.
17
18 The committee has worked at developing communication with the state, which is
19 the maker of the laws affecting water rights. In the federal negotiation process, the state
20 is our representative.
21
22 Data gathering was found to be very necessary in order to view the entire picture
23 of the situation. A consultant team was employed. This data process. is working with the
24 cooperation of the state, which furthered the goals of communication with the state on
25 policy level. The data gathering process is over half complete.
26
27 Anderson stressed that the Steering Committee is not a public process intended to
28 resolve the issues. Rather, it is a very controlled, focused group representing the
29 municipal interests that sit on it, and it is there to collectively do legal research, collect
30 data and act as a conduit for information with the state in terms of how this process is
31 progressing.
32
33 He noted last year the committee was working on the concept.that there would be
34 federal negotiations under the federal process. This has not happened. Also, Russ
35 Lehman has left the governor's office, who has also had an impact on the process, as he
36 was the committee's state connection.
37
38 One of the issues has been the size- -will it cover all water issues or just pieces?
39 The committee has recommended the piecemeal process, mainly due to the advice from
40 Idaho and Wyoming, which was that the larger the size, the more weight to come falling
41 down.
42
43
44
Natural Resources'Minutes, 8/15/95, Page 2
1 In June of this year, the tribes came before the committee to inquire how far it
2 would go to support the tribes moving forward with a process. The tribes proposed the
3 committee's overt support for a model that would invovle filing litigation, putting it on
4 hold and entering a negotiated process. They thought this was the only way the federal
5 government would participate. The committee was not in favor of open litigation right
6 away. The well issue at Sandy Point came to a head at about the same time; this
7 sidetracked the Lummis in terms of what was happening.
8
9 In July 1995, the federal and state governments along with the Lummis, met and
10 agreed to go forward with on- reservation negotiations. The committee is supportive of
11 this approach because it believes it makes sense to. do it in pieces. The on- reservation
12 negotiations also are more complicated and involve more than just water issues.
13
14 The current issues have affected some of the committee's potential timeframes.
15 Much energy has been sidetracked. Consequently, the committee's ongoing work with
16 the state has been slowed.
17
18 Anderson also stated the committee is not ready to come forward with 1996 costs.
19 Currently, moving forward has been placed on hold, partly due to the on- reservation
20 debate. It is totally unclear as to the ending of the events presently unfolding.
21
22 Dick Grout, Department of Ecology (DOE) representative, spoke on the
23 reservation negotiations, which will be a pre- negotiation meeting next week. According
24 to Grout, the DOE has informed the federal government that there is not. much point in
25 proceeding if the property owners are not represented and also not represented in a
26 form they find satisfactory. There are too many opportunities in this negotiation process
27 for any party who is unhappy to veto the entire process.
28
29 There were questions from the Council members.
30
31 Those also speaking included:
32
33 Nate Brown, Planning & Development Administration
34 Kris Heintz, 3411 Robertson Road, Bellingham
35 Jim Kaemingk, Mayor of Lynden
36
37 Anderson ended by stating there is a real problem in that economic development
38 has been affected by the inability of the PUD to guarantee water to potential industries.
39 He noted these industries have gone elsewhere in order to avoid these problems.
40
41
42
43
44
Natural Resources Minutes, 8/15/95, Page 3
1
2
3
4
5
�6
7
8
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
ADJOURN
The meeting was adjourned at noon.
Jill Nixon, Recording Secretary
ATTEST:
Couhrfl-)BVAV
WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL
WHATCOM COUNTY, WASHINGTON
i�
Larry Harris, ouncil Member
Natural Resources Minutes, 8/15/95, Page 4