HomeMy WebLinkAboutWater Work Session Jul 14 2020Whatcom County
Council Water Work Session
COUNTY COURTHOUSE
311 Grand Avenue, Ste 9105
Bellingham, WA 98225-4038
(360) 778-5010
• •
Minutes - Final
VIRTUAL MEETING - VIEW ONLINE
Tuesday, July 14, 2020
10:30 AM
Virtual Meeting
COUNCILMEMBERS
Rod Browne
Barry Buchanan
Tyler Byrd
Todd Donovan
Ben Elenbaas
Carol Frazey
Kathy Kershner
CLERK OF THE COUNCIL
Dana Brown -Davis, C.M.C.
Council Water Work Session Minutes - Final July 14, 2020
Call To Order
Roll Call
Council Chair Barry Buchanan called the meeting to order at 10:30 a.m. in a
virtual meeting.
Present: 6 - Rud Browne, Barry Buchanan, Tyler Byrd, Todd Donovan, Ben Elenbaas and
Carol Frazey
Absent: 1 - Kathy Kershner
Birch Bay Watershed and Aquatic Resources
Management (BBWARM) District
2019 Annual Report and 2019 Financial
Report
Holly Faulstich, Public Works Department, gave a presentation and
Councilmembers commented on it.
Water Resources Update
Gary Stoyka, Public Works Department, updated the Councilmembers on
the following:
• The new Nooksack WRIA 1 instream flow rule recently took effect
on June 27, 2020
• A recent Watershed Management Board meeting, which included a
summary of the actions that happened in 2019 and a presentation by
Robin McPherson from the Department of Ecology (DOE)
regarding DOE's process for selecting the next basin for
adjudication
• The Watershed Management Team meeting which took place on July
8, 2020
• The Regional Water Supply Plan process led by the Public Utility
District (PUD) using grant funds. They hired a consultant whose role
is to take all the available information for water quality, water
quantity, instream flows, and habitat and identify data gaps.
• A Drainage Base Management project which is a county -wide
project and looks at water quality, water quantity, instream flows, and
habitat as well as ways to integrate land use and flood plain
management. They got a $100,000 grant from the National Estuary
Program and there is a scheduled meeting with the grantors to put
together a scope of work for how to use that grant money to further
the Drainage Base Management Program. The County put in a grant
application for the streamflow restoration grant with the DOE to
Whatcom County Page 1 Printed on 811212020
Council Water Work Session Minutes - Final July 14, 2020
further the process and bring the tribes, farmers, water right holders
and others together to work on goals and identify action projects.
The Drainage Base Management Project could be used either as a
prelude to the adjudication process or instead of the adjudication
process to help lay the groundwork to getting a settlement of all the
necessary parties on all of these issues.
• Continued work on water use efficiency projects both domestic and
agricultural
• Planning Unit Meetings in which they discussed their position on
adjudication and procedure for sending letters of support for grants,
a summary from the DOE on the new instream flow rule, an update
on the plan to update the 2005 Watershed Management Plan, and a
special meeting that was held on July 8, 2020 with the DOE
regarding the adjudication process.
• The next Lake Whatcom Policy Group meeting
• Work of County Staff with the City of Bellingham on proposed
modifications to the Homeowners Incentive Program
• Edgewater Lane stormwater project which will start construction in
August of 2020
• The field and laboratory work along Northshore Drive for the onsite
septic system investigation
Potential Water Rights Adjudication and
Settlement
Gary Stoyka, Public Works Department, gave a presentation about potential
water rights adjudication in the Water Resources Inventory Area (WRIA) 1.
Satpal Sidhu, County Executive, continued the presentation and spoke about
his settlement proposal to work with all parties either within the
adjudication process or outside of it if this basin is not chosen for
adjudication proceedings.
Sidhu and Stoyka answered questions about whether there is a process for
how a settlement would be made if the adjudication process does not go
forward, how the proposed settlement process is different than what they've
been doing for the last ten years, whether the tribes were principles in the
2015 agreement, and working on additional sources of water supply in
parallel to a settlement process.
The following people spoke:
• Henry Bierlink
• Bill Clarke
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Council Water Work Session Minutes - Final July 14, 2020
Adjournment
Staff and the speakers answered questions about why the adjudication
process in Yakima has taken so many years and is only half way done and
what the next steps should be for this issue.
The meeting adjourned at 12 p.m.
The County Council approved these minutes on August 5, 2020.
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Kristi Felbinger, Minutes Tr cription
WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL
WHATCOM COUNTY, WA
Puchanan,
a Council Chair
Whatcom County page 3 Printed on 811212020