Olympia, WA A coalition of environmental and fishing industry groups filed suit in Thurston County Superior Court today against the Washington Department of Ecology for not implementing a 6-year-old statute that requires water metering throughout the state. Until meters are installed, these groups say, Ecology is helpless to curtail illegal or excessive water use, perpetuating practices that have contributed to the current salmon crisis. The plaintiff groups, American Rivers, the Washington Environmental Council, the Center for Environmental Law and Policy, the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations, and the Institute for Fisheries Resources, are represented by the Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund.
Under a 1993 state law, Ecology must require metering of all new water diversions, and existing diversions greater than one cubic foot per second or from waters with depressed or critical salmon stocks. While Ecology requires metering in most new permits, it simply has not dealt with existing permits.
We asked Ecology to do what the law has required it to do for the last six years, said Katherine Ransel of American Rivers, but we were stonewalled.
Everyone knows that metering is the first step of sound water management. It not only gives users the information they need to be more efficient, but it's also a fairness issue. Yakima basin irrigators recently called for universal water metering, monitoring and enforcement against illegal use not only because it is good management, but because people who comply with their permits should not be at an economic disadvantage because some people don t.
Depleted streamflows are a major factor contributing to the decline of salmon stocks throughout the state, said Michael Rossotto of the Washington Environmental Council. Hundreds of streams in the state currently have salmonid stocks designated as depressed or critical in part because of inadequate instream flows. In order to solve this problem, we need to know how much water people are using and that's what this law and this lawsuit are about.
Columbia and Snake River salmon and steelhead have been listed under the Endangered Species Act for several years, and on Tuesday the National Marine Fisheries Service announced the listing of still more salmon stocks in Washington, including Puget Sound Chinook.
The legislature not only told Ecology to do this, said Amy Sinden, an attorney with the Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund, but directed that metering take precedence over its other work to protect salmon. Yet even with salmon stocks all over the state listed under the Endangered Species Act, Ecology continues to ignore the law. In some parts of the state, salmon streams actually run dry in the summer, leaving fish stranded. Everybody says we should solve our salmon problems locally, but if we don t follow state laws that protect water and salmon, no one should be surprised by federal endangered species listings.
Considering the economic benefit water rights holders derive from their free use of the public's water supply, it's really very little to ask them to account for how much they re using, said Rob Caldwell of the Center for Environmental Law and Policy.
Salmon are one of this state's most valuable economic resources, but fish need water, commented Glen Spain, Northwest Regional Director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations. Any serious salmon recovery plan should start with the state fully enforcing their own water metering laws so we can be sure fish actually get the water they need.
For Immediate Release: March 17, 1999 Contacts: Katherine Ransel, American Rivers (206) 213-0330 Rob Caldwell, Center for Environmental Law and Policy (206) 223-8454 Michael Rossotto, Washington Environmental Council (206) 622-8103 Todd True, Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund (206) 343-7340
This page created and maintained by Chehalis River Council
Send comments or questions to the: Chehalis River Council