Welcome to Skagit County

August 8th, 2007

FIRST MEETING OF NEW SKAGIT RIVER BASIN WATER RESOURCES ADVISORY COMMITTEE TO BE HELD AUGUST 15

SKAGIT COUNTY – The Board of Skagit County Commissioners have announced that the first meeting of the Skagit River Basin Water Resources Advisory Committee (WRAC) will be held at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, August 15, 2007 at the Burlington Community Center located at 1011 Greenleaf Avenue in Burlington. (The meeting was originally scheduled to take place in the Commissioners’ Hearing Room in Mount Vernon, but was moved because of a scheduling conflict.)

The WRAC comprises representatives from a broad range of entities and individuals who have an interest in water resource issues in the Skagit River Basin, such as water purveyors, local tribes, agricultural interests, local governments, and environmental groups. The purpose of the WRAC is to provide input from the local community to the Washington Department of Ecology on water rights decisions and use of recently-established water reserves within the basin. The Department of Ecology is the state agency with jurisdiction over water rights. Under a May 2006 amendment to the Skagit River Basin Instream Flow Rule, the Department of Ecology and Skagit County are tasked with jointly managing the water reserves.

The Skagit River Instream Flow Rule (codified as Chapter 173-503 of the Washington Administrative Code) establishes minimum instream flow levels for the Skagit River and its tributaries and sets aside a very limited amount of water for future out-of-stream uses through the establishment of water reserves. The reserves are available for water uses that require a water right, or for smaller withdrawals that are exempt from the water right process. This rule and state water codes provide the framework by which water rights decisions are to be made in the Skagit River Basin. By way of an inter-local agreement with Skagit County, Ecology has agreed to consider input from the local community when making water rights decisions, and the WRAC will provide a forum to provide that advice. Ecology has agreed to support the WRAC by making its staff available to explain the Department’s water rights process and to answer procedural and policy questions from the WRAC.

The WRAC is a purely advisory body, and is not intended to diminish or pre-empt matters within Ecology’s and Skagit County’s statutory authority. Members of the WRAC were selected from citizen applicants and by invitation from the Board of Commissioners. Once all of the positions have been filled, members of the WRAC will be appointed by the Commissioners to serve two year terms.

The WRAC will be facilitated by experienced, professional facilitators from Skagit County’s Department of Mediation Services. The first meeting of the WRAC will be devoted to introducing members and establishing the framework for the committee’s work, as well as determining the schedule for future meetings. This meeting is scheduled to last until 9 p.m. A light dinner will be provided.

If you have questions about the WRAC, please contact Gary Stoyka, Skagit County Public Works by email at gstoyka@co.skagit.wa.us, or by telephone at 360-336-9400.