Swinomish Tribe keeps an eye on water rights issue
Years of agriculture, development and other human activity have led to declines in salmon runs throughout Puget Sound. One reason is that these activities lead to a reduction in the…
Not an Isolated Incident
OLYMPIA, WA (March 7, 2008) — So-called exempt wells could potentially run our rivers dry. Our rivers are connected to the ground waters and what affects one affects the other.…
More Than Lack of Rain Causes Water Shortage
LACEY (July 12, 2005) – While the drought threat has lessened this summer, for fish the problem is getting worse every year because of development-caused low stream flows.
“Low stream flows from little rain is no different to fish than low flows caused by development,” said Jeff Dickison, assistant natural resources director for the Squaxin Island Tribe. “While droughts may come only every few summers, lack of water because of development gets worse every year.”
“In some places, even in normal precipitation years, we run out of water for fish because of the impact of development,” said Dickison. A good example is Lake Lois and the Woodland Creek watershed near Lacey, which regularly sees a significant drop in water level every summer.