The piping is a step to get flooding on the Dungeness via the return of alluvium to raise the level of the river.. Its all a deceptive maneuver. They could not restore the floodplain without returning the alluvium to the river. Its a trespass to take property on the Dungeness. It should all be part of an equal protection and illegal takings lawsuit.
OMG !! My Grandpa Iversen was a ditch walker and kept those irrigation ditches flowing - !!! (I am aging myself here - we used to drink right out of those ditches too ) That was pre giardia days !!!!
What a fine way to enter into spring and summer. Road wars, Water wars.... Tribal interference! Where is the benefit and who most... it's always 'Follow the Money'..... where is 'serve the community first and foremost. Without that this community will die.
I'll tell you what's causing the reduction in salmon-- If I am not mistaken, the Tribes use gill nets and multi-hook lines across the rivers to absolutely decimate the spawning salmon. The Tribes were given the rights that none of the rest of us have, so that they could use their traditional methods to catch fish, with the image in everyone's mind that the fish would be used to feed the tribe. But, they sell the fish commercially as they decimate the salmon populations. No other fishermen, commercial or sportsmen, are allowed to do this. We don't need dams removed or piping projects that no one wants, rammed down our throats. What we need is for the Tribes to follow the same fishing regulations that all of us must adhere too and, just like that, the salmon populations will be ample!
In the olden days, this would be solved by hundreds of angry farmers with pitchforks standing outside the commissioners office....
Can you name any other endangered or threatened species that we allow the harvest of? I honestly don't know, besides the salmon species that they are trying to protect.
I would buy that if a farmer would acknowledge the role of alluvium in perpetual farming. The irrigation ditches were well thought out and vital for perpetual farming in a rain shadow. Losing the alluvium and access to it is a death knell. Any farmer worth a salt should have and still should be up in arms about the loss of alluvium.
Help the farmers and the river or stand back to experience an unfathomable consumption of open space by development to satisfy the demands of the climate refugees inundating the Sequim area.
If the river dies, we all may become climate refugees ourselves. BUT I don't think it's an "either or". Development is already here regardless of piping the last open irrigation ditch. The development is taking place all over on former farmland. So many already developed lanes are named after their former farmland families all around Sequim.
Drive along Old Olympic today and one can see what is happening on former farmland that is part of the Agnew Irrigation district (already piped) and more. So the development of farmland is already here. I have faith in the efforts by the North Olympic Land Trust to preserve more farmland. I hope it's not misguided.
A question we should be asking ourselves is what sort of leadership do we want to responsibly manage growth going forward? Too many communities have been down this path before and failed to manage it in a reasonable and responsible way. It's not just climate refugees showing up here but lots of Californians (no offense to former Californians on this board) who have found affordable property and a nice lifestyle. We live in a beautiful spot so you can hardly blame them.
As a person with first degree farming relatives, I know it is a challenging way of life and selling off property for development is a lot easier, in many cases, than trying to maintain a living as a small farmer.
Where does the populace get their water? From wells or the river? If from wells, then this is a separate issue from groundwater used for irrigation. Instead of demolishing dams, we should be rebuilding them.
The lawyer Thomas Pors is not telling the truth. Its more than about the water. Its about alluvium distribution. Furthermore, if salmon recovery can be had on Jimmycomelately, and the Elwha without restoring a "historic floodplain" then Pors is wrong again. Lastly, the JLARC Committee is reviewing salmon recovery because all wild runs are down except on the Columbia and the Green and Cedar river, where dams control levels of one main channel. The riparian planting with low river level tributaries has been a bird smorgasbord. Salmon recovery like the one being proposed on Dungeness has been a complete bust. Now they want devices to scare birds off?? How natural is that. Do they have a picture from the 1800 something with a motion light on trees.. Its all become a joke.
The salmon are missing because of pollution in the Sound and because of over fishing. Washington fishing regulations are a joke--there are no regulations!
Not for the Tribes, who wantonly decimate the fish populations, but only for the rest of us. Maybe it's time to stop the Tribes from ruining the salmon ecology.
The piping is a step to get flooding on the Dungeness via the return of alluvium to raise the level of the river.. Its all a deceptive maneuver. They could not restore the floodplain without returning the alluvium to the river. Its a trespass to take property on the Dungeness. It should all be part of an equal protection and illegal takings lawsuit.
OMG !! My Grandpa Iversen was a ditch walker and kept those irrigation ditches flowing - !!! (I am aging myself here - we used to drink right out of those ditches too ) That was pre giardia days !!!!
You know the Microsoft engineers aren't from Sequim when "ditchwalker" has a red squiggly line under it.
What a fine way to enter into spring and summer. Road wars, Water wars.... Tribal interference! Where is the benefit and who most... it's always 'Follow the Money'..... where is 'serve the community first and foremost. Without that this community will die.
I'll tell you what's causing the reduction in salmon-- If I am not mistaken, the Tribes use gill nets and multi-hook lines across the rivers to absolutely decimate the spawning salmon. The Tribes were given the rights that none of the rest of us have, so that they could use their traditional methods to catch fish, with the image in everyone's mind that the fish would be used to feed the tribe. But, they sell the fish commercially as they decimate the salmon populations. No other fishermen, commercial or sportsmen, are allowed to do this. We don't need dams removed or piping projects that no one wants, rammed down our throats. What we need is for the Tribes to follow the same fishing regulations that all of us must adhere too and, just like that, the salmon populations will be ample!
In the olden days, this would be solved by hundreds of angry farmers with pitchforks standing outside the commissioners office....
Can you name any other endangered or threatened species that we allow the harvest of? I honestly don't know, besides the salmon species that they are trying to protect.
The ditch company needs to be managed by actual farmers using the resource.
Can the temp folks even hold a conversation with the dmrt?
The president (Gary Smith)needs to be recognized as such.
The others need to return to their spots.
Tom Mix
I would buy that if a farmer would acknowledge the role of alluvium in perpetual farming. The irrigation ditches were well thought out and vital for perpetual farming in a rain shadow. Losing the alluvium and access to it is a death knell. Any farmer worth a salt should have and still should be up in arms about the loss of alluvium.
Frankly John, you have a choice.
Help the farmers and the river or stand back to experience an unfathomable consumption of open space by development to satisfy the demands of the climate refugees inundating the Sequim area.
If the river dies, we all may become climate refugees ourselves. BUT I don't think it's an "either or". Development is already here regardless of piping the last open irrigation ditch. The development is taking place all over on former farmland. So many already developed lanes are named after their former farmland families all around Sequim.
Drive along Old Olympic today and one can see what is happening on former farmland that is part of the Agnew Irrigation district (already piped) and more. So the development of farmland is already here. I have faith in the efforts by the North Olympic Land Trust to preserve more farmland. I hope it's not misguided.
A question we should be asking ourselves is what sort of leadership do we want to responsibly manage growth going forward? Too many communities have been down this path before and failed to manage it in a reasonable and responsible way. It's not just climate refugees showing up here but lots of Californians (no offense to former Californians on this board) who have found affordable property and a nice lifestyle. We live in a beautiful spot so you can hardly blame them.
As a person with first degree farming relatives, I know it is a challenging way of life and selling off property for development is a lot easier, in many cases, than trying to maintain a living as a small farmer.
The answer is multi-faceted and complicated.
Where does the populace get their water? From wells or the river? If from wells, then this is a separate issue from groundwater used for irrigation. Instead of demolishing dams, we should be rebuilding them.
It's kind of ironic that we are building a reservoir here and 30 miles to the west, we just removed two.
absolutely......
The lawyer Thomas Pors is not telling the truth. Its more than about the water. Its about alluvium distribution. Furthermore, if salmon recovery can be had on Jimmycomelately, and the Elwha without restoring a "historic floodplain" then Pors is wrong again. Lastly, the JLARC Committee is reviewing salmon recovery because all wild runs are down except on the Columbia and the Green and Cedar river, where dams control levels of one main channel. The riparian planting with low river level tributaries has been a bird smorgasbord. Salmon recovery like the one being proposed on Dungeness has been a complete bust. Now they want devices to scare birds off?? How natural is that. Do they have a picture from the 1800 something with a motion light on trees.. Its all become a joke.
The salmon are missing because of pollution in the Sound and because of over fishing. Washington fishing regulations are a joke--there are no regulations!
30ft boats coated with the same polymer found in the tires, 500 horsepower engines, with 90 ft gilnet, is awful regulation indeed.
Not for the Tribes, who wantonly decimate the fish populations, but only for the rest of us. Maybe it's time to stop the Tribes from ruining the salmon ecology.