A fault line under a reservoir. A 30 foot high wall of water. The recurring theme is just "wash away those pesky residents." And the bumper sticker politics to push the project along, "Climate Change".
I’m going to memorize as much as I can… and if the opportunity arises where some of your thoughts will fit what’s being touted then they’ll be shouted… I do not know how you maintain your demeanor… truly 🤦🏼♀️
How come whenever a concern for fish stocks is mentioned the very practice that has been used for many years for the fish stock decline is not mentioned ''GILLNETTING''.
I find this quite interesting when the people concerned/against the John Wayne Marina 600 Home Resort --have been told we have plenty of water in our watershed. Why do we need this? Are our taxes paying for this? Will our property taxes go up?
How come whenever a concern for fish stocks is mentioned there is no mention of the very practice that is responsible for the decline of fish stocks ''Gillnetting''.
Hmm. What could go wrong? Everything! I like the idea of a reservoir, but I am deeply concerned about the earthquake issue. "It can't happen here." How many times throughout history has that phrase been uttered to only be proven wrong by God, Mother Nature, and Murphy's Law. Thank you, Jeff, for the outstanding article today! This should be an interesting week with all of the meetings in the county. I look forward to your reporting and updates.
I would like to know why the Dungeness water is the ownership of irrigation districts to begin with? Why don’t irrigation companies drill their own wells for water like the rest of the population does? Homeowners don’t pull water from the river. The water district where I came from got their water from wells they drilled & piped water from other wells. Maybe I’m ignorant but I don’t understand how any company can claim water from a river as theirs, just like that.
Pepai as a homeowner we draw draw water from our own well. We rely on water from Agnew irrigation for our little piece of heaven… we were part of a ditch but several years ago they piped it… not pressurized. So we get that water from May to oct…. Before there were so many people there Water gods divide it up for managing it… they still “ride” it but in trucks to make sure no one takes advantage of it! We have a huge pond and were told years ago we better not put water in it…. Or the world literally cut our water off!! Any how that’s all I know..
I see the reservoir project as a positive for the community. The challenges in making it a reality are many. One of which is the fault line. The practicalities of location like the cost increase of a more remote location and potential flooding must be weighed and a decision made. It is possible a major seismic event could cause unwanted flooding, but it is unlikely. I am not inclined to bet on the unlikely happening. The homocentric belief that we can control the climate is a fool's errand. Let's git-r-done.
Removing retirees and bringing in climate migrants and families with no jobs to support them. Getting more and more stuff from a ship and truck so you enthusiasts can walk and ride bikes on a trail. Climate activists are smoking good weed these days.
Did anyone go to the Off Channel Reservoir meeting last night? Looked up information on how this all started. In the 1990’s 7 irrigators who received water from the Dungeness River through ditches and distributed water to other downstream farms felt there was a need for water conservation, mainly because open ditches and ditches in general leak and waste water. They were concerned about low water flows in the Dungeness River August thru September when water decreases in the river. Spawning fish won’t attempt to swim upstream until the weather cools or there is a rain that signals the fish it’s time to go from Dungeness Bay upstream.
In 2012 the water rights were severely restricted on how much water could be drained from the river for irrigation.
The manager of the main pipe that feeds the current other 6 irrigator districts is Highland Water District, owned and operated by Ben Smith. Highland Irrigation have roughly 250 customers they provide water to. The other 6 districts get their water from Highland and then provide water to their water consumers.
The Off-Channel Reservoir will fill with piped water from the Dungeness in a Highland Water Diatrict owned pipe and the outflow pipe will also be owned and operated by Highland Water District.
The CEO or Chairman of Highland Water District is Ben Smith or Troy Smith and they operate the dairy in the Maple Valley Area in Sequim over on the Sequim Bay. Highland Water District was created by the Smith’s & they will ultimately control the water because they will own the pipes in and out of the $60MILLION reservoir taxpayers will pay for. The reservoir is being built for the Smith’s to partner with other water districts just as they do today and they have convinced other partners that the taxpayers need to pay for it to the tune of $$$$$$$$$$$ millions.
The last expensive disaster was Towne Road…..sound familiar? Already building the planned reservoir on an eco dump who knows how much extra it will cost to mitigate hazardous soil under a water supply because all that hazardous material seeps down through the base of the reservoir into the aquafiers. We were told at the meeting the reservoir was moved 50 yards to avoid 2 earthquake faults but everything is safe and nothing to see here but extra costs to reinforce the structure of the planned reservoir. They tout recreation park, however with fluctuations in water levels and all the things that go with running and maintaining a county park there will be use fees, liability costs, maintenance, inspections, operations, etc. I attended a County budget meeting tonight and millions of dollars are spent with county tax dollars for fair, parks and facilities as follows $4,858M misc revenue, quality of life spent $3,916M not including staffing costs of $25.58M.
Consequently the reservoir is being built at the estimated current cost of approximately 60M for Highland Irrigation District to control and provide water to 6 other Sequim districts. It is very difficult to gather research information and when you ask questions its all spin, go talk to FEMA, or Ecology, it’s about the fish. Not really it’s about money for water and control of water. California is a mess because of the very same reasons, CONTROL OF WATER. They took complete control in California and no one gets the water they think they will, they get dry dirt because of this and that reason. The farmers will have no control and they want taxpayers to pay for it all! No thanks.
BTW in California the irrigation ditches are lined with cement, 60 MILLION dollars can go a long way for the cost of cement ditches to provide farmers with water. Also Ben Smith has a holding pond on his property he fills for irrigation so why can’t other districts do the same for their customers, why do the Clallam County taxpayers have to pay 60M $$$ for Ben Smith’s irrigation reservoir?
The Jamestown Skallam Tribe created a fish crisis by splitting the Dungeness river in several places creating less water for fish to navigate upstream and warmer water flowing in the river that fish will not spawn in…...just in time to further justify lower water in the river channels for fish, how convenient the timing! Why didn't the USFW step in about the protection of the salmon and say more water in the main river channel is what fish need?
A fault line under a reservoir. A 30 foot high wall of water. The recurring theme is just "wash away those pesky residents." And the bumper sticker politics to push the project along, "Climate Change".
Thanks Jeff. keep up the FIGHT. I wonder why Noah decided to build an Ark, when he could have just raised taxes to affect climate change?
I’m sorry to have to miss the meeting. I’ll be out of town for family health issues. Thanks to Jeff and others for keeping us informed.
You're welcome. Hope things work out for your family.
I’m going to memorize as much as I can… and if the opportunity arises where some of your thoughts will fit what’s being touted then they’ll be shouted… I do not know how you maintain your demeanor… truly 🤦🏼♀️
How come whenever a concern for fish stocks is mentioned the very practice that has been used for many years for the fish stock decline is not mentioned ''GILLNETTING''.
Thanks Jeff. Glad the Towne Road opening did not slow the effort down.
You are hitting them over the head with facts and rightfully so.
To hear them say an earthquake could take out an overpass but not a reservoir was priceless. Clallam County government needs a complete purge.
Notice how the reservoir not only threatens Sequim, it is close enough to serve the John Wayne Marina development.
Time to get out of the NODC, and all the other non profit governments they have created and funded with bad intent.
You're welcome, John. You know all this stuff already, but it's pretty shocking for the rest of us who are just finding out.
Another eye opener. Thank you, Jeff!
👀 you're welcome, Diana!
I find this quite interesting when the people concerned/against the John Wayne Marina 600 Home Resort --have been told we have plenty of water in our watershed. Why do we need this? Are our taxes paying for this? Will our property taxes go up?
I am so proud of you Jeff and every body that add so much to this stack ! To me it’s like going to Church ! Hope and real Joy !
I agree, there's a real community we are building here.
How come whenever a concern for fish stocks is mentioned there is no mention of the very practice that is responsible for the decline of fish stocks ''Gillnetting''.
Hmm. What could go wrong? Everything! I like the idea of a reservoir, but I am deeply concerned about the earthquake issue. "It can't happen here." How many times throughout history has that phrase been uttered to only be proven wrong by God, Mother Nature, and Murphy's Law. Thank you, Jeff, for the outstanding article today! This should be an interesting week with all of the meetings in the county. I look forward to your reporting and updates.
You're welcome, Denise. Maybe to the answer to "Could we get some transparency and accountability?" is... "it can't happen here."
I would like to know why the Dungeness water is the ownership of irrigation districts to begin with? Why don’t irrigation companies drill their own wells for water like the rest of the population does? Homeowners don’t pull water from the river. The water district where I came from got their water from wells they drilled & piped water from other wells. Maybe I’m ignorant but I don’t understand how any company can claim water from a river as theirs, just like that.
Pepai as a homeowner we draw draw water from our own well. We rely on water from Agnew irrigation for our little piece of heaven… we were part of a ditch but several years ago they piped it… not pressurized. So we get that water from May to oct…. Before there were so many people there Water gods divide it up for managing it… they still “ride” it but in trucks to make sure no one takes advantage of it! We have a huge pond and were told years ago we better not put water in it…. Or the world literally cut our water off!! Any how that’s all I know..
Climate change is a scam!
Did Dungeness Meadows ever get a seat at the table for discussions on this project?
I don't see any mention of them in the latest minutes: https://www.clallamcountywa.gov/archive.aspx?AMID=68
I see the reservoir project as a positive for the community. The challenges in making it a reality are many. One of which is the fault line. The practicalities of location like the cost increase of a more remote location and potential flooding must be weighed and a decision made. It is possible a major seismic event could cause unwanted flooding, but it is unlikely. I am not inclined to bet on the unlikely happening. The homocentric belief that we can control the climate is a fool's errand. Let's git-r-done.
Removing retirees and bringing in climate migrants and families with no jobs to support them. Getting more and more stuff from a ship and truck so you enthusiasts can walk and ride bikes on a trail. Climate activists are smoking good weed these days.
Great, lets build the interchange on Old Olympic and 101...The one they said we cant build because of all the earthquakes.
Did anyone go to the Off Channel Reservoir meeting last night? Looked up information on how this all started. In the 1990’s 7 irrigators who received water from the Dungeness River through ditches and distributed water to other downstream farms felt there was a need for water conservation, mainly because open ditches and ditches in general leak and waste water. They were concerned about low water flows in the Dungeness River August thru September when water decreases in the river. Spawning fish won’t attempt to swim upstream until the weather cools or there is a rain that signals the fish it’s time to go from Dungeness Bay upstream.
In 2012 the water rights were severely restricted on how much water could be drained from the river for irrigation.
The manager of the main pipe that feeds the current other 6 irrigator districts is Highland Water District, owned and operated by Ben Smith. Highland Irrigation have roughly 250 customers they provide water to. The other 6 districts get their water from Highland and then provide water to their water consumers.
The Off-Channel Reservoir will fill with piped water from the Dungeness in a Highland Water Diatrict owned pipe and the outflow pipe will also be owned and operated by Highland Water District.
The CEO or Chairman of Highland Water District is Ben Smith or Troy Smith and they operate the dairy in the Maple Valley Area in Sequim over on the Sequim Bay. Highland Water District was created by the Smith’s & they will ultimately control the water because they will own the pipes in and out of the $60MILLION reservoir taxpayers will pay for. The reservoir is being built for the Smith’s to partner with other water districts just as they do today and they have convinced other partners that the taxpayers need to pay for it to the tune of $$$$$$$$$$$ millions.
The last expensive disaster was Towne Road…..sound familiar? Already building the planned reservoir on an eco dump who knows how much extra it will cost to mitigate hazardous soil under a water supply because all that hazardous material seeps down through the base of the reservoir into the aquafiers. We were told at the meeting the reservoir was moved 50 yards to avoid 2 earthquake faults but everything is safe and nothing to see here but extra costs to reinforce the structure of the planned reservoir. They tout recreation park, however with fluctuations in water levels and all the things that go with running and maintaining a county park there will be use fees, liability costs, maintenance, inspections, operations, etc. I attended a County budget meeting tonight and millions of dollars are spent with county tax dollars for fair, parks and facilities as follows $4,858M misc revenue, quality of life spent $3,916M not including staffing costs of $25.58M.
Consequently the reservoir is being built at the estimated current cost of approximately 60M for Highland Irrigation District to control and provide water to 6 other Sequim districts. It is very difficult to gather research information and when you ask questions its all spin, go talk to FEMA, or Ecology, it’s about the fish. Not really it’s about money for water and control of water. California is a mess because of the very same reasons, CONTROL OF WATER. They took complete control in California and no one gets the water they think they will, they get dry dirt because of this and that reason. The farmers will have no control and they want taxpayers to pay for it all! No thanks.
BTW in California the irrigation ditches are lined with cement, 60 MILLION dollars can go a long way for the cost of cement ditches to provide farmers with water. Also Ben Smith has a holding pond on his property he fills for irrigation so why can’t other districts do the same for their customers, why do the Clallam County taxpayers have to pay 60M $$$ for Ben Smith’s irrigation reservoir?
The Jamestown Skallam Tribe created a fish crisis by splitting the Dungeness river in several places creating less water for fish to navigate upstream and warmer water flowing in the river that fish will not spawn in…...just in time to further justify lower water in the river channels for fish, how convenient the timing! Why didn't the USFW step in about the protection of the salmon and say more water in the main river channel is what fish need?