Hangman (Latah) Creek Watershed

Planning Unit Meeting

Spokane County Conservation District

November 8, 2004

Chair:              Walt Edelen, Spokane County Conservation District (SCCD)

Present:          Keith Holliday, Department of Ecology

Dee Bailey, Coeur d’Alene Tribe

                        Gary Ostheller, Fairfield Triangle Grange

                        Peter Grunte, Landowner

                        Bruce Carmack, Landowner

                        Bill Rickard, City of Spokane, Environmental Programs

            Shallan Dawson, Spokane County Conservation District

AGENDA / MINUTES

The meeting was called to order at 10:05 a.m. and began with introductions.  A meeting agenda with copies of the October 28, 2004 meeting minutes were distributed for review. Walt asked for any comments or corrections.  Minutes were approved with the following changes for the last paragraph under recommendations:

Gary Ostheller had recommended that growth management be taken into consideration when addressing comprehensive water plans. The water allocated for rural communities is sufficient at this time. If these areas experience growth, the current allocation under their municipal water rights will need to be addressed. This group could recommend an investigation or recommend setting aside more water for them in this plan. A formal recommendation for a water master or a permit system could also be recommended in this plan. The group also noted that they act as an advisory voice and they do not have the final authority to make decisions.

Recommendations

Tekoa Golf Course/Water Rights

Walt requested that Ecology look into the possibility.  Ecology reported back that they could not find a valid water right belonging to the Golf Course.  This presented a problem.  Ecology is now aware that there may be an issue of illegal water use.  Ecology wants to work with the planning unit and the golf course to resolve the issue.  The planning unit gave direction for the SCCD/Ecology to cooperatively write a letter to the Golf Course explaining the situation.  It is not the intention of the planning unit to cause trouble for the Golf Course.  The only intention was to investigate the possibility of changing the water source.  Walt will work with Keith Holliday to draft a letter.   

There are concerns in these communities that if they do not use their full water right, they might lose the allocation.  If the City of Tekoa could use more water for the pump and dump strategy (temporarily) to augment stream flow, they would be  able to reserve water rights for growth. Bill Rickard suggested changing the wording in the recommendations table, R7.b, the second recommendation should be changed from purchase water rights to lease water rights from Tekoa, in the event that they might need them back in the future.

Multi Purpose Storage

The group reviewed the multi purpose storage recommendations for the table.  Each item was read aloud and the group made recommendations or changes. These changes included:

·         Adding new and existing wells in recommendation R7.b strategy one.

·         Bill recommended adding a new recommendation of developing a system to utilize inchoate rights on a temporary basis from the towns within the watershed.

·         The sixth strategy will have the word “upper” removed. .

·         The wording of strategy 7 was discussed, as beavers can be a nuisance in urbanized areas. The wording will remain, and the cost of operations and maintenance will be reviewed.

Other strategies in this section will remain as distributed. The group concurred with the proposed changes

In-stream Flow

Walt suggested adding a section within the recommendations to add the in-stream flow issue to the recommendations list, with the understanding that the only recommendations in the table would be those already agreed upon by the planning unit and submitted to Ecology.  Public funding was spent on researching this issue, and some felt that the public should be aware of the groups conclusions. Bill thought this was unnecessary, as Ecology already had the report and would go through their process of public meetings when making a decision about in-stream flow. Peter thought it was important to make sure the recommendations from this group were noted within the document; a paragraph in the text section could be added. Walt asked for consensus on this addition, Bill was not in agreement. He objected to saying anything about the recommendations; he had previously agreed only for the purpose of furthering discussion and negotiating. He recommended stating within the report that the group did not come to consensus.  Peter recommended the public be informed as to what this group told Ecology, and Gary agreed. Walt proposed adding the memo that was sent to Ecology to the end of the appendix with the report and reference it within the document noting that the group did not come to consensus. This suggestion was acceptable to everyone.

Prioritization

The Coeur d’Alene Tribe submitted their prioritization, and Walt will be waiting for the rest of the groups individual prioritization.  The tables will be made into posters and will not include this group’s recommendation for prioritization. Dee Bailey noted the additional section of Phase IV Implementation Plan at the end of the recommendations.  The group reviewed the section andthere were no changes.  Bill asked about the match for grant funding in this section. The match will be covered by an in-kind goods and services from meetings, photocopies, and other materials.  Keith noted that there was little to no “real” obligations in the plan for Ecology, thus making it more difficult to justify additional legislative funding for Ecology..

Public Meeting

The public meetings will be held on the 11^th and the 16^th of November.  Flyers have been posted in the watershed, e-mails have been sent and 15,000 individual invitations have been sent.  Walt has received calls about the meeting, mostly about the rock quarry.  People attending the meeting on the 11^th at Fairfield will include: Gary, Bruce, Keith, Rick, Shallan, Reanette, Walt and Bill. The meeting in the 16^th will be attended by Keith, Rick, Shallan, Peter (possibly), and Bill. Dee will ask Scott from the Coeur d’Alene Tribe if he can attend this meeting also. Walt will contact Reanette to see which meetings she will be able to attend. Each person will be assigned a station to answer questions. One person can roam to help direct people. Keith will be stationed at Water Quantity to answer questions about water rights. The other topics will be Water Quality, Habitat and Land Use, and Implementation.

Plan Approval Schedule

The comment period will be from November 16^th to December 16^th for the draft plan and recommendations. Walt and Rick will organize the comments and bring them back to the group at the next meeting. A good goal would be to submit this plan to the County Commissioners in early January, but late January might be more realistic.

Next Meeting

The next meeting will be December 28^th from 9-12 am. The main agenda item will be to review comments from the public comment period and the public meetings.