domestic supply,
habitat and special areas,
recreation,
commercial/industrial uses,
agriculture, and
aquaculture.
As part of the characterization process
the Watershed Management Committee ranked domestic supply and
habitat/special areas as the first priority use, with recreation
second. Industrial/ commercial use, agriculture and aquaculture
were ranked equally in the third category. See Part 1, Section
2, The Problem Definition Process, for more information on this
ranking.
Under state and federal law, the beneficial
use of water is to be protected from degradation. This degradation
can occur from pollution and also from lack of flow or quantity.
Domestic supply, irrigation, and commercial/industrial uses involve
withdrawal and consumption of water, whereas, habitat/special
areas, recreation and aquaculture are particularly dependent
on water retention and quality for beneficial use. The consumption,
or withdrawal, of water for beneficial use is regulated through
the water rights process by the Department of Ecology. Many changes
have taken place in recent years regarding water right law, and
the volume of water needed to maintain fish habitat is now taken
into consideration as part of the water rights process. This
involves determining the amount of water needed in a stream or
waterbody to support fish.
The quality of water for domestic use is
the highest standard and clearly defined through the federal
Safe Drinking Water Act. The amount of water needed for domestic
supply is a very small amount of the overall hydrologic picture
(water budget) in San Juan County. The quality of water for habitat
and special areas, such as research sites, is defined in terms
of the biologic health of streams and wetland areas and the diversity
of wildlife they support. The volume of water needed to support
this biologic health is difficult to quantify. On the mainland,
the amount of flow needed to support fish can be quantified (instream
flow) for streams and rivers, but here, with seasonal flows and
small, complex drainage basins, the requirements for the beneficial
use of water for habitat is harder to define. The value of pumping
water for consumption (human activities) is easy to quantify
because it has a direct value in monetary terms. The value of
a natural discharge that supports a stream, wetland, and the
proper balance of an estuary must be determined in terms of the
health of the watershed and its adjoining marine habitat.
Water quality for recreational activities
can be described in terms of recreational shellfish harvest and
human contact activities, such as swimming and beach walking.
Fecal contamination, algae and other toxins can cause degradation
that leads to closures of lakes and beaches for harvest and other
recreational enjoyment. Water recreation -- clamming, boating,
fishing, diving, bird watching and beach walking -- for seasonal
visitors and residents, is a major part of the quality of life
in the San Juans.
Agriculture and commercial/industrial uses
of water are not as dependent on water quality as other beneficial
uses, but it makes up a major portion of water consumption by
human activities. Although there are few irrigation and industrial
water uses in the county, the volume of water they consume is
estimated at as much as 50 percent of overall human use in a
watershed (Town of Friday Harbor Water System Plan Update 1997;
EES 1990).
Aquaculture, the farming of aquatic organisms,
is an important commercial use of water in San Juan County. Shellfish
growing is a part of the islands' local economy and because of
its value and dependence on good water quality, aquaculture is
identified as a separate beneficial use.
An
example: The False Bay Watershed
The False Bay watershed provides water
for all of the listed beneficial uses except aquaculture. Because
it contains the source water for the Town of Friday Harbor's
municipal supply, water use has been well documented.
The False Bay watershed is the second largest
watershed in the county (East Sound is the largest). It has the
largest drainage capacity, with the greatest number of streams
and wetlands. Average annual runoff is estimated at 3154 acre-feet
or 1,028 million gallons in the Water Resource Assessment, Technical
Report, developed for San Juan County in 1990 (EES 1990).
Thirty to 40 percent of the False Bay watershed
is in pasture or hay and the largest active irrigation operation
in the county occurs in San Juan Valley. Irrigation is used for
forage and hay production. Water rights for 372.2 acre-feet (121.3
MG) have been allocated by Department of Ecology for irrigation
in this area. Estimates in the Technical Report of 1990 for irrigation
totals 130.5 MG/yr for these water rights, but actual water consumption
is not known.
The Town of Friday Harbor uses surface
water from Trout Lake and two supplemental streams as its supply.
The Town has water rights for 1473.5 acre-feet per year, and
used an average of 116 MG/year between 1997 and 1998 (KCM 1997).
Water consumed in Friday Harbor for industrial users, such as
Friday Harbor Sand and Gravel, JJ Theodore Fish Cannery, and
the boat yard, was 2.7 percent of total consumption in 1998.
Commercial users, such as hotels/motels and the University of
Washington accounted for 25 percent of the total.
According to these figures, human activities
consume roughly 246 MG/year of surface water in a watershed that
produces an estimated 1,028 MG/year of runoff.
Water not withdrawn from the False Bay
watershed provides a beneficial use to terrestrial, wetland,
and marine habitats. The watershed includes an abundant terrestrial
habitat of regional and national significance. Extensive wetlands
and streams provide wildlife habitat for nesting, feeding, and
rearing young. The watershed contains one of the few year-round
streams in the county and contains the county's only stream section
categorized as a Class 2 stream (Watershed Ranking Report 1988).
These freshwater sources discharge into False Bay, helping maintain
its unique estuarine water quality conditions, which support
one of the most valuable tidelands in the county with a great
diversity and abundance of marine organisms.
The False Bay marine preserve is owned
by the University of Washington. The 200 acres of tidelands,
due to their unique richness and accessibility, are the location
of extensive marine research. Numerous research papers have been
produced from studies conducted in the bay.
The watershed has one resort, no parks,
and only one campground (for bicyclists only) but False Bay and
the surrounding area provide much scenic enjoyment to residents
and visitors. It is extensively used by students and researchers,
bird watchers, walkers, bicyclists, and mopedists.
Domestic
water use
Thirty percent of the county population
gets its drinking water from surface water sources through the
Town of Friday Harbor, Roche Harbor, Rosario, Doe Bay and Olga
water systems. The rest of the county is served by individual
and community wells. In the 1990 Water Resource Assessment, Technical
Report (EES 1990), the average consumption rate per capita was
reported as 100 gallons per day (average residential occupancy
is 2.5, or 250 gallons/residential connection). At that time
there was little actual data on water use in the county. Recent
water system plans by the Town of Friday Harbor and Eastsound
report an average daily household consumption of 310 and 210,
respectively. By contrast, the smaller utility, Cape San Juan
Water Users, consumes 100 gallons per connection per day. These
rates are extremely low compared to other counties in Western
Washington.
Domestic water use, for drinking and residential
irrigation, accounts for the beneficial use of less than 0.5%
of the water accumulated from rainfall in San Juan County in
an average year (EES 1990). Although it represents a small percentage
of total rainfall, the successful interception and storage of
fresh water for domestic use is highly variable. In some areas,
due to limited, seasonal rainfall and limited catchment and storage
capacity, aquifers and surface impoundments are depleted.
Well failures during the dry season are
not uncommon, as shown by the drop of the water level in wells
and increased salt water intrusion (SJC Health and Community
Services). Limits to the overall capacity for some surface water
systems, such as the Town of Friday Harbor and Roche Harbor,
have led to extensive capital improvements. The Town developed
augmentation pump stations, Aug 1 and Aug 2, which capture seasonal
stream flows and pump the water to storage in Trout Lake. Roche
Harbor developed an extensive emergency well field to supplement
Brigg's Pond during a recent drought. On the other side of the
county, the east side of Orcas Island has an abundant water supply
stored in Cascade and Mountain lakes, while the village of Eastsound
struggles to develop new supplies to meet the demands of growth.
Increasing numbers of wells contaminated with salt water intrusion
on Lopez have caused private and community water systems to seek
new water sources.
Habitat
Habitat in San Juan County consists of
terrestrial, wetland and marine areas (for more information,
see Chapter 2). San Juan County includes an estimated 5,000 acres
freshwater wetlands and there are 88 documented streams, totalling
over 100 linear miles. In addition, many upland areas provide
a variety of micro-environments that support terrestrial habitat
with unique plant communities of regional and national significance
(Lewis 1988). The county's 375 miles of shoreline, with its bays,
inlets, coves, and rocky bluffs, provide near-shore habitat of
world renown. This includes an estimated 5,000 acres of saltwater
marshes and intertidal areas, and extensive eelgrass and kelp
beds.
There are almost 1000 acres of marine preserve
in the County, with 84 sites in the San Juan County National
Marine Preserve (WFWD). Approximately 13,000 acres are set aside
as federal, state, and county parks, with almost 30,000 acres
preserved through voluntary conservation easements or current
use tax incentive programs, for a total of 38 percent of the
county.
San Juan County has been a prime location
for research about the natural world since the turn of the century.
In 1904, the University of Washington conducted its first classes
at the Friday Harbor Marine Station. Because of concerns that
the threat of pollution could impair the value of local marine
waters for biologic research, the county was declared a marine
biologic preserve by the State in 1923. The University of Washington
owns over 1,500 acres in San Juan County and conducts extensive,
world-class marine research. Western Washington University and
Seattle Pacific University also have marine and environmental
study areas in the County, and Moran State Park and YMCA Camp
Orkila offer summer environmental learning courses.
Seventy percent of San Juan County is in
forest cover. Forests protect watersheds through numerous means.
Forest cover provides slope stability, minimizes erosion and
reduces sediment input to streams, wetlands, and bays. Intact
forest canopies provide protection from thermal heating, keeping
water temperatures at acceptable levels. Forests help maintain
summer flows in streams. Organic layers on the forest floor,
along with plant roots in the soil, act as sponges, holding and
slowly releasing ground water into adjacent streams and wetlands.
The evaporation/transpiration cycles of forest vegetation provide
cooling to the surrounding air. The above-ground forest vegetation
intercepts rainfall and slows its descent to the forest floor.
This delay causes peak runoff to occur over a longer period of
time with lower peak flows and reduced flooding. Areas of forest
cover also provide habitat and aesthetic enjoyment. Forests intercept
and consume the largest volume of rainfall annually through the
process of evapotranspiration (see Chapter 2). According to the
Quilceda Allen Watershed Management plan, "Under natural
forested conditons in the Puget Sound region, up to 70 percent
of rainfall is intercepted or evaporated before it reaches streams."
Forests are the greatest beneficiary of water in San Juan County
(Hamilton 1998).
Agricultural
water use
Most agricultural and livestock operations
in San Juan County involve dryland farming practices. Currently,
most irrigation involves market gardeners and orchardists, who
generally utilize low water use systems, such as drip irrigation
(Schultz 1998). Some irrigation involving large withdrawals and
water rights does take place, but actual consumption is not known.
Estimates of irrigation practices were made as part of the Water
Resource Assessment, Technical Report, of 1990. Based on water
rights issued by the Washington State Department of Ecology (1983
data), a table of projected acreage under irrigation by surface
and ground water sources was developed.
Total county irrigation water rights:
| Irrigated water right |
1,201 acre-feet |
| Irrigated acres surface
water right |
2,302 acres |
| Irrigated acres groundwater
right |
496 acres |
| Total irrigated acres |
2,798 acres |
Commercial
and Industrial Beneficial Uses of Water
Commercial uses of water in San Juan County
include tourist accommodations, government agencies, universities,
and port districts. Using the Town of Friday Harbor's consumption
numbers for 1998, commercial use accounts for 29.4 MG/year, or
25 percent of the town's yearly water supply. Industrial uses
include: sand and gravel operations, boatyards, concrete and
asphalt plants, and fish processors. For the Town, this category
of users consume 2.7 percent of the total, or 3.1 MG/year. (Note:
these numbers include Friday Harbor Sand and Gravel, which ceased
operation in April, 1999.)
Other uses of water in this category include
irrigation for the three golf courses and recreational fields
for sports activities. The Buck Park facility in Eastsound utilized
2.3 MG in 1997. Golf course water consumption is not known.
Fish
and shellfish
In the past, commercial and recreational
fishing has been easily the greatest occupation or vocation in
the county. Commercial fishing in the San Juans has declined
in recent years, and sport fishing is undergoing limitations
as well, due to the decline in fish stocks. The spring of 1999
listing of Chinook and Coho as endangered species (under the
federal Endangered Species Act) will have strong effects on local
fishing practices and upland water quality management.
San Juan County is prime marine habitat
for juvenile and migrating salmon, providing shelter and abundant
feeding areas. Eight species of anadromous fish spend all or
part of their lives in the waters of the county.
The Pacific herring is an important fish
resource found in the waters of the San Juan islands. Herring
are forage fish for other fish species, notably salmon. Herring
spawn on eelgrass or sea lettuce in late January to early April.
Eelgrass beds occur in estuarine habitats, and provide food and
refuge for fish and invertebrates.
More than 200 species of marine fishes
have been found in San Juan County waters, over three times the
number found in San Francisco Bay (Yates, 1988).
Shellfish growing operations in San Juan
County include nine commercial sites, totalling over 1000 acres.
Commercial shellfish from the San Juans enjoy an outstanding
national reputation. In addition, 78 percent of the intertidal
zone is state owned and available to the public for shellfish
gathering. One of the main recreational clamming beaches in the
county is on San Juan Island at English Camp National Park. This
Garrison Bay site includes harvest of twelve clam species.
Table 2-1. San Juan County Commercial Shellfish
Growing Areas
| Island |
Site |
Status
(1999) |
| Orcas |
Buck Bay |
Approved |
| East Sound |
Approved |
| Lopez |
Hunter
Bay |
Approved |
| Mud Bay |
Approved |
| Shoal
Bay |
Approved |
| Mackaye
Harbor |
Approved |
| Barlow
Bay |
Conditionally
Approved |
| San Juan |
Westcott
Bay |
Approved |
Recreation
Recreation and aesthetic beauty are the
primary reasons for living in and visiting the San Juans. The
natural landscape and unique environment of the San Juans draws
nearly half a million visitors annually. Seventy-eight percent
of the county's 375 miles of tidelands is state owned. Federal
parks total 1,749 acres, state parks, 6,192 acres, and county
parks total approximately 140 acres. In addition, Department
of Natural Resources and the US Coast Guard own over 2,000 acres.
Approximately 13,000 acres of the county is in public lands,
for a total of 11 percent. Wildlife and whale watching, particularly
for resident pods of orcas, has become increasingly popular over
recent years. Visitors to English Camp, American Camp, Lime Kiln
State Park, Spencer Spit State Park, and Moran State Park hike,
camp, bicycle, whale watch and otherwise enjoy the endless marine
vistas. Boating visitors flock to the State's marine parks on
Jones, Sucia, Matia, Stuart, Turn, and James islands.
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