Letter from the Executive Director |
Greetings!
Happy New Year! CELP is entering 2022 focused on our mission to protect, preserve, and restore Washington’s waters.
It has been a difficult couple years between the pandemic and increasing climate disasters. We hope you have been staying safe. The year started with extreme winter storms. Extensive rain and snow caused flooding, avalanches, and road closures. As the climate warms, storms increase in intensity.
We are ready to tackle water and climate issues. CELP's priorities for 2022 are protecting and restoring adequate, healthy streamflows, honoring tribal rights and partnering with Tribes on water issues, adding and increasing water use efficiency standards and water conservation efforts, advocating for sustainable and equitable water policies and management, and increasing collaboration on water issues.
Our year is off to a busy start with a short legislative session. We are working hard in Olympia to stop bad water policies and pass bills that protect our water resources and salmon.
We have accomplished a lot to protect our waters with the help of our supporters. You can help protect our waters by signing up for lobby week, contacting your legislators, sharing CELP's work and posts, and supporting our work by making a donation today.
In this issue you will find information on our 4th annual Clean & Abundant Water Lobby Week, additional CELP priority bills, a study linking low water flows and low salmon returns, an introduction of our newest CELP board member, a posting for CELP's summer legal internship, an article on how climate change impacts snow patterns, and water and fish news.
Sincerely,
Trish Rolfe
Executive Director
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Lobby Week
Water Bills
Water flows & Salmon
New CELP Board Member
Legal Intern Opportunity
Snow & Climate Change
Water & Fish News
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Help ensure clean and flowing waters in Washington State by making a gift to CELP! |
Check out Water Stories. These heartfelt, personal celebrations of water together, highlight the vital importance of healthy amounts of clean, flowing water in our communities.
"Water and the flow of a river slow the world down for me, allowing me to focus on what’s a hand and quiet the world around me."- Josh Mills
Check out our new form to submit your water story! |
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Clean & Abundant Water Lobby Week (Virtual) |
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You can use your voice to protect our water resources. Join us for Clean & Abundant Water Lobby Week to meet with your elected officials and have your voice heard. We will provide the resources and training you need. All experience levels welcome!
The 2022 legislative session is going mostly remote due to a spike in COVID cases. We are tracking bills, lobbying, and providing you with all the information you need to contact your legislators and urge them to protect our water resources.
When: January 31st- February 4th
Priority bills:
Salmon Recovery: Operating Budget items
Waste Reduction: RENEW Act (SB 5697)
Setting domestic wastewater discharge fees (SB 5585)
Conserving and restoring kelp forests and eelgrass meadows (SB 5619 / HB 1661)
Training: We’ll hold a training session Jan 31st at 10am so you have the tools and confidence to lobby. The training will also be recorded. Details sent when you sign up.
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Additional CELP Priority Bills |
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CELP is keeping an eye on a few other bills to ensure good water policies are passed and harmful water policies are stopped or changed.
Summary: Adds a climate resilience element to water system plans
CELP’s Position: Support
Summary: Investment in water infrastructure
CELP’s Position: Oppose in its current form
We understand the need for these type of projects as weather patterns change due to climate change, but we can not support this bill with out including projects for funding for instream beneficial use that would restore stream flows and decrease water temperatures for fish.
We are also concerned about the potential of funding projects that would block fish passage and/or increase stream temperatures. Any dam or flood reduction project must not harm fish or block fish passage.
We would recommend that any project to mitigate climate change be vetted through UW’s climate impacts group, and consult any tribe that might be affected by the project.
Status: Jan 18 Public hearing in the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Water, Natural Resources & Parks at 1:30 PM. (Committee Materials)
Summary: Concerning drought preparedness, response, and funding.
CELP’s Position: Support with concerns
This drought bill includes less money for resiliency than Ecology’s bill. 2 million vs 3 million
Summary: Relating to clarifying the existence of riparian stock watering rights
CELP’s Position: Oppose
We are firmly against this bill because it attempts to expand riparian rights beyond what was codified in the 1917 water code. We have a long history in Washington that shows that the prior appropriation system only has allowances for riparian uses in certain limited circumstances. Only those riparian rights that existed in 1917 are recognized in the water code (Department of Ecology v. Abbott, 1985). Riparian rights for stock watering that did not exist in 1917 are not exempt from the water permit process. As our water becomes scarcer, it is necessary for the state to understand where all the water is going in order to best manage the resource for people, wildlife, and agriculture.
Status: Jan 27 Scheduled for public hearing in the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Water, Natural Resources & Parks at 1:30 PM (Subject to change). (Committee Materials)
Sustaining hydropower license fees HB 1931
Summary: eliminates the sunset date on hydropower fees that support agency participation in hydropower licensing
CELP's Position: Support
Status: Jan 25 Scheduled for public hearing in the House Committee on Appropriations at 3:30 PM (Subject to change). (Committee Materials)
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Adequate stream flows are vital to the survival and restoration of Pacific salmon in Washington. The Legislature needs to act on the Governor's salmon package to protect and restore salmon and our water resources. |
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B.C. study links low river flows with lower chinook...
A study that links low summertime water flows in a British Columbia river with lower productivity across 22 generations of a struggling salmon population could help guide how rivers are managed to support fish, the authors say.
Read more
www.cbc.ca
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We are thrilled to welcome Lori Carpenter to CELP's Board of Directors.
Lori Carpenter is a senior professional wetland scientist, certified by the Society of Wetland Scientists and is an FAA certified unmanned pilot. She has worked extensively as a wetland hydrologist and regulatory scientist within surface waters and the vadose zone in the arid west. Her work focuses on watershed functions of wetland and stream environment zones within aquatic resource delineations and mitigation projects which includes water rights, land use and habitat assessments. She studied surface water hydrology and chemistry at the University of Nevada, Reno and then followed with a Master of Science degree in Hydrology and Hydrogeology assessing climatic conditions that form seasonal wetlands. She utilizes drones with remote sensing to better understand watershed conditions via vegetation and habitat mapping at the field spatial scale, cross referenced with Landsat imagery.
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We are now accepting applications for a Summer 2022 Legal Intern. This position is located in CELP’s Seattle Office.
We seek a legal intern with a demonstrated interest in environmental issues. There are a number of projects that the intern might work on including researching alternative water legal system, researching other water issues in Washington water management, drafting potential legislation, or drafting comments and responses to agency rulemaking. While we don’t anticipate any litigation at this time our intern will also be involved in that process should we be engaging in litigation by this summer.
Qualified candidates will have completed their 2L year and taken an environmental law course. Coursework or clinical experience in administrative law is preferred. Exact internship dates are flexible depending on academic schedules, but generally run from June – August and last 10 weeks. Please email a CV, a writing sample, and references to Maggie Franquemont, Staff Attorney at MFranquemont@Celp.org
Deadline for applications is March 1st.
We are hopeful this position will be in-person. If necessary, due to COVID, we will arrange for the internship to be hybrid or remote. The intern should still be located in the Seattle area. In accordance with COVID-19 safety practices, CELP expects all employees and interns to be fully vaccinated. If you have any questions related to our COVID policy please reach out to Trish Rolfe, Executive Director – trolfe@celp.org. |
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Shifting Snow in the Warming U.S.
Snow keeps our planet cooler, makes up more than 50 percent of the Western U.S. water supply, and underpins local economies and cultures from coast to coast. So, how is climate change affecting snow across the U.S.? Snow basics. Two basic...
Read more
medialibrary.climatecentral...
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Warmer temperatures result in heavier snow and rain fall for more extreme weather events and disasters. Fall and spring snowpack are declining, precipitation is falling more as rain and less as snow. Peak snowpack is expected to occur earlier as temperatures rise.
Current snowpack level across Washington state are close to or over 100% of normal. This is great, however, does not mean our rivers will have good flows this summer. Snow acts as a reservoir but the timing of how it melts determines how useful the reservoir is to preventing drought. Last year, we had a great snowpack through April 1st. Historically, April 1st is the peak snowpack and considered the end of winter. By this time the vast majority of snow accumulation has occurred, so this is the reservoir amount we have to get through spring and summer. But even with a good snowpack, a warmer spring and a heatwave in the summer melted our snowpack too quickly and a drought emergency was declared for the state. As temperatures continue to rise we can expect this shift to continue.
How do we manage this shift in our water resources? We cannot continue to use water how we always have. We must adapt, increase efficiency and conservation, and come up with solutions together.
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Climate Change
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For the Northwest, climate change was hard to ignore in 2021. Read more
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To get rural Americans involved in climate crisis, see them for who they are. Read more
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Snow
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Spokane’s snowpack is solid this year, but climate trends still worry experts. Read more
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Winter without snow is coming, scientists warn. Read more
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Salmon
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'We're making babies': After years in decline, Okanagan salmon are back. Read more
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Being Frank: Salmon recovery will take more than money. Read more
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In the Latest Rights of Nature Case, a Tribe Is Suing Seattle on Behalf of Salmon in the Skagit River. Read more
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The fight to save salmon in Washington State: Swinomish Vice Chair JJ Wilbur and Sen. Tandy Wilbur spoke to CBC about the Lorraine Loomis Act. Listen here
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Water Infrastructure
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The West’s largest green energy storage project would destroy a Yakama sacred site. Now, the nation is fighting back. Read more
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Criminal charges filed against Electron Hydro exec in Puyallup River spill. Read more
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Puyallup Tribal Council response to announcement of criminal charges in Electron Hydro case. Read more
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Sauk-Suiattle Indian Tribe files 3rd lawsuit over Seattle City Light's dams. Read more
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Phoenix joins tribes, vows to prop up key reservoir. Read more
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Our members and supporters make our work protecting Washington's waters possible. Thank you!
There are many ways to support CELP's work. You can make a donation, share our emails and social media posts with your network, tell us why you support CELP's mission, sponsor an event, and/or participate in CELP's events and advocacy work. You can also make a contribution to CELP through Planned Gifts including bequests and retirement plans.
Read more about CELP membership and supporting our waters here. |
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85 S Washington St #301,
Seattle, WA 98104
(206) 829-8299
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Thanks for taking the time to read Washington Water Watch! With your help, CELP has accomplished many victories, yet more work remains to be done. You can support our work by making a donation online here, or mailing a check to: 85 S. Washington St #301 Seattle, WA 98104.
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