Clallam County town hall exposes split over proposal for county water resources specialist

Commissioners in Clallam County heard more than two hours of public comment on a Charter Review Commission recommendation to retain a county water resources specialist, with speakers sharply divided over whether the county should create a permanent position or first consolidate existing data and partnerships.

Paul Pickett, chair of the CRC water subcommittee and a longtime water-resources professional, said the proposal is primarily about information, not regulation. "We this was about information, collecting information so you could make decisions," Pickett said, urging a flexible approach such as a part-time or contracted specialist to coordinate StreamKeepers, the PUD, city water systems and state data.

Several speakers and former staff described gaps in locally available science. "The last USGS wells studies were undertaken in the 1990s," Randy Tierney told the board, and recommended a central website or app that would collate river flows, snowpack and well transponder data from city, county and state sources. Anne Soule, who said she worked as a county and city water resource specialist for decades, reviewed prior watershed plans and told commissioners many plans were never fully implemented: "What is needed is staff capacity to work with water resource partners that are focused on known needs," she said.

Commission staff and the director of community development, Bruce Emery, responded that the county already requires water planning information from many providers and that higher-permitting thresholds trigger more rigorous review. Emery explained how group A water systems must demonstrate adequate resources and noted the Dungeness Valley relies on a water-exchange program administered by the Washington Department of Ecology that includes mitigation fees for new withdrawals. "We don't know everything," Emery said, pointing to uncertainty about how climate change will affect aquifer recharge.

Opponents cautioned against creating a new county bureaucracy in a tight budget year. Multiple residents said the county should first inventory in-house expertise and partner resources; one commenter suggested a county water conference or a short-term contract to produce a baseline dataset before hiring a full-time position. "I don't think we need another bureaucracy," one speaker said, adding that AI or a consolidation effort might perform the initial curation task.

The town hall produced no formal vote. Commissioners asked staff to continue gathering public input and to report back at future meetings; the board announced a follow-up town hall in Port Angeles next week.

Ending: The discussion underscored competing priorities: several residents and former staff urged immediate investment in county capacity and data collation, while others favored a stepwise approach that inventories current resources and pursues temporary contracts or partnerships before creating a permanent county post.