"Sometimes it just takes guts, not money, to do the right thing for salmon.

The Squaxin Island Tribe recently asked the state Department of Ecology to do the right thing for salmon on Johns Creek near Shelton, Wash. They asked the state to stop the explosion of new wells being drilled in the watershed long enough to find out just how much water is available.

And for the second year in a row the tribe was told by Ecology that the state couldn’t do the right thing because it doesn’t have the money. That’s a shame.

The tribe points out that summer flows in Johns Creek are already too low to support a weak run of wild summer chum salmon. In just the past 20 years more than 200 wells that are largely exempt from state regulation have been drilled in the Johns Creek watershed.

Anyone can drill a permit-exempt well without first having to prove there’s actually any water available. The only restriction is a 5,000 gallons-per-day limit. Decades ago these types of wells were intended to give homeowners and other low volume users easier access to water. But today, those wells number in the thousands in western Washington and more are being drilled all the time. The tribe’s petitions were based on a state law that closes well drilling in a watershed if there isn’t enough information to figure out if water is legally available.

I don’t understand how the state can allow all of those wells to be drilled without knowing how much water is available to begin with. We are on a path to dry up Johns Creek."

Get the Story:
Billy Frank: Courage needed on Johns Creek (Indian Country Today 4/4)

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Billy Frank: Management key to salmon recovery (8/10)