NOT ONE COMMENT FAVORING YELM'S MDNS - YET 100 AGAINST
Regarding the City of Yelm's Mitigated Determination of Non-Significance (MDNS) on their water plan, almost 100 citizens wrote to the City criticizing the City's MDNS and requested an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on the City's proposed applications for 3,200 acre-feet/year of new water rights.
This is an astounding public response in opposition to the City's attempt to sneak through an environmental review of its water rights applications!
Quoting the NVN:
"The comment period on the Mitigated Determination of Non-Significance ended May 15 and the appeal period ended May 22.
A total of 98 comments were received, 80 of them after JZ Knight placed an ad in the Nisqually Valley News and Shopper last week questioning the city's water practices.
City officials said the ad relied on scare tactics to get residents concerned.
Knight's representatives denied that...
Yelm Community Development Director Grant Beck said he wasn't surprised by the flood of comments or the fact that they were all pretty similar.
'They all read the ad,' Beck said. 'They didn't appear to have read the MDNS.'
'I was disappointed people didn't take time to understand what they're commenting on.'
If the city went back and conducted an EIS they would just be hiring someone to produce the same technical reports they already did, he said.
In addition to the 98 public comments, the city received one agency comment from the state Department of Ecology and three appeals."
All of the comments came from a broad spectrum of the community, as you can read here:
Click Here
Even the Department of Ecology (DOE) submitted a comment letter stating that the City's water mitigation plan has not been approved by Ecology and that "different" mitigation might be required for Ecology's approval of the proposed water rights.
Three appeals were filed challenging the MDNS: JZ Knight, the Squaxin Island tribe, and Sara Foster ("Yelm Aquifer Preservation Society").
Not one comment letter was filed in support of the City's MDNS - 100% of the comments from the general public opposed the MDNS and asked for a more thorough environmental review of the proposed new water rights.
Yelm Community Development Director Grant Beck said in his usual ridiculous fashion, "If the city went back and conducted an EIS they would just be hiring someone to produce the same technical reports they already did, he said."
THAT IS EXACTLY THE POINT MR. BECK.
YOU ARE THE FOX GUARDING THE HEN HOUSE!
WE WANT SOMEONE OTHER THAN THE CITY TO PRODUCE THE TECHNICAL REPORTS, SINCE YOU IN CITY HALL HIDE FROM THE PUBLIC KEY INFORMATION & USE SUBTERFUGE AS YOUR ALLY!
As the DOE pointed out in responses to those commenting,
"The water right application process, especially for large public water supplies, often takes several years. In fact, the city first submitted its water right applications for the "Southwest Yelm Wellfield" in January 1994.
Although the applications are before Ecology, we aren't in a position to make a decision in 2009.
We know that Yelm's proposal has the potential to impact streams in several area watersheds, including the Deschutes and Nisqually Rivers and McAllister and Woodland Creek drainages. As required by Ecology's water right
application process, the city submitted a mitigation plan (not to be confused with the SEPA process) in October 2008 to demonstrate how it will offset the anticipated impacts. It is Ecology's responsibility to determine
if this mitigation plan is adequate.
It's important to understand Ecology won't issue any water rights until it is satisfied the city will be mitigating potential impacts to the affected watersheds. Using information from the 2008 mitigation plan, previous water right applications from the area and our understanding of the hydrogeology, stream flows and existing water rights in the area, we will decide whether additional water rights can be issued to the city.
Ecology's Water Resources Program has not yet approved the City of Yelm's mitigation plans. Therefore, the final mitigation requirements in the water right permit decisions might be different from what is described in this
Mitigated Determination of Non Significance document."
STAY TUNED!
Is Yelm going to have to go to water rationing in Summer like the City of Lacey?
Click Here for Lacey's water rationing program.
http:www.yelmcommunity.org
I happen to agree that the checklist is totally confusing as is your number of 3200 acre-feet/yr. Between the checklist and your number, I am sure, is a series of steps and insider information I couldn't find.
I have a couple of comments. Yelm is a bedroom community of the State government. Are we expecting that much increase in State government?
Second, do you begrudge the community from doing proper infrastructure planning? I would hope not.
Third, the fact the tribe is wanting to control what the city is doing is a sign the city may be doing the right thing. Very seldom does a tribe's whining mean they are doing what is good for the citizens of the State.
Fourth, from a quick rundown, the 3200 acre-feet seems to be an increase of population of 20,000 plus. Where are they going to fit?
Posted by: swatter on June 4, 2009 11:13 AM