ABOUT US

Our Mission

"To preserve and enhance the Dungeness River Watershed Planning Area through an ecosystem approach to restoring its physical and biological health."

The Dungeness River Management Team (DRMT) is a partnership of individuals and stakeholders who are working together to develop and pursue implementation of locally based, long-term solutions to Dungeness Watershed management issues. The Team has operated since the late 1980s, with active participation from residents and other partners and stakeholders in coordinating locally based, long-term solutions to water quantity, water quality, flood control, forest management, salmon recovery and other critical watershed issues. Because the Dungeness basin represents the east side of Watershed Resources Area 18 (WRIA 18), one of 16 basins in the state listed as critical for low flows, the DRMT also serves as the East WRIA 18 watershed council, promoting flow restoration and wise water use.

The DRMT has been nationally recognized for cooperative resolution of these issues, and it functions as an important, ongoing forum for communication, coordination and information sharing. The Team meets openly each month to discuss these issues, listen to public concerns, and cooperatively exchange ideas about watershed management.

Check out our 30^th Anniversary newsletter (published September 2018) for more information!

Geographic Focus

The DRMT's adopted Geographic Focus Area includes the Dungeness Watershed and those waters influenced by it through the irrigation system. This includes the Bagley Creek sub-basin (on the west) to the west edge of Sequim Bay (on the east), and includes the Dungeness and Gray Wolf Rivers, Siebert, McDonald, Matriotti, Meadowbrook, Cooper, Cassalery, Gierin, Bell and Johnson Creeks and their tributaries. At the same time, the DRMT has also focused on restoration strategies for the Sequim Bay Watershed, and in 2001 the Team officially acknowledged Sequim Bay and its drainages as part of the DRMT's Geographic Focus Area.

View a map of the DRMT Geographic Focus Area

History

Dungeness Railroad Bridge (River Mile 5.7)

The original Dungeness River Management Team was formed in 1988 to foster communication among diverse groups interested in the Dungeness Watershed. Specifically, the Team set out to define problems, establish goals and gather and exchange information for better management of the Dungeness and its resources. These efforts eventually helped produce Clallam County's Dungeness River Comprehensive Flood Control Management Plan (Updated in 2009), and later, the Dungeness River Area Watershed Management Plan (1993).

Over the years further discussion and planning by local residents about flood control, floodplain and riparian development, logging practices, preservation of agricultural lands, and related natural resource issues resulted in the Dungeness-Quilcene Water Resources Management Plan (1994), a regional water quantity plan known by the community as "the DQ Plan." This key plan was part of a pilot project that used locally driven and consensus-based decision-making to provide recommendations about in-stream flow management, groundwater, water conservation, education and other issues.

One of the highlights for the Dungeness area during the DQ process included negotiations between the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe and the Dungeness River Agricultural Water Users Association that resulted in an agreement between the Water Users and Ecology that the Water Users would not take more than half of the flow in the Dungeness River during the irrigation season (half for the fish and half for the people). Other significant recommendations from the DQ Plan were implemented in the years that followed, including a trust water rights agreement, improvements to the efficiency of the irrigation system, the development of a habitat restoration plan by a technical team, and continuation of a watershed council to provide more coordinated and integrated natural resource planning for the Dungeness River Watershed area.

In response to the latter recommendation, the Dungeness River Management Team was reactivated in 1995 through a joint resolution between Clallam County and the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe. Its purpose as defined in the resolution was to: "exchange information on technical studies, issues, and projects occurring in the Dungeness Watershed; pursue implementation of the Dungeness River Comprehensive Flood Control Management Plan (1990), Dungeness River Area Watershed Management Plan (1993), and the DQ Water Resources Management Plan (1994); coordinate the use of staff, funding and other resources among agencies and representatives; and promote public education on watershed processes and activities." The Team also functions as the watershed council for East Water Resources Area 18 (WRIA 18) and reviews project proposals for salmon restoration projects in WRIA 18 (and portions of WRIA 17).

Operating procedures were developed in 1996 (updated as needed), a mission statement and goals were revised and adopted in 2002 (updated in 2018), and an official DRMT logo was created in 2009.

Current Members (2018)

Dungeness River Management Team (Photo taken July 2018)

Voting Members (*Executive Committe members in italics)

Organization	Member	Alternate
*City of Sequim	Ann Soule	David Garlington
*Clallam County	Cathy Lear	Mary Ellen Winborn, Kevin LoPiccolo
Dungeness Beach Association	Robert Brown	N/A
Dungeness River Audubon Center	Powell Jones	Jenna Ziogas
*Olympic Peninsula Audubon Society	Robert Phreaner	Pete Walker
*Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe	Hansi Hals	Shawn Hines
North Olympic Land Trust	Michele Canale	N/A
Protect the Peninsula's Future	Judy Larson	Forest Koehler
Riverside Property Owners / Estuary Tidelands	Matt Heins	Pete Schroeder
*Riverside Property Owners / River Miles 0-3.2.5	Robert Beebe	James Beebe
*Sequim-Dungeness Water Users Association	Ben Smith	TBD
Sports Fisheries	Don Hatler	N/A
Washington Department of Ecology	Mike Gallagher	TBD
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife	Danielle Zitomer	TBD

Advisory Members

U.S. Forest Service	Marc McHenry	TBD
Clallam Conservation District	Joe Holtrop	Don Hatler
Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge / USFWS	Lorenz Sollmann	Jennifer Brown-Scott
Clallam County PUD #1	Tom Martin	TBD

Charter Members

The original 1988 resolution forming the DRMT requested representatives from the following organizations:

Property Owners
Irrigation Districts and Companies
Dungeness Flood Control Advisory Board
Sportsman's Group
Washington State Department of Fisheries
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
U.S. Soil Conservation Services
Washington State Deptartment of Ecology
Point-No-Point Treaty Council
Clallam County

The May 1995 joint resolution between the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe and the Board of Clallam County Commissioners that revised and reactivated the DRMT requested representation on the Team as follows:

Clallam County
Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe
Property Owners
Dungeness River Agricultural Water Users Association
Sports Fishers
Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife
Washington State Department of Ecology
U.S. Fish & Wildlife
U.S. Forest Service
Clallam County Planning Commission
Clallam County Critical Areas Committee
Watershed/Dungeness-Quilcene Planning

The December 1995 MOU between the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe and the Board of Clallam County Commissioners added the City of Sequim to the member organizations, and incorporated alternates for each representative.