Posted October 22, 2026

Executive Summary:

The Problem

• The availability of water in our Sequim-Dungeness area is becoming an important concern and cannot be taken for granted anymore.
• We are now well into an era of climate change which is giving us warmer and drier winters, less snowpack and increasingly lower river levels in the summertime. 
• The WA State Department of Ecology is aware of this and has undertaken the Washington's Water Futures Initiative to explore the problem and find ways of mitigating our future water shortages.
• The water flows in the Dungeness River are undergoing major changes: less snowpack and higher runoff in the winter and increasingly lower water runoff in the summer.
• Our local aquifers are being adversely affected. Reports are indicating that water levels in our local aquifers are dropping. Shallow wells are drying up and are being deepened. 
• The city of Sequim is hedging its bets by drilling and installing a new deep well in the Silberhorn Well Field west of River Road.

The Solution

• Collect more data on the trends in the aquifer in the Sequim-Dungeness watershed.
• Begin the process of aquifer recharge as soon as practical.
• The city of Tucson, AZ, in the Sonoran Desert has mastered the task of aquifer recharge, offering us an example. 
• The local area has an extensive area of irrigation ditches and pipelines which may offer a significant resource for potential aquifer recharge. 
• The local watershed has a number of areas of open water which might serve as potential recharge basins.

It's time to face the reality  of our declining water resources that affects us all. Instead of looking for barriers, let's believe in and work for solutions. By working together as a community, we can find and implement potential solutions and assure our water future. 

Introduction

The availability of water in the Dungeness basin and the Sequim area of becoming an important concern and cannot be taken for granted anymore. Sequim enjoys the reputation of being in the center of the “Rain Shadow” of the Olympic Mountains. The town enjoys a mild relatively dry sunny climate in the middle of the otherwise wet Olympic Peninsula. This is becoming a problem in this era of increasing climate change.

Climate Change

 Our planet is well into a new era of serious climate change. All around the planet we are witnessing extreme weather such as excessive heat, drought, flooding and melting of glacial ice. The recent disaster in Nepal is just such an example. The upper Olympic Peninsula is one of the most climate resilient areas in the country, and this fact is attracting an increasing number of climate refugees, seeking to escape excessive heat, forest fires and dangerous flooding.

Despite this resilience, climate change is having a significant impact on our area. We are currently having warmer and drier winters. Winter precipitation is trending towards more rainfall, with immediate runoff and less snowpack for melting and aquifer recharge in the summer.  These facts are supported by the US Drought Monitor (USDM) and the Washington Department of Ecology.

Washington Water Future Initiative

This past August, a public input session was held by Washington’s Water Future Initiative, sponsored by the State Department of Ecology.  Two of the takeaways from this session are the following: Washington State will have warmer winters, more winter rain and reduced snowpack. Also, a 40 – 60% decline in late summer streamflow in the Dungeness River is forecast. Action must be taken to adapt to these changing conditions to assure an adequate supply of water to meet the needs of irrigators, residents and salmon runs.

Dungeness River Water Levels

The water levels in the Dungeness River are being majorly impacted. The normal pattern of winter precipitation, including snowpack accumulation and the summer runoff flows, are undergoing a very significant change. Winter runoff levels are now much higher than historical patterns because more precipitation is falling as rain. Due to less snowpack, the summer flow levels, which historically have been the highest flows of the year, are now the lowest flows of the year and are declining.

At the time of writing this article, the water flow in the Dungeness River is at record low levels. The current flow is 60.4 cubic feet per second (cfs), breaking the previous low flow record of 61cfs, set in November 1993.

Update, as of 7:45am, October 22, 2026. The USGS site is now showing instances where the river flow has dropped below 60cfs.  

It should be noted that the entire output of the Dungeness River has been already fully appropriated and the state has imposed limits on future water diversions, including water entrenchment systems next to the river.

Aquifers

 Measured data indicates that the water levels in local aquifers in the entire Dungeness watershed are also declining, especially in the area around the intersection of Dungeness River and Highway 101, just west of Sequim. There are unverified reports that many local wells in the area are running dry and are being deepened. In July, the West Sequim Bay water system ran dry and made the local news. The reason was not made clear, but current drought conditions and below average snowpack were suspected. I am convinced that we cannot take local aquifer levels and the water supply drawn by local wells tapping into that aquifer for granted anymore. Local development and continued population increase will only exacerbate the problem.

As an example, supplied by another author, in 2008, the city of Sequim commissioned a hydrologic monitoring report, reporting the state of groundwater in the Sequim area. CITY OF SEQUIM  In the author’s words: “PGG, hired by City of Sequim, measured cumulative declines of 5.5 ft. (shallow aquifer), 9.7 ft. (middle aquifer), and 9.8 ft. (lower aquifer).  Near the Hwy. 101-Dungeness River crossing, declines reached 25 ft. over a 30-year period and have not stabilized.”

Silberhorn Deep Well

 In July of this year, the city of Sequim began drilling and installing a new deep well in the Silberhorn Well field west of River Road. This deep well is tapping into a much older and deeper aquifer in search of a more reliable water supply than the shallow aquifer next to the river offers. In the words of the city engineer: “the City has pursued this well to go deeper to a more reliable, less seasonal source,”. This implies that the city is convinced that the shallow water source may not be dependable enough to continue reliably supplying the city’s water needs.

Taking Action

 Collect More Data

 I’m convinced that we need to start collecting more data. The USGS is on top of monitoring and reporting the Dungeness River flow, which is surface water. This water is used by irrigators, the city of Sequim and for salmon runs. But this surface water data must be supplemented with more widespread and reliable well data on the current water levels and trends of the shallow aquifer in the local watershed. Collecting this data will tell us much about how water will be available for residents. This data will also tell us about the quantity of recharge water that is needed to maintain current levels as well as the appropriate locations to inject needed recharge water.

Begin Aquifer Recharge Right Away

In view of the decreasing supply of water in the future, it seems appropriate to begin a program of recharging the local aquifers right away. The local irrigation ditches, before they were converted to pipes, were already contributing to aquifer recharge. After reviewing the map, the available history, the expenses and development time, I’m convinced that the Off-Channel Reservoir idea is dead. It seems more prudent to turn to a direct managed aquifer recharge program (MAR).  The details are included in the attached report “Water Sustainability”.

Example of Tucson, AZ

 This author is a former resident of Tucson, AZ, located in the hot and dry Sonoran Desert. Having an adequate supply of water is crucial for Tucson and Pima County with a large and growing population density. The city has mastered the process of recharging a limited and critical supply of Arizona Cap water into their aquifer for groundwater replenishment. If they can do it, we can do it. We might be able to learn a lot from their recharge project.

Local Irrigation Networks

 The local watershed, including the city of Sequim, has a local irrigation network which dates back a hundred years. This network, which includes ditches and pipelines, is quite extensive and has done a good job of making irrigation water drawn from the Dungeness River available for local agriculture all over the area. Many of these ditches and pipelines are now underground and invisible to most of us. The traditional use of this irrigation network is to distribute water drawn out of the Dungeness River in the dry summertime to local farmers and growers. It seems to me that in the wintertime, during high river runoff, the same extensive network could be used to divert high levels of winter runoff water into local recharge basins. It seems that the cost of implementing this winter recharge with the existing irrigation network would be fairly modest compared to the cost of the Off-Channel Reservoir.

Example of Potential Recharge Basins

The Clallam County GIS portal is a significant source of hydrology information. It is able to show surface runoff like creeks and rivers. It also can show the local irrigation pipes and ditches. And significantly, it can show areas of open or standing water, many of which may be seasonal. The interesting concept is that some of these areas of standing water could possibly be utilized as recharge basins in a potential Managed Aquifer Recharge program (MAR).

I have taken the time to photograph several potential recharge basins in east Sequim.

This is a pond at the bend of Blue Glacier Loop just south of West Sequim Bay Road. The pond is already full and thus may not be able to function as a recharge basin. (Example only).

Conclusion

 In conclusion, I am convinced that our future water supplies cannot be taken for granted anymore and we must take timely and effective action to assure our water future here in this dry Rain Shadow area. I also believe that the general public is largely unaware of and unconcerned about this problem. Public support will be needed to ensure the success of the changes needed to ensure our water future.

References

 Links:

• Clallam County GIS Portal: https://clallam-county-portal-clallam.hub.arcgis.com/apps/23bbb33c10b24b4c8706e89ae98f7add/explore
• Washington Water Trust: https://www.washingtonwatertrust.org/projects/dungeness-river/
• Dungeness Water Exchange: https://www.dungenesswaterexchange.org/about/
• WA Department of Ecology: Dungeness Water Management: https://ecology.wa.gov/water-shorelines/water-supply/protecting-stream-flows/instream-flow-implementation/dungeness-water-management
• Clallam Conservation District: https://www.clallamcd.org/
• USGS Report: Hydrologic Assessment of Sequim-Dungeness Area: https://www.usgs.gov/publications/hydrogeologic-assessment-sequim-dungeness-area-clallam-county-washington
• Clallam County Government: City of Sequim Hydrologic Monitoring Report: https://clallamcountywa.gov/DocumentCenter/View/5596/City-of-Sequim-2001-Hydrologic-Monitoring-Report-Pacific-Groundwater-Group-2002-PDF

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