Climate Eyes | Will salmon return to Orcas Island? Are we too dried out?

||| CLIMATE EYES BY STEVE BERNHEIM, theORCASONIAN REPORTER |||

Washington wildfires emerged as a substantial consequence of the climate emergency in July, following on the heat dome that brought record high temperatures to the region in June. Though San Juan County experienced none of the fires, it suffered the smoke; and though local temperatures were not in the 100s, shoreline life was exposed high and dry to midday maximum heat in one of the less-imagined local consequences of global warming. In case you hadn’t heard, the Governor announced a drought emergency July 14 and San Juan Islands are in severe drought.

Will our local government, anybody, help us soon enough or leave us on our own to survive the climate emergency?

The Orcas Power and Light (OPALCO) Board of Directors met August 19 to recognize that the climate emergency is leading to dryer forest conditions as a consequence of which OPALCO is considering the feasibility of collecting fir limbs fallen on the forest floor along the transmission line right-of-way and burning them to generate electricity. Presently, when such collections are made to help protect the powerlines from wildfires, the material is burned in place.

At the same time, OPALCO is investing millions to install emergency backup solar electric generators and battery storage and even possibly tidal energy generating stations in order to meet growth projections for increasing electric consumption as islanders switch from fossil fuel based internal combustion engines to electricity for transportation, home and business uses, and energy backup.

Whatever OPALCO does with island-scale electric generation and storage, will we ever end fossil fuel storage, deliveries and emissions from cars and trucks, residents’ as well as tourists’, and on-island propane emissions?

Because we are primarily a residential county, to eliminate carbon emissions over the next four years, it can help to cut down on hypermobility and eat local food. I’ve been in a car for “only” 22 of the last 60 days. I haven’t flown in a plane for two years. I grow and eat local produce. Sadly, not enough to reduce the fire danger or the drought or moderate the temperature or replenish the scalded tidelands. Ask me not of hot tubs nor hot showers.

In moves that might help limit the number of overnight tourists on the island and otherwise promote solutions to the climate emergency, the Planning Commission on August 20 after two hours of public comment recommended unanimously that the number of permitted vacation rental businesses be capped at the number of current compliant permit holders, about 400 county-wide.

The Commission also scheduled a Wednesday, November 3rd virtual “town hall” meeting on climate change at 5:30 pm with 90 minutes for public comment! Stay tuned for links but mark your paper calendar. The Planning Commission wants to know whether, in planning for the future, you want to pursue enlarged developments and capacities and invest in technological solutions assuming that consumerism and populations will grow to the limits of available resources or do you want to simplify your lifestyles? Do you want development unlimited by further laws or restrictions other than the number of construction and restaurant workers that can afford to live here or do you want to phase out gasoline stations and propane storage tanks and phase in sidewalks, trails, and bicycle lanes? Or do you want to tell San Juan County government that it should allow gasoline and propane sales to fuel further carbon pollution from cars, boats, and home convenience engines, at least through 2036, the end date of the current comprehensive plan being written?

Many of the County’s climate-related drafts set goals for attempting to adapt to the climate emergency already upon us (like “understand the impacts,” “cultivate resilience,” “mitigate effects,” etc.); some set goals for reducing carbon emissions through innovating development regulations; others ask how helpful natural ecosystem services can be valued. There’s nothing about banning gasoline stations from the land use map or banning gasoline engines within the county … or even about permitting solar electric generating facilities by 2036.

The Planning Commission publishes all of their climate emergency planning work in progress for land use and for all other planning elements. If you have ideas how the county can reduce greenhouse gas emissions through planning and regulation, please prepare your comments or better yet send them ahead of time to compplancomments@sanjuanco.com for the Commission’s Wednesday, November 3 evening virtual (not in-person) meeting at 5:30-7:30.

By the way, the drying spring climate worsens the Coho salmon spawning potential in Cascade Creek, which runs from Mountain Lake to the south entrance of Moran Park to Buck Bay. The Coho situation was already bad due to Rosario Resort’s rightful diversion of substantial amounts of water to Cascade Lake to generate electricity for the tourist resort and other uses. Now that the resort is for sale, the result of which could have major island-wide impacts, some local residents fear new commercial owners will never abandon the century-old water right and that the coho run will never return, to the eventual detriment of the collective island community. Others who see the glass one quarter full believe the resort and its water rights could be acquired and devoted to public purposes, as are already adjacent acres of Moran State Park. Contact Representative Debra Lekanoff or her legislative assistant if you are concerned about Rosario’s commercial water diversion preventing Coho salmon from returning to Buck Bay and Cascade Creek. Becky Kelley is Governor Inslee’s Senior Policy Advisor for Climate.

The COVID pandemic shows how thousands of Orcas residents cooperate for common cause at personal expense. The Planning Commission’s unanimous support of caps on vacation rentals at current levels shows how committed residents can fortify public officials to incorporate long-term interests into public decision making.

Happily, the State Climatologist predicts a good chance of above normal precipitation for September through November.