(1) GMA Goals. Maintain and enhance natural resource-based industries, including productive timber, agricultural, and fisheries industries. Encourage the conservation of productive forest lands and productive agricultural lands, and discourage incompatible uses.

Encourage the retention of open space and development of recreational opportunities such as the Olympic Discovery Trail, conserve fish and wildlife habitat, increase access to natural resource lands and water, and develop parks with links to the Olympic Discovery Trail.

Protect the environment and enhance the State’s high quality of life, including air and water quality, and the availability of water.

(2) Land Use. The Sequim-Dungeness region contains a diverse array of open spaces: pasture lands, hayland and cropland, forest land, wetlands and river corridors. There are over 13,000 acres of land used for crop, hay and pasture. Over 100,000 acres are in forest land, including State and federal lands. Urban lands account for slightly over 2,000 acres within the City of Sequim and Sunland. Rural lands account for over 10,000 acres in the region.

(3) Water. Water plays a vital role in the quality of life, culture, past and future development of the region. Irrigation is critical to continued agricultural production. There are six irrigation diversions and nine irrigation districts with over 97 miles of ditches, all originating from the Dungeness River. Groundwater in this area is susceptible to the stresses of increasing contamination and withdrawal, and in need of special consideration as land uses change and management regimes are developed. Groundwater is also recharged in some places by irrigation ditches. Withdrawal of groundwater can impact stream flows of rivers and creeks. Wetlands occur throughout the area, although larger areas are concentrated along the Dungeness River, Gierin Creek and along the saltwater shorelines. The Dungeness River is subject to devastating floods and, other than coastal floods, is the area most prone to flooding in the region.

(4) Air and Noise. Air quality and noise can be additional environmental problems in the Valley. Industrial land uses can cause air quality and noise related problems, particularly in the residential areas. Since a residential use is a primary land use in the Valley, measures to ensure maintenance of air quality and noise standards could be important.

(5) Watershed Planning. Clallam County and other resource agencies have completed and adopted several watershed planning efforts in this area. Adopted plans include the Sequim Bay Watershed Management Plan, Dungeness River Watershed Management Plan, Sequim-Dungeness Groundwater Protection Strategy, Dungeness-Quilcene Water Resources Management Plan, Dungeness River Flood Control Management Plan and the Dungeness River Greenway Plan. The County is also working on a pilot project on wetland functional assessment in this planning area (State Wetland Integration Strategy – SWIS) and has a watershed restoration grant from the Jobs for the Environment Project.