Chehalis Basin Partnership
Friday June 23, 2000
9:00 to 11:30 AM
Chehalis Tribal Center - Casino Bingo Room
Partnership Meeting
Chair: Mayor Bob Spahr, City of Chehalis (360) 507-3149
Vice Chair: Dr. Sodhi, Chehalis Confederated Tribes (360) 273-5911
Meeting Purpose: Receive latest information on continuing activities and provide direction on how to proceed with watershed planning, salmon recovery and flood project efforts .
Decisions Needed: Delegate responsibility for next round of salmon recovery projects: Criteria, solicitation, evaluation, ranking, and presentation to SRF Board.
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| Introduction | Mayor Spahr | 9 a.m. |
| Thurston County Water Conservancy Board - Organization and Purpose | Conservancy Board | 9:05 - 10:00 |
| Fish Passage Criteria | WDFW Engineering Staff | 10:00 - 10:45 |
| Lead Agency Update: 2514 status, Salmon Recovery Funding, Status of Phase 3 Funding | Lee Hansmann | 10:45 - 11:15 |
| Citizen's Advisory Committee Report | Rob Schanz | 11:15 - 11:20 |
| Update on Flood Projects | Richard Graham | 11:20 - 11:25 |
| Open Comment | Audience | 11:25 - 11:30 |
| Wrap up | Mayor Spahr | 11:30 |
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Introduction
Mayor Spahr welcomed members and opened the meeting.
Attendance: Seventeen designated representatives or their alternates attended this meeting. There were eighteen additional citizens, alternates, or visitors that attended.
Lead Agency Update (Agenda Item #1)
2514 Level 1 Assessment (Envirovision Contract)
Work is progressing on the Level 1 Assessment. An annotated table of contents was handed out. The Partnership will continue to receive updates as different portions of the assessment are completed.
The Level 1 Assessment was broken into two stages. Stage one (identifying existing information) has been completed under the previous contract. This contract is for stage 2 of the Level 1 Assessment, which will evaluate the existing information to identify gaps in the existing information that need to be filled before we can effectively develop recommendations for water use in the Chehalis Basin.
Salmon Recovery
A summary of comments received by staff for the SRF Board and a copy of the comments sent in by Grays Harbor County on behalf of the Partnership were handed out. This was followed by a general discussion of some of the major issues.
The proposed schedule for the next application period - referred to as the "Late 2000" Grant Cycle - may be extended for one month. This would mean that project lists would be submitted to the SRFB by Lead Entities by the end of October 2000. The SRF Board is considering making assessment and monitoring projects eligible - but a definition of what would be eligible still needs to be worked out. A modification of the policy regarding the eligibility of fish blockage projects (culvert replacement) is expected. This last point led to a discussion of what criteria for culvert replacement projects the SRF Board would adopt. It is anticipated that the criteria will be a combination of existing WDFW criteria and legislation passed during the most recent session. A request was made that WDFW come to the next meeting (June 23) and explain its criteria.
To prepare for the "Late 2000" grant cycle, the Partnership needs to begin the process of establishing basin-specific criteria, and a project review/ranking committee. Volunteers for that effort are needed.
The Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife is establishing a Lead Entity League . Members of this committee will advise WDFW and other state agencies working on salmon recovery based on their local experience with the Lead Entity process. The Partnership has an opportunity to nominate someone for appointment to this committee. After discussion, it was agreed that the Partnership would nominate J. Roach to sit on the Lead Entity League. Brian Shea and Lonnie Crumley will be nominated as alternates.
2514 Grant Application for Phase 3 (Plan Development) Funding
Grays Harbor County is working on the 2514 grant application for Phase 3 planning funds. Some of the activities we are currently doing would qualify as planning, and having the Phase 3 funding would allow us to conserve our existing Phase 2 (assessment) funding for gathering the new data we will need to prepare an effective plan. Grays Harbor County staff offered to send out the draft application to anyone who is interested. One or two Partnership members expressed interest at the meeting in receiving the draft application.
Water Conservancy Board of Thurston County
The Water Conservancy Board of Thurston County sent a letter to the Partnership inviting comment on a proposed change of use and transfer of location for a water right that the Conservancy Board has been asked to consider. The use would be changed from the current 52 acre-feet of water for agricultural irrigation between May and October, to 52 acre feet for year-round multiple domestic use in a sub-division to be built on property near Sunnydale. The request would also transfer the existing right on the Skookumchuck sub-basin to the Scatter Creek sub-basin.
A discussion followed and it was agreed that the Partnership should find out more about the mission of Water Conservancy Boards before making any comment. There seems to be some overlap in water interests between the Partnership and Water Conservancy Boards. The Water Conservancy Board of Thurston County will be invited to the June meeting to share information on its activities.
Chehalis Basin Fisheries Task Force (Agenda Item #2)
John Penberth presented a brief summary of the mission of the Chehalis Basin Fisheries Task Force and reviewed some of the fish restoration projects they have been involved in. The CBFTF is dedicated to the production of salmon for sport and commercial fisheries. They do not get involved in the allocation of the catch between competing sources.
The CBFTF is very close to publishing a report that will explain the group's mission, background information on the Task Force, and highlight its accomplishments. The report will be distributed to Partnership members when it is available.
The discussion then moved to the subject of water law in the state of Washington. Mr. Penberth cited several state laws (RCW) and regulations (WAC) that regulate water use. During the lively discussion that followed, it was clear that there is a great degree of anxiety about the state's (Department of Ecology) power to regulate water use. Reservations were expressed about possible manipulation of local planning units like the Chehalis Basin Partnership to achieve state (Ecology) objectives regarding water use.
The Ecology representative to the Partnership assured the group that the Department of Ecology is committed to participating in local planning groups to achieve the objectives of the Watershed Planning Act of 1998 (90.82 RCW, ESHB 2514). Ecology is a member of this Partnership to help the Partnership accomplish the work spelled out in the Watershed Planning Act, not to direct the Partnership or to do the work for the Partnership.
By the close of the discussion it was agreed that the Partnership should seek out more information about water law in Washington State. An effort will be made to build presentations on water law into the agendas for future meetings.
Report from Citizen's Advisory Committee (Agenda Item #3)
The Citizen's Advisory Committee has been putting effort into understanding the 2514 project work plan that is being developed. Members provided comments on the draft work plan at that last CAC meeting. Perhaps when the work plan is completed, the Partnership can use it to get the state to support the Partnership's priorities, rather than always being in the position of reacting to state priorities and initiatives.
The CAC suggested that the members of the Partnership actually get out on the river and see what is happening from the water. The CAC will be organizing some trips to make that possible. Partnership members will be invited.
Update on the subject of information management: the Partnership has been invited to send its representative to the meetings of the state framework project. The framework project is intended to make it easier to share data between agencies and organizations. The GIS compact disc that DNR has been working on for the Chehalis Basin should be ready in a couple of weeks. Copies will be available to Partnership participants.
Update on Flood Projects (Agenda Item #4)
The legislature approved funding to move the Upper Chehalis Flood Control Project forward. The amount is between $1.0 and $1.2 million and will serve as the local share of the project cost. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers should hear her soon about the federal share for the project.
There are three concurrent projects going on in the basin. These projects are being coordinated through the Partnership and an executive committee to ensure that they are done efficiently and do not duplicate work. The three projects are:
Chehalis Flood Control - Lewis County is the lead and Pacific International Engineering (PIE) is the consultant.
Flood Mitigation Planning - Grays Harbor County is the lead and CH2MHill is the consultant.
Flood Reduction and Environmental Restoration - The Army Corps of Engineers is the Lead.
Open Comment (Agenda Item #5)
Some members of the audience expressed their thoughts that there is too much federal assistance already related to water issues and salmon recovery. The Partnership should be cautious about more government involvement.
The Chair of the Partnership reminded the members that comments made during Partnership meetings are an indication that various members do, from time-to-time, have problems with agency decisions. These comments are not directed towards the specific individuals representing these agencies on the Partnership.
Wrap-up/Adjourn (Agenda Item #6)
The next Chehalis Basin Partnership meeting will be held on Friday June 23, 2000 at the Chehalis Tribal Center from 9:00 to 11:30 a.m.
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June 1, 2000 Meeting Summary
The June 1, 2000 meeting was held at the Montesano offices of the WDFW from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m.
Limiting Factors An
Strategic/Project Planning
Grays Harbor County has offered to put together a facilitated workshop to further both the strategic and project planning efforts. The general intent of the meeting will be to determine what it is we are being ask to do under all these different initiatives, what are the obstacles to getting them done, and how can we get past those obstacles. This offer generated a lot of discussion and different opinions. The TAC agreed that it is not our role to establish a "vision" for the Partnership, that is the responsibility of the Partnership and may already exist within the Intergovernmental agreement. It is clear, however, that all the different issues that are being thrown at the Partnership, and the reactionary approach we are being forced to take, are frustrating everybody. Local watershed planning groups or committees are going to be around for a long time and it would be a good use of our time to organize now so we can do the work more efficiently in the future.
June 28 was selected as the best date. The workshop can be announced at the June 23 Partnership meeting, and the results will be ready by the July 6 TAC meeting. The TAC, Citizen's Advisory Committee, and Partnership members will be invited.
Salmon Recovery Funding Board
The Partnership needs to decide how it will handle the workload associated with the "Late 2000" grant funding cycle. We need to decide on which groups should be on the local review panel and begin asking for representatives from those groups to participate. This will be discussed more at the June 23 Partnership meeting, and perhaps at the June 28 planning workshop.
Water Conservancy Board
The TAC discussed the current change of use/transfer application that has been submitted to the Thurston County WCB. The TAC doesn't feel it would be appropriate to comment on proposed changes until we know more about what the conservancy boards are doing and have a process set up to do a formal review. Review of proposed changes/transfers should be built into the Strategic Plan discussed above.
Next Meeting of the TAC
Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
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| Present: | (Thurston County) | Margaret Rader, J Roach, Earl Emerson |
| - | (Lewis County) | Rob Schanz, Bill Barmettler |
| - | (Grays Harbor County) | Floyd Ruggles |
| - | (Mason County) | Jim Bottorff |
| - | (General) | Kahle Jennings, Lee Hansmann, Ben Schanz, |
| - | - | Sarah Schanz |
| - | Guest Speaker: | None |
Agenda: Black Lake update, CBP canoe trip, CBP-How's it doing?, Future topics
General di scussion: Some reports have been rounded up, and this precipitated talk about where to keep them. As yet, the Partnership has no library. Envirovision has a pile of documents related to the watershed, and the Partnership should be ready to take possession of these when the contract is completed. Margaret and Rob suggested that the Chehalis River Council might be able to take this on. It was agreed to formally request that the Partnership start thinking about how to address this basin library issue.
Steve Stinson is scheduled for the July 12 th meeting. He will address Habitat Conservation Plans (HCPS) that are being developed for small timber/forest landowners. Jim Ebbert, of the Tacoma USGS office, is tentatively scheduled to speak August 9th on the subject of pesticides and water quality. Margaret will check on lining up someone for September who can tell us what's happening with the Scatter Creek HCP. It was mentioned that we should make sure to invite any CBP/TAC members who might be interested. J. Roach proposed inviting a speaker who could address the ongoing skirmishes over personal watercraft (PWCs), commonly known as jetski's. It was suggested that he might want to bring this to the CBP instead.
Update on Black Lake: J Roach reviewed some of the history on the pipeline project that resulted in rerouting Black Lake's outfall to the Puget Sound. Recently the U.S. Dept. of the Interior has contacted J. and indicated willingness to get all the parties together and discuss how to fix the problem. This is a very positive development in what has been a long journey for J.
Efforts to get Black Lake and Black River going in the historical direction generated some interesting conversation. Several entities have holdings or reserves of one sort or another along the Black River. If these groups could all coordinate their efforts exciting things might happen. Margaret mentioned a citizen's initiative to create a wildlife corridor from Capitol Forest to Black River. We also talked about the fact that "fixing" Black River will to some extent disrupt the plants and animals that have adapted to previous human-caused mischief.
CBP canoe trip: We're going to try to get this inaugural paddle trip on the water June 29th. Mark your calendars. Several alternative stretches were mentioned: Black River, Oakville Porter, and Porter - Montesano. The Porter - Montesano run is roughly 20 miles, so we're going to scout a shorter version. Several people mentioned that this stretch of the river is more interesting than Oakville - Porter. Kahle mentioned that the concept could be expanded to include land-based trips to the upper watershed (that stretch of the river is rated Class III-IV), and power boat-based trips to the lower watershed, including the Harbor.
CBP - How's it doing?: Some discussion of Caspian Tern situation. Margaret said she'd check on this. Perhaps we need to have an update at the CBP. Some discussion of water rights, water conservancy boards, and how to bring issues to the Partnership in a constructive manner. Bill is going to the Lewis Co. WCB meeting in a couple of days, and will ask them to contact Lee in regards to attending the next CBP meeting.
Lee told us about the work session which Grays Harbor is putting together to get an overview of
all the tasks/issues/things that have been delegated, etc. An outside facilitator will be brought in. Date tentatively set for June 28 71 0:00 to 3:00. The place has not yet been determined.
Wrap-up: Jim shared some insights from habitat studies he's doing with an interdisciplinary team. Reed canary grass, the "kudzu of the Northwest", is proving to be a real nightmare. Some discussion of the intractable problems caused by exotics, and some of the curious listings by the Noxious Weed Board. The NWB is ag-based, so plants like thistle, favored by our state bird, are on the noxious weeds list, while reed canary grass is not because livestock can eat it.
Next CAC meeting July 12 Montesano, 9:00 AM On the agenda: Steve Stinson (HCP's) and
further planning for paddle trip.
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