Chehalis Basin Partnership (CBP)

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• Chehalis Basin Partnership Meeting Notice and Agenda
• AMEC SYNOPSIS FOR CHEHALIS BASIN PARTNERSHIP (CBP)
• April 11, 2001 Citizen's Advisory Committee Meeting Summary
• May 09, 2001 Citizen's Advisory Committee Meeting Summary
• DRAFT Salmon and Steelhead Habitat Restoration Strategy for the Chehalis and Nearby Drainages (WRIAs 22-23)

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Chehalis Basin Partnership Meeting Notice and Agenda

DATE: Friday May 25, 2001 TIME: 9:00 to 11:30 AM LOCATION: Bingo Room, Chehalis Tribe "Lucky Eagle" Casino (Direction on Back)

A. General Partnership Business 9:00 a.m

Welcome, introduce members and new visitors	(5)	Chair
2. Identify special issues of concern and adjust agenda	(5)	Members/Chair
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3. Committee Reports	-	-
Citizens' Advisory Committee (5) Committee Chair	-	-
4. Other Business	-	-
Annual Plan of Work - Status	(15)	Kahle Jennings
Distribute draft By-laws/operating procedures	-	-
Record of Decisions	-	-
Other Updates	(10)	Members
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ACTIONS TO BE TAKEN AT THIS MEETING: None Noted	-	-
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B. Special Project Status Reports, Budget Updates and Committee Reports	9:40 a.m.	-
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1. Watershed Planning Project (RCW 90.82) (30)	Lead Agency	-
Update on Phase 3 Plan scope/outline consultant selection	and Consultant	-
2. Salmon Recovery Project (RCW 77.85)	(5)	Lead Entity
Status of Limiting Factors Analysis	-	-
3. Flood Control Projects	(5)	-
Centralia/Chehalis Flood Damage Reduction Project	-	Lewis County
Basin-wide Flood Project	-	Grays Harbor County
4. TMDL Updates	-	-
Grays Harbor Fecal Coliform Bacteri a	(5)	Kahle Jennings
Upper Chehalis Temperature	-	-
Humptulips Temperature	-	-
ACTIONS TO BE TAKEN AT THIS MEETING: Consensus for Grays Harbor County to enter into contract with Triangle Associates for development of an scope/outline for the RCW 90.82 Phase 3 Watershed Management Plan.	-	-
C. Special Presentation	-	10:30 a.m.
AMEC Earth & Environmental	(45)	Neil Amondson
(Greater detail is provided in attachment)	-	-
D. Open Comment	-	11:15 a.m.
Any remaining issues identified in agenda item A2	(15)	Audience
E. Chair Adjourns meeting 11:30 a.m.	-	-

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AMEC SYNOPSIS FOR CHEHALIS BASIN PARTNERSHIP (CBP)

BACKGROUND

Pursuant to an invitation by Mayor Bob Spahr to the general CBP meeting on March 23, 2001, AMEC Earth & Environmental (www.amec.com) was asked to present a GIS based modeling program that manages watershed data and performs risk assessments for resource treatment applications. This brief presentation is scheduled for the April 27 meeting, and due to time constraints will be broken into a two (2)-part presentation. On April 27, AMEC will present a demo model based on a representative WA State watershed that will perform risk assessments common to NW watersheds and Ports & Harbors. Specific questions and unique applications of the modeling process to the Chehalis Basin will be answered at the following meeting.

The AMEC Decision Prioritization Tool (DPT) provides a unique opportunity for resource managers to effectively use data from multiple sources in an inclusive "what if" process (e.g. sensitivity analyses). Data sets derived from various regional sources (e.g., USFW, EDT, SSHIAP, DNR, etc.) can be utilized in this analytic process. The modeling process can also be used as a tool for making decisions about procuring and expending funding resources. Based on engineering, science, and cost-based factors, the modeling program can be used to identify locations for rectifying fish passage barriers (culverts) that address the objective of optimizing resource benefits (e.g. fish, habitat). Likewise, if constituents want to address specific concerns (i.e., Temperature-TMDL, flood control, LMA-limiting factors, or other fish sensitive cases), scenarios can be modeled and analyzed to evaluate benefits and consequences related to various actions.

PURPOSE

The goal of the AMEC presentation is to provide a decision support process that (1) facilitates the objective of maximizing finite public and private foundation dollars, and (2) identifies priority projects that address fisheries resource recovery & flood control in the Chehalis Basin. This process will be based on the following components:

• Regional policy and regulatory directives;
• Regional goals and objectives for salmon and habitat restoration;
• Basin wide goals for flood control mitigation;
• State of the art scientific tools (e.g., models, processes, etc.); and
• Decision making criteria (i.e., TAC, WSDOT).

Figure 1 illustrates the aforementioned components of this process.

The decision process is facilitated with a Decision Prioritization Tool that analyzes parameters, according to the aforementioned components, in order to generate a prioritized list of projects that meet fisheries resource recovery objectives.

SUMMARY

In Washington State, AMEC is a full-service environmental & natural resources, geotechnical, and materials company offering professional engineering, scientific, and regulatory solutions to the public and private sectors. AMEC's NW office locations are strategically located along the 1-5 corridor including Mt. Vernon, Kirkland, Tacoma, Olympia and Portland, Oregon.

AMEC's Bioassay Northwest Laboratory located in Fife, Washington complements the company's technical staff capabilities. This Department of Ecology-certified facility provides a full service toxicity-testing laboratory and offers a broad spectrum of marine and freshwater bioassay services using various indicator species. Laboratory capabilities also include sediment contaminant testing, mine tailing analyses, and wastewater and storm water monitoring and compliance services.

AMEC's professional services include a variety of watershed management, water resource, geotechnical, and biological disciplines that span the entire natural resource management spectrum. AMEC's fishery, wetland, and aquatic scientists, planners. and engineers have extensive project experience in the Pacific Northwest and are adept in their understanding of local issues and working within a dynamic regulatory environment.

The proposed Decision Prioritization Tool will provide the Chehalis Basin Partnership and its Technical Advisory Committee a valuable too[ in utilizing existing data in an understandable format. The ability to answer difficult science-based resource decisions in an often-conflicting political process requires data management services to be current and responsive to stakeholders within the watershed.

A. GENERAL PARTNERSHIP BUSINESS

Introduction

Vice-Chairman Sodhi welcomed everyone and opened the meeting.

Fifteen of the Partnership's thirty-two member organizations had a representative or alternate at the meeting. Twenty-four additional citizens, alternates, or visitor attended.

Citizens' Advisory Committee

The Citizens' Advisory Committee handed out a summary of its April 11 th meeting (attached). The committee reviewed its draft operating procedures and then approved the final version for inclusion in the Partnership operating procedures (currently called by-laws). The committee continued its work on a public outreach strategy. A summary of that work will be circulated. The next meeting is May 9th at the Centralia Timberline Library. (The results of that meeting are included with this mailing.)

Annual Plan of Work

The Annual Plan of work was presented to the Partnership for discussion and approval. There are many demands competing for the attention of the Partnership and over the last couple of years these demands have more or less controlled the actions of the Partnership. The Annual Plan of Work will help the Partnership manage its workload by identifying priority activities that need to be accomplished during the year, assigning target dates and responsible parties, and allowing the Partnership to track progress. Suggested changes included incorporating specific dates when elements of special projects are scheduled to be completed, and clear indication of which things have been completed, changes and updates. The schedule portion of the Annual Plan of Work should be sent out each month. The Annual Plan of Work was approved subject to these changes. (Copy of schedule attached)

Water Quality Financial Assistance

A sub-committee reviewed the project applications from the upper basin and developed a local priority list. Only one project was received from the lower basin. The Partnership delegated the responsibility of signing the letters of agreed priority for the Chehalis Basin to the Chair. Letters of Agreed Priority were signed and delivered to Ecology by the April 18, 2001 deadline. A copy of those letters was mailed out with the meeting packet for the April 27 th Partnership meeting.

B. SPECIAL PROJECTS

Watershed Planning under RCW 90.82

The Request for Proposals for a consultant to help the Partnership determine the scope of our Watershed Plan was published in the Vidette and the Daily Journal of Commerce. Six applications were received. Grays Harbor County, acting in its role of Lead Agency, coordinated a review of the applications. On May 3, 2001 four of the consultants will make presentations to a selection panel. The panel will then make a recommendation for Grays Harbor County to bring to the Partnership at its May meeting.

Salmon Recovery RCW 77.85

Carol Smith presented the Limiting Factors Analysis for the Upper/Lower Chehalis Basin (including Grays Harbor) to the Partnership. This material is the result of over a year of work by Carol and a Technical Advisory Group. Once it is published in about a month, the Limiting Factors Analysis will be available on a CD through a web site that the Conservation Commission maintains. To view which state basins have Limiting Factors Reports and request a copy of those that have been completed go to the Conservation Commission Web-site at www.conserver.org and select the "salmon" tab. That will take you to the Habitat Limiting Factors page. You can review the status of a report and request a CD for those that have been completed.

The Technical Advisory Group has developed a draft Salmon and Steelhead Restoration Strategy for the Chehalis Basin. The draft strategy includes a description of restoration goals and criteria developed to prioritize between subbasins. The prioritization will be one of the basic building blocks of a detailed salmon recovery strategy for the basin. A copy of the draft strategy is included with this summary.

After a general discussion of the draft prioritization process, the Partnership reached consensus and agreed that the two prioritization goals (biological diversity based on the number of fish species/stocks present and sub-basins with the most fish habitat potential based on fish miles) are appropriate.

It was recognized that the Habitat Limiting Factors and draft strategy presented to the Partnership today are the result of a lot of hard work and a lot of small decisions along the way. Carol Smith and the members of the Technical Advisory Group were thanked and commended for their efforts and the results.

Flood Control

Centralia Flood Damage Reduction Project The planning team will be meeting to discuss an U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service letter about the technical report. Additional drilling and shear-wave analysis of the Skookumchuck dam has been completed.

Chehalis Basin Study Lori Morris (project contact for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) reported that they are continuing to work with Grays Harbor County to develop the scope of the project. Once the salmon habitat Limiting Factors Analysis is completed the ACOE will look at the data gaps to see if some of them can be filled through this project.

This is a distinct project from the Centralia Flood Damage Reduction project. This project is based on the recognition that there are basin-wide needs for flood control, mitigation and restoring the health of the basin. The two projects are related however, and eventually both projects will work together.

TMDL Updates

Grays Harbor Fecal Coliform Bacteria:

Representatives of the advisory group Ecology established for this TMDL presented an overview of the draft Summary Implementation Strategy to the Partnership for discussion prior to formal release of the TMDL for public review and comment. A technical review of this TMDL was presented at a previous Partnership meeting. The Partnership is not being asked to endorse the TMDL or the Summary Implementation Strategy today.

Originally, this TMDL focused on the Grays Harbor estuary, an area of approximately 90 square miles. The results of the study showed that more than 80% of the total fecal coliform bacteria load to Grays Harbor comes from the rivers entering into the harbor. Approximately 50% of this loading is from the upper Chehalis River drainage (upstream of Porter). So in reality, the actions needed to reduce the loading of fecal coliform bacteria to the harbor have to be implemented to some extent throughout the 2700 square mile basin. A 65% reduction in fecal coliform bacteria loading from the rivers must be achieved to ensure that Grays Harbor meets state water quality standards for fecal coliform bacteria. Failure to ensure that Grays Harbor meets the water quality standards

will affect all the people who make a living off of the crab, clams and oysters grown and harvested in Grays Harbor because shellfish growers are heavily regulated. When there is a violation of fecal coliform bacteria standards in the Harbor, the response is immediate and dramatic - shellfish growers are not allowed to harvest or market their product.

The strategy for controlling sources of fecal coliform bacteria to Grays Harbor includes a lot of things that are being done already by private landowners, conservation districts, cities, towns and County governments. However, in some areas more needs to be done to ensure that the water quality in Grays Harbor is protected.

The presentation resulted in a general discussion of issues related to the Grays Harbor Fecal Coliform TMDL. The issues people raised include:

• The list of the advisory group members includes some that sit on the Partnership, and might be seen by some as a full endorsement of the results and the process used to get there. Local governments still have much to learn about this study and the outcome. Since many of the actions identified as necessary to control fecal coliform bacteria in the basin will fall to local government, more work needs to be done to explain it to them and to obtain their endorsement.
• There are some concerns that the data used as the basis for the study is several years old. In some of the sub-basins identified in the study landowners have implemented many projects to control sources of pollution. It is important to recognize these actions when establishing pollution reduction goals for various sub-basins; some of them may have been achieved already.

The members of the advisory group were recognized for the months of effort they put into this implementation strategy. A thorough public review process is needed to ensure that the interests of communities throughout the basin are considered.

Ecology's goal is to release the draft for formal public review and comment in May and prepare for a formal submittal to the U.S. EPA by the end of June 2001. An announcement of the public comment period for this TMDL is enclosed with this packet.

C. SPECIAL PRESENTATION

Laura Schinnel from Energy Northwest handed out a brochure on the Satsop Energy Project prepared by Duke Energy North America. Laura then used a series of overheads (copies attached) to explain how water will be used for the energy project. Originally, water use was authorized by the Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council (EFSEC) to support the Satsop Nuclear Power project. The water for that project was transferred to what is now called the Satsop Development Park. This is the site for a proposed natural gas fired combustion turbine facility to generate 600 megawatts of electricity.

Bill Prem from the Williams Gas Pipeline Company then discussed the current status of the "Grays Harbor Lateral Project," a natural gas pipeline to the Satsop site to provide natural gas for the turbines. Bill is the Project Manager for this project and provided four handouts. Two of the handouts were maps showing the proposed route and an alternative route for the pipeline. In addition, he provided handouts describing the horizontal directional drilling process often used to cross sensitive areas and procedures for crossing streams using flumes. Williams Gas Pipeline does not produce natural gas; they provide the pipelines to transport natural gas.

This project calls for almost 50 miles of 19-inch pipe to be installed, starting near Vail, Washington and ending at the Satsop site. This new pipe will be placed adjacent to existing pipe where possible There will be approximately 15 miles of new pipe. The impacts of this project include: 14.25 acres of wetlands, crossing 34 streams, crossing 100 roads and highways, crossing 209 property parcels in Thurston County and 69 property parcels in Grays Harbor County. Construction plans call for clearing a minimum of 15 feet on each side of the pipeline of large vegetation or buildings. That is one reason for preferring to run the new pipe alongside the existing pipe whenever possible. The company goal is to work with local groups to identify mitigation projects.

Power for this project is fed into the grid that serves western states. 100 megawatts of the power is reserved for Energy Northwest. Public meetings on the project will be held as part of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. Williams Gas Pipeline Company representatives expressed their willingness to update the Partnership at future meetings.

Due to time constraints, the representatives from AMEC scheduled to be next on today's agenda offered to return and make their presentation at the May 25 Partnership meeting.

The meeting was adjourned around noon.

The next meeting of the Chehalis Basin Partnership will be at 9:00 a.m. on May 25 th at the Lucky Eagle Casino.

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April 11, 2001 Citizen's Advisory Committee Meeting Summary

Present:

(Thurston County) Margaret Rader, Earl Emerson (Lewis County) Rob Schanz, Bill Barmettler (Grays Harbor County) Floyd Ruggles (Mason County) (General) Lee Hansmann, John Kliem

Agenda:

Bylaws Review Officer Selection Public Outreach Process

Floyd Ruggles announced that he is giving up his volunteer position on the CAC. We thanked him for his participation, and hope that he will continue to be involved in watershed issues.

Bylaws Review: Rob Schanz had sent a draft for review at an earlier date. A few minor changes were made, and the document was approved for inclusion in the CBP Operating Guidelines.

Officer Selection: Tabled until next month.

Public Outreach Process: Continuing the process from the last two meetings, John Kliem was present to assist in developing an effective public participation workplan. Options identified earlier were analyzed to a greater degree. Rob Schanz will develop and circulate a written summary of the CAC's public participation recommendations, based on discussions from the last three CAC meetings.

Next month: We have two agenda items for next month; consultant selection for the next level of contracted work, and discussion of methods for informing the public about the CBP. We will begin work on some brochures and/or public display material that would focus on introducing the CBP to the public.

Next meeting: May 9, 9:00 AM at the Centralia Library or CRC off ice.

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May 9, 2001 Citizen's Advisory Committee Meeting Summary

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DRAFT Salmon and Steelhead Habitat Restoration Strategy for the Chehalis and Nearby Drainages (WRIAs 22-23)

Introduction

The purpose of this strategy is to maximize our efforts to protect and restore salmonid habitat within WRIAs 22 and 23, which includes all of the Chehalis drainage, as well as the independent watersheds that drain into Grays Harbor. We first prioritized across subbasins to focus efforts towards areas that will be most able to meet our underlying goals. Our goals are defined below, along with the data that we used to represent those goals. We reviewed a wide spectrum of data available to us, and chose data that met these criteria.

• The data must represent a goal.
• The data must be available for at least most, preferably all, of the tributaries that drain into the Chehalis River or Grays Harbor.
• The data should be specific to (collected from) the drainage it represents.

Goals Our initial level of prioritization is based upon goals and data regarding the salmonid resource to provide the greatest benefit to fish. This produces our first tier of prioritization, which sorts sub-basins into groups of "high", "medium". or "low". Each of the goals and representative data are discussed below.

Primary Prioritization

1) A high priority goal is to contribute to the biological diversity- of salmonid stocks within Washington State. Within the Chehalis region, we have numerous distinct stocks of salmonids that are important to the overall biological diversity in Washington State. These include I stock of spring chinook, I stock of summer chinook, 7 stocks of fall chinook, 2 stocks of fall chum, 7 stocks of coho salmon, 2 stocks of summer steelhead, and 8 stocks of winter steelhead (WDFW and WWTIT 1994). In addition, cutthroat trout are found throughout the drainage, and bull trout have been documented as present, but specific distribution data do not exist. In order to achieve the goal of maintaining biological diversity, we will prioritize efforts that provide benefit to the greatest number of salmon and steelhead stocks.

2) A high priority goal is to promote salmonid abundance by focusing efforts in larger sub-basins that have the greatest quantity of fish habitat. The Chehalis and nearby drainages have important salmonid resources not only in terms of biological diversity, but also in terms of abundance. The Chehalis drainage is an important coho salmon producer. Estimates for the 1999 smolt production listed the Chehalis drainage as the third highest coho smolt producer in Washington State (Seller 2000). Some sub-basins within this region produce far more quantities of salmonids than others do. Because of this, restoration and protection of important habitat such as functional floodplain could have different fish abundance results depending on where the project is based. For example, having a functional floodplain in a sub-basin that produces large numbers of salmonids, such as the Satsop River, would have a greater overall benefit to the fish resource from the abundance perspective, than a similar set of actions in nearby Newman Creek. Sub-basins that have greater quantities of known salmon and steelhead habitat in terms of linear stream miles, referred to as "fish miles" will be prioritized above sub-basins with lower quantities of fish miles.

Sub-Basin Prioritization

Table I lists the sub-basins within WRIAs 22 and 23, and defines whether they are a "high", "medium", or "low" priority based upon number of salmon and steelhead stocks and number of miles of known salmon and steelhead habitat.

Table 1. Sub-Basin Prioritization within the Chehalis and Nearby Drainages.

High Priority Sub-Basins (fish scores of 12) Chehalis River Mainstem

Grays Harbor Estuary

Satsop Sub-Basin

Humptulips Sub-Basin

Wynoochee Sub-Basin

South Fork Chehalis Sub- Basin

Skookumchuck Sub-Basin

Newaukum Sub-Basin

Black River Sub-Basin

Hoquiam River Sub-Basin

Wishkah Sub-Basin

Medium Priority Sub - Basins

(fish scores of 8-10)

Upper Chehalis/tribs (upstream of Pe Ell)

Johns River Sub-Basin

Cloquallum Sub-Basin

Elk Creek (WRIA 23) Sub-Basin

Mox Chehalis Sub-Basin

Delezene Sub-Basin

RockAVilliams Sub-Basin

Garrard Sub-Basin

Lincoln Sub-Basin

Scatter Creek Sub-Basin

Elk River Sub-Basin

Low Priority Sub-Basins (fish scores of 6 or less) Porter Sub-Basin

Cedar Creek Sub-Basin

Steams Sub-Basin

Bunker Sub-Basin

Rock Creek (upper Chehalis near Crim Creek)

Salzer Sub-Basin

Gibson Sub-Basin

Newman/Vance Sub-Basin

Workman Sub-Basin

Independence Sub-Basin

Dillenbaugh Sub-Basin

Ranking Rules

The rules for ranking the sub-basins based upon fish data are as follows. For number of salmon and steelhead stocks: 4-5 stocks = score of 6; 2-3 stocks = score of 4; 1 or less stocks = score of 2. For fish miles, great than 70 known linear fish miles = score of 6; 20-69 fish miles = score of 4- and <20 fish miles = score of 2. The scores for both parameters were summed to form the final score for between sub-basin prioritization, and those results are in Table 1. Appendix I shows the data for fish miles and number of stocks/sub-basin.

Secondary Prioritization (Restoration Actions and Assessments)

After sub-basins were prioritized relative to each other, restoration actions, protection recommendations, and assessments were prioritized as "high", "medium", or "low" for each sub-basin based upon the results in the Limiting Factors Report coupled with the professional judgement of the TAG. Generally, if a habitat condition was rated "low" in the Limiting Factors Report, it was considered a "high" priority action. A "fair" habitat rating would result in a "medium" action recommendation. A "good" condition rating might result in either a "low" action or a "high" protection need, depending on the habitat category.

Data needs were also prioritized, based upon the probable impact in that category. For example, there is a broad-scale need for culvert/blockage inventories and assessments throughout the entire region. However, those assessments were given a higher priority in areas with known high road densities and/or stream crossings or where initial surveys suggest that blockages are a major problem. If a data need were identified to provide information that is desired, but not suspected to be a major problem for wild salmonid production, that assessment would be prioritized low. Professional judgement was also used to refine the ratings and provide more specific knowledge tailored to each sub-basin.

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