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DATE: Friday July 27, 2001 TIME: 9:00 to 11:30 AM LOCATION: Bingo Room, Chehalis Tribe "Lucky Eagle" Casino
| General Partnership Business | - | 9:00 a.m. |
| 1. Welcome, introduce members and new visitors | (5) | Chair |
| 2. Identify special issues of concern and adjust agenda | (5) | Members/Chair |
| 3. Committee Reports | - | - |
| Citizens' Advisory Committee | (5) | Rob Schanz |
| Steering/technical Committee | (5) | Committee Member |
| 4. Other Business | - | - |
| Annual Plan of Work - Status | (5) | Kahle Jennings |
| Record of Decisions | - | - |
| Other Updates | (10) | Members |
| ACTIONS TO BE TAKEN AT THIS MEETING: None Noted | - | - |
| B. Special Project Status Reports, Budget Updates and Committee Reports 9:35 a.m. | - | - |
| 1. Watershed Planning Project (RCW 90.82) | (20) | Grays Harbor County |
| Update on Phase 3 Plan scope/outline | - | and Triangle Assoc. |
| 2. Salmon Recovery Project (RCW 77.85) Status | (20) | Grays Harbor County |
| 3. Flood Control Projects | (5) | - |
| Centralia/Chehalis Flood Damage Reduction Project | - | Corps of Engineers |
| Chehalis River Basin Ecosystem Restoration Study | - | Corps of Engineers |
| 4. TMDL Updates | - | - |
| Grays Harbor Fecal Coliform Bacteria | (10) | Ecology |
| Upper Chehalis Temperature | - | - |
| Humptulips Temperature | - | - |
| ACTIONS TO BE TAKEN AT THIS MEETING: Provide comments on and concurrence with projects proposed by USFWS | - | - |
| C. Special Presentation | - | 10:30 a.m. |
| Proposed Chehalis Fishery Restoration Program Projects | (45) | Brian Peck, USFWS |
| D. Open Comment and Rumor Control | - | 11:15 a.m. |
| Any remaining issues identified in agenda item A2 and the opportunity to ask for clarification of any rumors that are going around | (15) | Audience |
| Chair adjourns meeting | - | 11:30 a.m. |
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A. GENERAL PARTNERSHIP BUSINESS
Introduction
Vice-Chairman Sodhi welcomed everyone and opened the meeting, Twenty of the Partnership's thirty-two member organizations had a representative or alternate at the meeting. Thirteen additional citizens, alternates, or visitor attended.
Citizens' Advisory Committee
Rob Schanz, chair of the CAC, announced that they will be meeting at the offices of the Chehalis River Council in Oakville after the Partnership meeting. The committee has been working on a public involvement plan for the Partnership. During their meeting they will be looking at a draft brochure that describes the Chehalis Basin Partnership and what projects it is involved in.
Grays Harbor County announced that it has appointed three new citizens to the Advisory Committee. One of the recent appointees has determined that they will not be able to serve. The remaining two new appointees are Terry Willis and Michael Quigg. Grays Harbor County will appoint a fourth CAC representative and a Citizen to sit on the Chehalis Basin Partnership.
Technical Advisory Committee
Mark Swartout, the new chair of the TAC, presented a brief report on the meeting held June 7th. A full summary of that meeting was included in the meeting packet for this meeting. The draft Operating Procedures Manual that will be discussed later today provides a good review of the roles and responsibilities of the Steering/Technical Committee. The committee requests that Partnership members review the roles and responsibilities in the draft Operating Procedures Manual and comment.
The TAC has used the Partnership's Annual Plan of Work to develop a six-month agenda that shows the relationship between TAC meetings and Partnership activities.
Annual Plan of Work
Clarifications and modifications to the Annual Plan of Work that has been recommended since the May 25th Partnership meeting were reviewed. Basically, the changes will move the elements that do not have a specific completion date into a category called "Future Initiatives" so it is easier to track the issues that do have completion dates.
During the general discussion the following comments were made:
Add a category where activities carried out by Partnership members or other organizations are recorded. These activities need to be tracked and coordinated with Partnership activities, and this would be one way to help accomplish that.
It is important that Partnership members stay informed about, and involved with, the two separate flood control projects. Those projects will be important to all Partnership members in one way or another as they develop.
The proposed additions and modifications were approved and have been incorporated into the version attached.
Record of Decisions One of the elements of the Annual Plan of Work is to develop a record of decisions. This record will help ensure that the work of the Partnership is efficient and effective. A draft record of decisions has been developed for the meetings between December 1999 and May 25, 2001. Currently the record is organized by month, but once all the past meeting summaries have been reviewed the record will be organized by activity watershed planning, salmon recover, general Partnership responsibilities, etc.
The four types of information being included in the record of decisions are "Decisions," "Recommendations," "Future Agenda Topics," and "Notes."
There are questions about how to make information such as the Record of Decisions readily available to Partnership members and even the general public. The discussion led to the following ideas:
One recommendation that came out of this discussion was to include the web address of web sites related to Partnership activities or where Partnership information is stored somewhere on the meeting agenda. It was agreed that this is a very good suggestion. Web sites will be listed on the back of the agenda.
B. SPECIAL PROJECTS
Watershed Planning under RCW 90.82
Triangle Associates is beginning the process of interviewing Partnership members to find out their thoughts on the scope for the Phase 3 watershed plan, and the watershed planning process in general. Several one-on-one interviews are scheduled for today. A joint meeting of the Steering/Technical Committee and Citizens' Advisory Committee is scheduled for June 28th. There will be a special workshop on July 13th specifically to work on the scope (outline) for the Phase 3 Plan. The schedule calls for completing the scope and approving it at the September 30, 2001 Partnership meeting.
Bob Wheeler (Triangle Associates) said that the interviews are going well and that they are providing helpful information. He introduced Chris Page who will be compiling and interpreting the information collected. Triangle has developed surveys they are using for the different target groups. They will work with Kahle Jennings to get the appropriate survey to the state caucus. There was a question from the audience about whether agricultural interests are being sought out. The Department of Agriculture will be interviewed as part of the state caucus. The Cattlemen's Association is represented on the Partnership and will be contacted directly.
Summer Instream Flow Study - Ecology and WDFW met with the Steering/Technical committee for guidance on how to target the study of in-stream flows this summer. Based on the results of that meeting and a field survey of potential sites, flow monitoring will occur at six locations in the basin: The Upper Chehalis River, Skookumchuck River, Black River, Satsop River, Hoquiam River, and Humptulips River. Each of these sites will be measured three times to determine flow levels - once each during May, June, and August/September. The information from the study will help determine if the existing minimum flows set in 1976 using older methods limit fish production or are higher than they need to be. Comments during this discussion included:
Salmon Recovery RCW 77.85
Grays Harbor County has applied for $230,000 from the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife so it can continue to carry out its responsibilities as Lead Entity for salmon recovery during the next biennium. The funds would pay for: 1) a portion of county staff time and contract work to oversee the development of a salmon recovery
strategy and annual Salmon Recovery Funding Board project solicitation/ranking process, 2) a biologist to perform biological review of projects, 3) and a GIS analyst.
In addition to this support through the Lead Entity, WDFW also provides about six-tenths of an FTE for salmon recovery activities in the form of the Watershed Steward assigned to the Chehalis.
The Limiting Factors Analysis report is done. A handout on how to obtain a copy of the report on CD from the Conservation Commission was handed out (copy attached). Grays Harbor County would like to work with the Conservation Commission to arrange to place the report on a web-site so that it can be accessed over the Internet. It is important to remember that even though the LFA report has been written, it identifies many data gaps that need to be filled over time. The LFA report is one part of a salmon recovery strategy that will continue to develop and change over time.
Now that the LFA report is done for the Chehalis, Carol Smith has moved on to do similar work for other basins. The Partnership agreed that a letter should be sent to Carol and the Conservation Commission thanking her, and commending her for the work she completed in the Chehalis. Grays Harbor County will prepare the letter for signature by the Chair of the Partnership.
Salmon Recovery Funding Board - Applications for the next round of salmon habitat projects will be out in early July. The applications will be available on the Internet at the IAC/SRF Board web-site. The IACC/SRF Board will be holding workshops throughout the state to go over SRF Board application procedures, discuss individual projects with project proponents and provide an opportunity to link up proponents for related projects. The workshop for the Chehalis Basin will be held July 17th. Applications will be due to the Lead Entity September 28th. A schedule for the entire 2001 grant cycle was handed out (copy attached).
Grays Harbor County, the Lead Entity for salmon recovery in the Chehalis Basin, sponsored a workshop for interested salmon recovery project sponsors Thursday evening June 21 st. The turnout was good (26 people) including a number of new faces. At the current time, the recovery strategy for the Chehalis Basin is to address the priorities identified in the Limiting Factors Analysis. It is becoming more and more important to link individual salmon recovery projects to the LFA and a basin-specific salmon recovery strategy. A more detailed salmon recovery strategy for the Chehalis Basin will be out in mid-July and should be used by project applicants to focus and support their projects.
USFWS Salmon Restoration Funding - the packet for the June 22nd Partnership meeting included information on this source of funding. Applications are due to the USFWS July 6, 2001.
Flood Control Centralia Flood Damage Reduction Project No report.
Chehalis River Basin Ecosystem Restoration Study A draft work plan for the Chehalis River Basin Ecosystem Restoration Study should be available for review in July.
TMDL Updates
Grays Harbor Fecal Coliform Bacteria - The public comment period for the DRAFT Grays Harbor Fecal Coliform Bacteria TMDL ended on June 11th. The report summarizes the technical study of bacteria conditions in the basin, and includes recommendations on how to reduce fecal coliform bacteria loading to Grays Harbor.
Grays Harbor County Commissioners, City of Hoquiam, Weyerhaeuser Company, Grays Harbor Conservation District, and USEPA Region 10 provided comments on the draft report. Some new and substantive information was provided within these comments, which deserves careful review. As a result, Ecology has decided to delay submittal of the report to EPA until it completes a responsiveness summary to the comments and revise the draft cleanup plan sometime this Fall.
In the meantime, voluntary cleanup efforts and more effectiveness-monitoring will continue. This work will provide us more information that will be used to continually refine cleanup priorities and actions. in reality, planning and implementation for this TMDL will be a work-in-progress for some time. Approximately twelve months after the initial cleanup strategy is approved by EPA a Detailed Implementation Plan must be submitted to EPA.
During the discussion that followed this update, both Aberdeen and Grays Harbor County expressed their desires that Ecology hold a separate public review process in the fall when the revised report is available. In addition, other members expressed a desire that Ecology bring the revised fecal coliform TMDL to the Partnership for review.
Upper Chehalis Temperature - Ecology is still preparing a response to the comments received on this TMDL
Humptulips River Temperature TMDL -- A suggestion was made that a presentation to the Partnership on the proposed Humptulips River Temperature TMDL should be scheduled in the near future.
C. SPECIAL PRESENTATION
This portion of the meeting was focused on a discussion of the draft Operating Procedures that were mailed out with the meeting packet. The Operating Procedures are structured to reflect the way the Partnership operates. They are less formal than the existing by-laws, but are arranged to provide a complete description of how the Partnership and its Committees operate. They reflect how complex the Chehalis Basin partnership has become. One thing that has not changed is the decision making process. Decisions are still made using a consensus process.
Comments:
At the close of the discussion the City of Aberdeen requested that Grays Harbor County acting as Lead Agency contact the Grays Harbor Water District and the Boistfort Water District to arrange for discussions about their involvement with the Chehalis Basin Partnership. Once the discussions are arranged, Aberdeen volunteers to go to those discussions and support their active involvement in the Partnership.
Aberdeen also requested that a meeting of the attorneys of the Initiating Governments be organized so that a discussion about the legal concerns related to managing water in the Chehalis Basin can begin. The Partnership is moving forward based on scientific information. However, local governments rely heavily on their legal advisors to protect their interests. If the legal advisors do not understand what is being proposed in the plan they may not feel that the local government they represent can safely participate in a consensus decision on the plan that is developed,
D. OPEN COMMENT
None noted
The meeting was adjourned at 11:30. The next meeting of the Chehalis Basin Partnership will be at 9:00 a.m. on July 27th at the Lucky Eagle Casino.
Decisions
Approved additions and modifications to the Annual Plan of Work that will be reflected in the version sent out with the July 27th meeting packet.
Recommendations
Future Agenda Items
A report on the summer flow monitoring study.
A presentation on the Humptulips temperature TMDL
Notes
Meeting notices are currently published in the Aberdeen World and paid for by the City of Aberdeen.
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June 28, 2001 -- City of Montesano Forestry Building -- 11:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m.
Present: Mark Swartout (Chair), Lonnie Crumley, Patrick Wiltzuls, Margaret Radar, Lee Hansmann, Sue Patnude, Chad Stussy, Kahle Jennings.
Agenda
This was a combined meeting of the Steering/Technical Committee and interested/available Citizens' Advisory Committee members to meet with Triangle Associates and discuss the scope for the Phase 3
Plan. Because of this, the meeting did not begin with a set agenda. Following the meeting with Triangle Associates the following topics were discussed:
STATE ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT (SEPA)
Concerns were raised that by beginning the process of holding meetings to develop the scope for the Phase 3 plan, we initiating a process that triggers SEPA required actions. The Partnership must clarify what our responsibilities are under SEPA so we do not miss taking required actions.
SALMON RECOVERY
The schedule for the SRF Board's next salmon recovery project funding cycle was handed out at the June 22 Partnership meeting,. Grays Harbor County (Lead Entity for Salmon Recovery in the Chehalis Basin) has its established project review process and committee. The Partnership's Steering/Technical Committee could have a role if a significant policy issue affecting the Partnership comes up, but otherwise its role is limited.
Now that the Limiting Factors Analysis has been completed, the Technical Advisory Group (TAG) formed to assist Carol Smith with the project no longer has any mandate to keep functioning as a separate group. Since many of the TAG members are also active in the Steering/Technical committee of the Partnership it makes sense to form a salmon recovery sub-committee of the Steering/Technical committee if specific needs that will take a significant amount of time arise.
Sue Patnude (WDFW) will contact the Conservation Commission to see what plans they have to sustain salmon recovery efforts that they were tasked to support through the Limiting Factors process. She will ask them what resources are available to help us continue to fill data gaps identified in the Limiting Factors Analysis and update or to modify our salmon recovery strategy as more information becomes available. Regardless of how the Commission responds, the Steering/Technical committee and Chehalis Basin Partnership should evaluate what resources we have available in out watershed (in addition to the grant from WDFW to the salmon recovery Lead Entity) to support further development Of Our salmon recovery program.
CHEHALIS BASIN PARTNERSHIP AGENDA
Kahle Jennings (Ecology) shared a rumor that he had been contacted about and asked S/TC members if they had heard the rumor and where. The rumor is that Tom Fitzsimmons (Director of the Department of Ecology) had stated in a meeting in Eastern Washington that Ecology was going to start charging, for water use. Kahle assured the group that the rumor Is false, Tom Fitzsimmons never made such a statement and Ecology has no plans to charge for water. It was suggested that we add a section to the Partnership agenda that provides people with a specific time each meeting to ask about rumors they may have heard relating- to Partnership interests and identify those rumors that need to be followed-up on to seek clarification.
For the special presentation portion of the Jul. 27th Partnership meeting, Kahle will try to arrange for someone from Ecology's Water Resources Program to come in and discuss recent legislation affecting the management of water. The topics would include the Governor's water bill, water metering in the 16 salmon-critical basins (the Chehalis is NOT one of the 16), additional funding, available for basins that choose to address in-stream flows, etc.
CHEHALIS BASIN PARTNERSHIP ANNUAL PLAN OF WORK
Changing the date for approving, the chances to the existing, by-laws from July 27th was discussed at the June 22nd Partnership meeting but it was never clearly agreed upon. The S/TC agreed to recommend that the date for approval of the by-law changes be moved to the September 28 Partnership meeting.
STEERING/TECHNICAL COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP
A general discussion was held about who should be represented on this committee, why they should be represented, how to get them to attend and how to keep them attending-? A discussion about who specifically should be recruited will occur at the August 2nd meeting of this committee. The results of the discussion about committee membership should be incorporated into the draft Operating Procedures.
OTHER
J. Roach handed out the agenda and a summary of the May 10, 2001 legislative workshop on GIS/information Management that he was asked to pull together. The workshop was broadcast on local access TV and has been well received. He has been approached about arranging a follow-up legislative workshop sometime in the future. Salmon Data Viewer CD - J. Roach is still working with DNR on getting the type of CD developed as pilot for the lower Chehalis Basin (WRIA 22) done for the upper basin (WRIA 23). He has been discussing the possibility of combining the upper-Chehalis with other watersheds in Thurston County Such as the Deschutes and Nisqually so that it has the benefit of wider support. The S/TC agreed that this would be a good approach.
AGENDA ITEMS FOR THE AUGUST 2 ND STEERING/TECHNICAL COMMITTEE MEETING
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Attendees: Lyle Hojem, Jay Roach, Margaret Rader, Earl Emerson, Rob Schanz, Terry Willis
Agenda: Phase 3 outline. GIS update, outreach brochure, summer meetings
1 Margaret gave us an update on the Phase 3 outline work. Triangle and Associates will hold a series of meetings and workshops to gather data on the CBP's coals and needs for a watershed management plan. The schedule for the meetings includes June 28 Joint TAC and CAC meeting), July 13 (workshop for all CBP members), and a workshop at the regular August 24 CBP meeting,
2. J. Roach gave an update on a presentation he helped arrange for the State Senate Natural Resources, Parks, and Shorelines Committee. A group of people representing diverse interests talked to them for almost 2 hours about the need to unify and make state mapping data available to everyone. He got a lot of good feedback on the presentation and will continue to follow this issue.
3. Outreach Brochure: Margaret passed out a draft brochure for us to work on. This brochure will serve as an introduction to the CBP, and includes text on our mission, basic programs, and membership. Overall she did a great job on the first draft. The group had several editorial comments and additions that will be incorporated into the next draft. Margaret will modify the brochure and present it to the Partnership at the July 27th CBP meeting
4. Summer meetings: The Citizen's Advisory Committee will not meet in July. The next meeting will be a potluck picnic at Jay Roach's house on Black Lake, at 4:00 on Friday, August 17. Agenda 'II include discussion of the Phase 3 outline, and preliminary work on a display for outreach a public events.
We also discussed potential field trips in September. Possibilities include a field trip to Bill Barmettler's fish passage project on Coal Creek, and the Chehalis Tribe's off-channel rearing project on the Newaukum. Rob will check with Bill and Mike McGinnis about these. We also talked about ongoing Ecology's Instream Flow study team during one of their Instream Flow (IFIM) measurements in the fall.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned.
Recorded By Rob Schanz, Chair Citizen's Advisory Committee
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