Sub-Region Approach for the Chehalis Watershed Management Plan

Note: illustrations mentioned in this document are not available online.

It has been widely acknowledged that the geographical immensity of the Chehalis River Basin, coupled with significant differences in issues between different areas of the Basin will make a Watershed Management Plan (the Plan) difficult to compile exclusively on a Basin-wide scale. While all components of the Plan will be directed by the Chehalis Basin Partnership (CBP), it might be prudent for the CBP to consider the idea of dividing the whole of the Basin into sub-regions for study and recommendations.

Although coordinating the efforts of the sub-region work groups toward a unified Plan on a consistent timeline will be challenging, this approach appears more manageable than compiling a region-wide Plan including all 30 sub-basins (as identified in the Level One Assessment) across the whole of the basin at once. It is likely that the CBP will need to develop specific expectations and timelines for the sub-regions to make this process a reasonable approach.

It is envisioned that the Watershed Management Plan will consist of three recommendation sections regardless of the scope of study. The first section would be Chehalis Basin recommendations related to state and federal rules, regulations, and guidance that affect the Basin. The second section would be regional recommendations for the Chehalis Basin itself. The third would be recommendations specific to areas/regions/basins within the Basin. These would be component parts of a completed Plan.

Possible Sub-Region Divisions

The two basin approaches for building the Chehalis Basin Watershed Management Plan that lie at opposite extremes are as follows:

1. To write a Plan for the entire Basin at once; and
2. To write a Plan that addresses each of the 30 sub-basins (as identified in the Level One Assessment) individually. The map of the 30 sub-basins is available with the Level One Assessment. Below is a map of the entire basin, WRIAs 22/23 (taken from a USGS web page showing monitoring stations) .

Another approach to assessing and making recommendations about the Chehalis Basin is to divide the Basin into sub-regions that share geographic elements. A suggestion for this division is to establish sub-regions as follows, depicted on the map below:

1. Sub-basins that drain directly to Grays Harbor
2. Sub-basins that drain into the lower Chehalis River
3. Sub-basins that drain into the middle Chehalis River
4. Sub-basins that drain into the upper Chehalis River

A fourth approach would involve assessing water resources and making recommendations on them according to the jurisdiction in which they lie, by County. The map on the following page shows approximate boundaries for the five primary counties that comprise the majority of the land and water areas of the Chehalis Basin.

Advantages and Disadvantages

There are advantages and disadvantages to subdividing the Basin in these various ways. The chart on the following page is intended to help the CBP evaluate advantages and disadvantages of each of the above mentioned methods. It may be helpful for CBP members to add to or subtract from this table before discussing the various approaches.

Method	Advantages	Disadvantages	Comments/Decision
Whole Basin	CBP is primary decision making group Easier administratively Fewer Meetings	Sub-area issues left out or missed Less public involvement Too hard to get a handle on the many issues
Each Sub-Basin	Specific recommendations for each sub-basin Greatest level of detail	Largest time commitment Plan too detailed Highest cost Burn out or disinterest in sub-area not directly related to CBP member
Sub-Area by Chehalis River Reach	Workable with 4 sub-groups Divides basin into logical sub-watershed groups Allows for work groups that are focused on issues for that specific sub-basin Allows for broader participation, as sub-area citizens are interested in issues for their sub-area.	CBP must develop criteria and guidance for sub-groups Difficult to set up groups and get participation
Sub-Area by County	Breaks sub-areas into political boundaries that may ease implementation Allows for County specific focus	County boundaries don't necessarily correlate well with watershed realities CBP needs to develop criteria and guidance for sub-groups Difficult to set up groups and get participation
Other Option	TBD	TBD

Summary

These tradeoffs must be given careful consideration in selecting an approach to creating the Watershed Plan for the Chehalis River Basin. Triangle Associates is prepared to assist the CBP in making a decision on this topic, as well as assist with coordination of the efforts of the Partnership, Steering/Technical Committee, and sub-region working groups if that approach is chosen. Of course, the final decisions on all water resource planning issues rest in the hands of the stakeholders and communities of the Chehalis River Basin.

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Send comments or questions to the: Chehalis River Council