DRAFT - this is just something to get you started; we welcome any & all input on these definitions in the process of refining them for listing in the glossary of terms in the Watershed Management Plan. These terms are as defined by members of the partnership (unless noted otherwise)

Economical - Prudent (not wasteful or extravagant) in the financial aspects of managing the water of the Chehalis Basin. [adopted from Webster's Dictionary]

Healthy - For both the community and native fish standpoints, healthy implies the soundness and wellbeing of these elements.

Interruptible Supply - A water management tool that incorporates periods of time when water users forgo their usual withdrawals.

Native Fish - Fish that were originally found in the waters of the Chehalis Basin.

Target Flows - Instream flow levels sufficient to support sustainable human uses in addition to viable populations of native fish and other native wildlife. [NOTE: "Target Flows" is a term used by federal and state agencies in reference to flows necessary to meet fish needs. The Partnership has the option to create a separate working definition for this term for the Chehalis Basin Plan or to use the one in WA Dept. of Ecology publication #98-1813-WR, revised September 2000: "A target flow is biologically-based, achievable, and would provide sufficient water for 'properly functioning habitat'."]

Viable - From a community standpoint, viable is used as a broad term meaning economically sound, and a community that has a certain amount of energy and vitality. The term also refers to a workable and practical watershed plan, including consideration of reasonable costs to the community of implementing the Plan. From a native fish standpoint, viable is also used as a broad term meaning that native fish exist to an extent that they not only thrive but that harvest is possible.

Water - Of or pertaining to water alone, including the rivers, streams, wetlands, lakes, groundwater, ponds, estuaries, salt water bodies of the Chehalis Basin.

Water Balance - An accounting of the amount of water that enters and leaves the Chehalis River system, including groundwater aquifers. This can be estimated using a "mass balance analysis," an accounting of water subtractions (e.g. water withdrawals and evaporation) in comparison to additions to the system (e.g. rainfall and snowmelt).

Water Resources - This term incorporates all elements that rely on water, including the riparian environment, life that is dependent upon the water, and the water itself.

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