Chehalis Basin Partnership M e e t i n g S u m m a r y - September 28, 2001
Introduction
Chairman Spahr welcomed everyone and opened the meeting.
Gordon White from the Department of Ecology presented the agency's top award - the Environmental Excellence Award -- to Dave Palmer. Mr. Palmer, who lives near Oakville, has been an active advocate for water quality, flood management and habitat restoration in an effort to preserve the quality of life that basin residents enjoy.
Chairman Spahr reported on a news article describing a recent court decision in Oregon finding that for the purposes of the Endangered Species Act there is not a difference between wild fish and hatchery-raised fish with the same genetic make-up.
Sixteen of the Partnership's thirty-two member organizations had a representative or alternate at the meeting. Twenty-three additional citizens, alternates, or visitor attended.
Citizens' Advisory Committee
Rob Schanz reported for the Citizens Advisory Committee that August vacation schedules had made it difficult for them to meet, and the group would meet right after the Partnership today in order to plan its next steps.
Steering/Technical Committee
Mark Swartout reported for the Steering/Technical Committee (STC). He first thanked them for their hard work on the Phase 3 Plan elements, and then urged the Partnership to consider the committee's recommendations on watershed planning to be described later in the meeting today. He encouraged all Partnership members to attend the STC meetings, which are generally held on the first Thursday of every month.
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Watershed Planning under RCW 90.82
Lee Napier reported on her visit with Grays Harbor Water District #2 to discuss their involvement in the water resources planning effort for the Basin. The district would like to be actively involved but has only one staff person, so their availability is limited. They asked to be kept up to date and promised to attend meetings where their attendance is crucial. They support the effort and are pleased to see the recent progress.
Bob Wheeler (Triangle Associates) provided an overview of the watershed planning process under RCW 90.82 (ESHB 2514) and read from an article published in the Peninsula Daily News on cooperation in water resources planning before reviewing the agenda for the day's discussion. The focus of this meeting would be the outline of the Watershed Management Plan, with the goal for the meeting being to reach consensus on the outline, mission and goals.
Bob Wheeler walked the group through the Phase 3 plan outline and led the Partnership in discussion of questions and issues as they arose. After questions regarding use of the term "regulatory" in the outline, the group agreed to use "legal" instead, with the reminder that the Partnership has clearly expressed a preference for cooperative and voluntary approaches over regulatory ones. On further discussion, the Partnership agreed to use the term "cooperative" instead of "voluntary," since "voluntary" leaves open a clear possibility of inaction, while cooperative describes the manner in which it is hoped agreements and actions on water resources will be made.
Other changes focused on making data available and accessible to citizens and including the Limiting Factors Analysis on the list of "Data and Information Used to Make Recommendations." The issue was raised of meeting State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) requirements; how will this be handled? Mark Swartout responded that the Plan will meet SEPA requirements, and after the Partnership approves the Plan, it must be adopted through a joint meeting of all involved county commissioners after each county holds a public hearing on the Plan. If the Partnership only approves part of the Plan, the other sections must be reworked to the satisfaction of the Partnership before it is submitted to the county approval and public hearing process. The counties can only approve or reject the entire Plan, not sub-sections of it. The deadline for Partnership approval is October 2003.
The question of how salmon restoration efforts will fit into the Plan was raised. The response is that there will be habitat recommendations both basin-wide and by sub-basin. Bob Wheeler asked for consensus approval from the Partnership. Before consensus was granted, the comment was made that efforts to compile and standardize data must be acknowledged, and that data must be available and accessible to all. With the above-mentioned change to that effect, consensus approval of the outline was granted.
Goal and Objective Statements for Chehalis Basin Watershed Management Plan
Bob Wheeler referred the group to the one-page list of goals that emerged from the Steering/Technical Committee meeting after efforts to condense the list compiled from Partnership interviews. After some discussion in favor of expanding the list of water quality objectives and including language about preventing degradation of water quality and habitat, wording was proposed that addressed these concerns. The group reached consensus on the attached list of goals and objectives for the Chehalis Basin Watershed Plan. The mission statement had been approved at the August Partnership meeting. Mr. Wheeler reminded the Partnership that the mission and goals statements would provide an important foundation for the Watershed Plan and would be available for guidance later in the process.
Next Steps in Watershed Planning: Sub-Region Divisions & Meetings
Mark Swartout referred the Partnership to the "Next Steps" document mailed out prior to the meeting, which recommends holding Chehalis Basin Partnership meetings in each of the four sub-basins with Partnership members who live in a particular sub-basin taking responsibility for spreading the word and bringing folks out to each meeting. The Steering/Technical Committee recommended that the Partnership approve this document as a guiding tool for the next six months of watershed planning. Sue Patnude pointed out that an overall communications strategy would be helpful.
John Sims asked if Sub-basin #1 (including all rivers/streams draining into Grays Harbor) included Grays Harbor itself. A brief discussion yielded tentative agreement that some consideration must be given to the Grays Harbor estuary in the Plan, and Mr. Sims pointed out that there are organizations available to assist the Partnership with information and strategies regarding the estuary. After a bit more discussion, the Partnership granted consensus approval to use the "Next Steps" document to guide the watershed planning effort in the Chehalis Basin for the six-month period from October 1, 2001 to March 31, 2002.
Consultant Contract
Lee Napier informed the Partnership that the contract with Triangle Associates ended today (September 28, 2001). Triangle included extra, optional items in the contract, some of which are included in the newly adopted Next Steps. Lee asked the group if they wanted to amend the contract to keep Triangle on board to assist with the additional items. A Partnership member asked what all this would cost, and Lee explained that of $40,000 Phase 3 funds allocated overall for work with Triangle, the base contract included $28,000 and approximately $24,000 of this was used.
Some surprise was expressed that this was the first the Partnership had heard that finances would be discussed at this meeting, and some reservation was voiced about allocating more money. However, Lee clarified that with approximately $16,000 remaining on the Triangle contract, an amendment to that contract could keep Triangle on board for another few months without allocating any more funding.
So the question was put to the group: should the contract with Triangle be amended to allow for work on "Next Steps" with the Partnership through the end of 2001 as long as the work did not exceed $40,000. Kahle Jennings (Ecology) spoke in favor of the Partnership looking longer-term, towards the remainder of Phase 3. He pointed out that a search for consultants to write the Plan would cost the group at least three to four months and considerable momentum. If the Partnership is satisfied with Triangle's performance so far it might be worth considering hiring Triangle's team with technical consultants TetraTech/KCM for the remainder of Phase 3. The Partnership directed the Lead Agency and the Steering/Technical Committee to review a draft scope of work from Triangle. A suggestion was made that it should be twofold and include a description for immediate next steps and a description of long-term next steps up through the development of the actual Plan. The Partnership would review the items during the October meeting.
Salmon Recovery RCW 77.85
Lee Napier reported on Salmon Recovery Funding Board (SRFB) applications, which will total approximately $2.8 million. The meeting to prioritize the projects for submission for funding will be held October 17th and 18th. The resulting list of projects will be presented to the Partnership for approval on October 26th before submission to the SRFB.
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Dave Rountry (Ecology) presented information to the Partnership on components of Ecology's work to establish Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) limits for Grays Harbor fecal coliform bacteria and Upper Chehalis River temperature. He stressed that addressing TMDLs and non-point source pollution requires planning from local governments and communities. He stated that although plans have been developed and are on the way to implementation, it would take a while before the results of the planning are measurable.
SPECIAL PRESENTATION
The special presentation was the watershed planning portion of the meeting described above.
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Due to a conflict on the first Thursday of October, the next Steering/Technical Committee meeting will be on Thursday, October 11th at 1:00 p.m. in Montesano and all Partnership members are welcome. The meeting will be held in the small conference room of the Fish and Wildlife building at 48 Devonshire Road.
The meeting was adjourned at 11:30. The next meeting of the Chehalis Basin Partnership will be at 9:00 a.m. on October 26th at the Lucky Eagle Casino.
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Approved the scope/outline for the Phase 3 Watershed plan.
Approved the goals and objectives for the Phase 3 Watershed plan.
Approved use of the "Next Steps" document to guide the watershed planning effort for the next six months.
Directed the Lead agency and Steering/Technical Committee to review a draft scope of work from Triangle Associates on continued support for the Phase 3 watershed planning effort and Phase 2 Assessment of required but unavailable technical information.
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The Partnership will review the draft scope of work from Triangle Associates on continued support for the Phase 3 watershed planning effort and Phase 2 Assessment of required but unavailable technical information at its October 26, 2001 meeting.
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