Draft 19 Feb. 03
ISSUE: Protecting High Quality Water Resources1
DEFINITION:
High Quality Water Resources are those which meet or exceed existing standards or (in the absence of specific standards) goals/best professional judgment regarding resource quality. It is invariably easier and less costly to protect high quality resources than it is to restore those resources after they have been degraded or allowed to deteriorate. Therefore, identifying and protecting the areas that have high quality water resources should be a priority.
A major obstacle in promoting non-degradation as a priority is overcoming the fairly widespread belief that environmental standards are totally protective, i.e., many believe that there are no, or few, downsides to allowing degradation of a high quality resource as long as it doesn't degrade below standards or completely destroy that particular resource.
Protecting high quality water resources is a basin wide issue; although most of the high quality resources are probably in smaller tributaries and headwaters areas. These areas are more likely to be forested, undisturbed, and very sparsely populated. This is not to say that high quality water resources do not exist in the larger tributaries or lowland areas, but these areas are much more likely to have been modified and potentially degraded over time.
The issue of providing special protection to high quality water resources was formally raised at several points during the planning process: (1) By the Chehalis Basin Partnership (CBP) in their Goals ("Prevent degradation of... water quality/habitat....") and Objectives: ("Develop strategies to identify and prevent water quality degradation."), (2) By citizens at all four of the CBP Open Houses, and (3) By the Steering and Technical Committee (STC). This issue is not a specific requirement of the Watershed Planning Act. It was raised in the planning process because of its importance, cost effectiveness, opportunity for voluntary efforts, the absence of programs directed specifically at protecting these important resources, and local impacts when water resources fail to meet standards.
BACKGROUND:
The Chehalis Basin has many advantages over other basins in Washington when it comes to maintaining the quality of its water resources. Among these are relatively high precipitation, relatively low population, and extensive forested areas. Eighty Seven percent of the basin is in lands classified as forested. This includes lands on which there is standing timber as well as lands which have been cut and are in various stages of regrowth. In some Chehalis subbasins, forest lands account for over ninety percent of the land area.
In most watersheds, there are at least a few "strongholds" where water resources are in very good condition. These areas are generally associated with areas of intact, high quality habitat. Given the nature of land use in the Chehalis, most of these areas are forested. In a cost effective strategy, the highest priority should be to identify these, protect them from deterioration, and expand them. These high quality resources are of value in themselves. In addition they are essential to efforts to restore degraded resources in more developed areas of watersheds.
The high percentage of forested lands in the Chehalis suggests strongly that there are water resource stronghold areas in the. As a broad rule of thumb, forest lands support high quality water resources to a greater extent than other land uses. However, this can be undercut by certain forest management practices, some of which were formerly used in the Basin (e.g. clear cutting or splash dams). As a result, the Basin probably is not now experiencing the quality of water resources that would be expected or might be attainable given its concentration of forestlands.
Notwithstanding the great advantages (from a water resource perspective) of extensive forest areas and a sparse population, there has been substantial degradation of water resources in the basin. This is indicated by the significant number of streams with water quality violations, streams where instream flows are not met during critical low flow periods, and areas with poor resident and anadromous fish habitat.
Some of these problems are the result of point source discharges of pollutants. Fortunately the Clean Water Act National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit program, which is administered by the Washington Department of Ecology, substantially addresses point source pollution problems. Other problems are the result of land use practices and nonpoint pollution. The most serious of these problems most likely arose from past land use practices by agriculture, forestry, industry, and individuals. Some of the most damaging practices, such gravel mining in streams, splash dams, logging in riparian areas, and filling of wetlands, no longer occur or are regulated so that they do less damage.
Regulation of point sources and improved land management practices hold out the hope that over time, much of the natural functioning of basin systems that support water resources may be recover. These changes will not happen overnight. It may take "n"_ years 2 or more to restore hydrology that is disrupted by some of the forestry practices formerly used in the basin. Similarly, recovery of the habitat and other functions of streams that are disrupted by practices such as gravel mining will be measured in decades rather than years. Notwithstanding the long time frames that may be involved there are good reasons to expect that efforts in the Chehalis basin can be successful. The generally rural character of the basin, low population densities, low expected rates of growth, and the possibility of further improvements in land management combine to suggest that the trend for water resources in the basin can be a positive if citizens and governments work together.
The keys to success will be: (1) developing an effective voluntary program with the underlying support of existing regulatory programs (currently in place), (2) sound land and resource management (currently in progress), (3) protection of existing high quality water resources (proposed by this and other issue papers), and (4) meeting predetermined measures of success (to be developed). Efforts to restore degraded water resources depend on continued high quality inputs from upstream areas where habitat is in tact and water resources are still of high quality. Restoration efforts are unlikely to succeed if upstream areas of the Chehalis with good quality resources are not protected from degradation.
TECHNICAL:
There is no program in place specifically to protect high quality water resources. Nor is there a comprehensive inventory of such resources in the Chehalis Basin. Given continued population and economic growth in the basin, it should be expected that at least some of these high quality resources would degrade. This will come to public attention only at the point where they are degraded below standards, such as Washington Water Quality Standards or minimum instream flows. At that point, a significant resource will have been lost and much greater costs will have to be incurred to restore them than would have been required to protect them from degradation in the first place.
ALTERNATIVES /TOOLBOX:
Specific alternatives should be developed with respect to each of the four types of water resources that are of concern to the partnership. In general, the preferred approach for any new initiatives should be information based and voluntary. These efforts will rely on any relevant benefits and information resources that may be available from existing regulatory programs, but they should not propose additional regulations.
ANALYSIS:
The Chehalis River Basin is largely in forestlands and contemporary forestry and other land use practices are improved relative to what was done in the past. Nevertheless, from a water resource perspective, the tendency for population and other development to concentrate In areas close to water bodies can offset these improvements. Although only 11 percent of the basin as a whole is in agriculture, urban or industrial use, this figure climbs to 36 percent in those are within one mile of major Chehalis rivers around which land uses are more intensive3. The 36 percent figure would be even higher if the relatively extensive and pristine headwaters areas of these rivers were excluded from the analysis.
These land use patterns do not belie the basic point that large forested areas in the basin are a major advantage from a water resource perspective. What they do indicate is that land use near major rivers is intense. Good water resources will not be obtained automatically without careful management of those lands that are in close proximity to basin streams and rivers.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
The four types of water resources that are of concern to the Chehalis Basin Partnership are water quantity, water quality, habitat, and instream flows. The health of these resources is related, but they are managed pursuant to different sets of laws, regulations, and voluntary programs. Each has a different mix of legal and regulatory involvement by local, state, and the federal agencies. These differences seem to dictate different management approaches. Therefore, the level of detail that would be required to propose a specific program and recommendations to protect each of the four resources is beyond what can be done in this issue paper. Such specific programs are better addressed in issue papers focused on each individual resource.4
IMPLEMENTATION:
The general recommendation of this issue paper is to increase the priority that is assigned to identifying and protecting high quality resources. Programs to protect high quality resources of each of the four types of water resources (Water Quantity, Water Quality, Habitat, and Instream Flows) in the Chehalis will be most meaningful and likely to succeed if they are coordinated. However, because of their real differences on the landscape and in the way that they are managed and regulated, a separate initiative or program for each of the four resources should be developed. An issue paper that discusses protection of good water quality is included in the Water Quality section of this document. This issue paper includes specific recommendations for identifying and maintaining the quality of streams that meet or exceed Washington Water Quality Standards.
UNANSWERED QUESTIONS/ISSUES:
Many -- a few of the larger issues are: (1) Resources and methodology for developing an inventory of those areas with high quality water resources. (2) Specific voluntary measures that can effectively protect high quality water resources. (3) Responsibility for carrying out water resource protection efforts. (4) Developing methods to measure success.
REFERENCES/SUGGESTED READING:
Chehalis Basin Partnership Issue Paper "Protection of Existing Areas with Good Water Quality" and... [any issue papers for the other three resources which are relevant -complete this section after reviewing the other issue papers as they become available] .
1 The term Water Resources" when used in this paper includes Water Quantity, Water Quality, Habitat, and Instream Flows.
2 Note, this is long term, and we are looking for the best number to use here and a good reference.
3 Streams around which land uses are more intensive are the Chehalis main stem, South Fork Chehalis, Newaukum, North Fork Newaukum, South Fork Newaukum, Skookumchuck, Black, and Satsop main stem. In terms of length, these streams includes about half of the river miles in the basin that are covered by instream flow regulations and the Chehalis below the confluence with the Satsop. Forested headwaters areas of these steams are included in the analysis.
4 See, for example, Chehalis Basin Partnership Issue Paper "Protection of Existing Areas with Good Water Quality."
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