5/20/03 version
What is the purpose of this issue paper? This issue paper begins to describe land use as it is applied by local governments (cities and counties) and then begins to illustrate a correlation between land use, watershed management planning and the basin water resources.
What is the issue?
Each of us lives in a watershed and we need to recognize how our actions affect the watershed. Each land use action has an effect on the water that flows across or under in route to a river or the Pacific Ocean.
The issue of land use was raised throughout the development of the watershed management plan. First documentation occurred in the plan's mission statement "A management plan that will result in effective, economical, and equitable management of the water in the Chehalis Basin to sustain viable and healthy communities and habitat conditions necessary for native fish."
Stakeholder raised the issue of land use during several public meetings. The comments included:
Are there plans to develop parks, water access or interpretive trails?
Natural vegetation draws up a lot of water, not just irrigation
Concerns about stormwater runoff
Many comments related to flooding that suggested floodplains and floodways are still being impacted by development.
The Steering Technical Committee of the Chehalis Basin Partnership also provided input into this issue. Their comments supported further consideration regarding enforcement of existing regulations to protect water resources, protection or establishment of riparian buffers, stream side planting, management of stormwater runoff, and protection of land not inclusive of the latter.
The Watershed Management Act, Chapter 90.82 RCW, suggests that it is important to identify the policies and actions of local land use plans and development regulations to ensure consistency with water resource strategies. It is important to note that Chapter 90.82 RCW directs the majority of the work of developing the plan to include assessing existing regulations. Chapter 90.82.120 RCW specifically states that the plan shall not change existing local ordinances or existing state rules or permits, but may contain recommendations for changing such ordinances or rules.
The issue of land use affects the entire Chehalis Basin.
Background
Local governments administer land use in the Chehalis Basin. They are also responsible for providing the infrastructure to support development and have oversight regarding mitigation to minimize the development impacts. Therefore, the success of this watershed plan will rely on prudent land use decisions and capital facilities investments.
Land use planning creates policies that guide how the land and its resources will be used. The social, cultural, and economic interests of stakeholders direct planning. Land use plans typically include: a vision for community development, resource and land management strategies, cultural and traditional land use areas, land use and protected areas, and monitoring and review processes.
The intent of land use planning is to guide the development of better communities by providing quality decisions and information related to land use, building safety, and environmental protection. The State of Washington authorizes local government to engage in land use planning through one of four enabling laws. These laws appear in the Revised Code of Washington Chapter 35.63 entitled Planning Commissions, Chapter 35A.63 entitled Planning and Zoning in Code Cities, Chapter 36.70 entitled Planning Enabling Act, and Chapter 36A.70 entitled Growth Management (GMA)- Planning by Selected Counties and Cities.
Land use planning generally falls into one of two categories: long-range or short range (current). Long-range planning includes preparation of comprehensive land use plans, Growth Management Act (GMA) compliance, and the preparation of land use and environmental regulations.
Current planning programs include the review and approval of sub-divisions of land; mobile home parks; shoreline management permits along many rivers, streams and lakes; critical area permits (when adopted as required by GMA); infectious waste facilities; and environmental impact reviews.
In 1990, the State removed the optional provision for counties and cities to engage in planning under the auspices of the first three enabling laws, except for several rural communities. The final of four enabling laws, the GMA, directs counties and cities to prepare and implement comprehensive plans. The development of a Comprehensive Plan, the purpose of which is to provide for the orderly physical development of communities, serves as a prerequisite to the enactment of zoning regulations.
GMA directs cities and counties to address water resources in a variety of ways. It also gives them the responsibility and authority to plan for water quality and water systems through comprehensive plans and development regulations.
The GMA requires all cities and counties in the state to ensure that:
Development regulations, including shoreline master programs, are consistent with and carry out the comprehensive plan.
Building permits are conditioned on evidence of an adequate quantity and quality of water.
Subdivisions are approved only after findings of an adequate quantity and quality of water.
Natural resource lands1 and critical areas2are designated and protected using best available science.
Within the Chehalis Basin, eight counties together with their respective cities, have land use plans that guide the development of the communities.
Technical
State law mandates that each county have certain land use policies/regulations (Chapters 35.63, 35A.63, 36.70, and Chapter 36A.70 RCW). Each county, and the cities within that county, typically have a unique set of land use plans, or code, that are indicative of how development should occur in that jurisdiction. Most land use plans include: a comprehensive land use plan, a zoning ordinance a subdivision ordinance, a shoreline master program, a critical and sensitive area ordinance, and State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) ordinances for environmental review,
Solutions & Toolbox
Accept the status quo approach because existing land use and water resources laws and regulations provide an acceptable level of protection. Currently all Counties, regardless of GMA, must designate resource lands and protect critical areas, accomplished through Ordinances. Existing comprehensive plans contain many elements that affect local or regional needs and actions involving water resources.
Suggest modifications to the land use plans to consider impacts to the natural environment, availability of water resources, and lessening of wastewater and stormwater. Water resource strategies examined and developed through other issue papers should be reviewed for consistency with the local land use plans. Any inconsistency should be flagged and addressed with the participation of the respective local jurisdictions(s).
Recommend development standards that encourage low impact development in the Chehalis Basin. Key components of this recommendation would include improved water conservation, better stormwater management, minimize or mitigate for development near riparian zones, develop water resource monitoring plans. Some of the components are already in place such as the flood plain management regulations, shoreline regulations and critical areas ordinances. Some regulations are subject to periodic updates. The watershed planning process could provide information for inclusion into such updates by providing access to technical resources and historical knowledge that might not be as readily available to some local jurisdictions.
Encourage the development of standardized data management and monitoring. This would involve consolidating the documented impacts of development and water use on water quantity, water quality, instream flow, and habitat into a common database. This option provides a framework for managing data and monitoring water resources in the basin.
Analysis
It is essential to establish a nexus between the use of land and the function of the watershed. A disconnect between these two elements of the environment may result in development activities at cross-purposes with the environment, or which will create conflict between community-based goals, policies, and plans.
Land use is one of the major determinants of the quality of water resources. The Chehalis Basin is predominantly in forestlands, and that is an advantage from a water resource perspective. Forestry is a land use that provides the best water resources. While in contrast, urban areas and the associated land uses tend to negatively affect the water resources. In terms of land use and water resources, a rough continuum from good to poor is probably forest, agricultural, rural residential, suburban, urban. For that reason, water resource managers have the opportunity to protect the quality of the resources, if they can successfully encourage landowners, who have property in forests to keep it in forest and to encourage farmers to continue to farm.
Although the Chehalis Basin has a high proportion of forest lands, development is concentrated in areas close to important Basin streams and rivers, and this can have adverse impacts on water quantity and water quality. Although only 11 percent of the basin as a whole is in agriculture, urban or industrial uses, this figure climbs to 42 percent in those areas within one mile of the major Chehalis rivers around which land uses are most intensive. These streams are the Chehalis main stem, South Fork Chehalis, Newaukum, North Fork Newaukum, South Fork Newaukum, Skookumchuck, Black, and Satsop main stem. The developed segments of these water bodies account for almost half the length of the major rivers in the Basin.
Because of the link between land use and water resources, county and other governments that want to maintain the quality of their water resources should encourage continuation of forestry and agriculture. It is also important to encourage the use of forestry and agricultural practices that mitigate the adverse impacts of timber, crop, and livestock production on water resources. For example, an area could be forested, but still produce poor quality water resources if the area had a dense network of forest roads or if roads were poorly constructed or maintained. When areas are converted from forestry or agriculture, counties should consider requiring land use practices that limit adverse effects on water resources from the new, more intensive uses.
Historically, comprehensive planning tends to focus on accommodating or promoting accommodating population and economic growth and associated development. Efforts that focus on maintaining land in uses which promote water resource protection or which promote land management practices which support water resources are compatible with more traditional planning approaches. However, there must be a conscious effort to plan for sustainable water resources though such techniques as best management practices, riparian area management, low impact development, etc. Over the long term, water resources that are not managed for sustainability will be degraded and effective management requires attention to land use patterns.
Land use plans create choices that determine the pattern of growth, and the impacts of that growth/development, can significantly influence the availability and quality of water resources. In the past, land use plans may not have addressed water resources. However, GMA requires planning for infrastructure by providing water-related requirements for cities and counties. The requirements include designation of urban growth areas to reduce sprawl, the land use element must review drainage and stormwater, new development must show how to pay for capital facilities, and comprehensive plans must be internally consistent with adjacent jurisdictions.
Land use planning involves the application of regulations governing the type and scope of activities to be conducted on property. This includes controls set forth in various municipal and county codes. These codes are intended to address a wide range of specific issues associated with development, such as:
Building lot density
Permitted uses
Building height
Infrastructure improvement
Drainage conveyance
Land grading
Building construction
The examination of activities conducted on land adjacent to or within shoreline areas is typically governed by more specific codes or plans, such as local government shoreline master programs with that generally include a concurrent review by state of federal government, that provide a linkage between proposed land
Watershed planning will ultimately provide the community with a level of predictability that can be used in the development or updating of land use regulations, such as comprehensive plans or zoning ordinances. It will result in the acknowledgement and affirmation of a perspective that values the integration of watershed planning with land use planning.
Recommendations
Encourage landowners who have property in forests to keep it in forest and to encourage farmers to continue to farm.
Encourage the use of forestry and agricultural practices that mitigate the adverse impacts of timber, crop, and livestock production on water resources.
Require land use practices that limit the adverse effects on water quality when forest and agricultural lands are converted to more intensive uses.
Implementation
The Chehalis Basin Partnership should continue to examine the relationship between land use planning and the affects on water resources, both positive and negative outcomes. To date, the planning constituency has not been consistently represented. This could be attributed to limited staff resources and the technical nature of the watershed planning work to date.
To successfully implement this component of the watershed plan would require dedicated funding. As mentioned throughout the watershed plan, funding for water resources management in the Chehalis Basin is a significant issue. Without adequate funding, the Chehalis Basin will struggle to adequately manage the water resources.
References/Suggested Reading
http://www.co.thurston.wa.us/permitting
http://www.co.lewis.wa.us/CommunityDevelopment/planning/planning.htm
http://www.co.mason.wa.us/community_dev/planning/default.shtml
http://www.co.grays-harbor.wa.us/info/pub_svcs/PlanningBuilding.htm
http://www.ocd.wa.gov/info/lgd/growth/fact_sheets/index.tpl
http://www.ocd.wa.gov/info/lgd/growth/fact_sheets/Watershed_Planning.pdf
Footnotes:
1 Natural Resource lands include agricultural, forest, and mineral resource lands as described in Chapter 36.70A.170 RCW.
2 Critical areasinclude the following areas and ecosystems: (a) Wetlands; (b) areas with a critical recharging effect on aquifers used for potable water; (c) fish and wildlife habitat conservation areas; (d) frequently flooded areas; and (e) geologically hazardous areas. (Chapter 36.70A.030-Definitions).
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