Flood Policy on the Chehalis River in Lewis County, Washington: Who Makes the Decisions?

Chapter VII Growth Coalition Control of Local Policy Decision-making: Implications
- The Implications of Inadequate Public Participation in Policy Decision-making

Chapter VII Growth Coalition Control of Local Policy Decision-making: Implications

This thesis demonstrates that the interest group with the most influence over Lewis County land use and flood control policy decisions is the local growth coalition. The pursuit of a growth agenda - sustained economic development - has been identified as the primary force behind Lewis County policy decisions. Policy-making based on the growth agenda is driven not only by individuals, policy-fonnation networks and other groups outside county government; it is also advanced by goven-iment officials who subscribe almost exclusively to growth agenda goals.

Lewis County government consistently applies the goals and values of the growth agenda to its land use and flood policy decisions. Economic development is cited as the primaryjustification for all flood policy decisions, as evidenced in county documentation on its flood control projects since the flood crisis of 1996. Nongovernmental organizations such as the Flood Action Council and the Lewis County Economic Development Council also cite economic development as the primary focus of their efforts in promoting flood control projects. As demonstrated, these organizations wield considerable influence over county land use and flood policy decisions.

Growth coalition influence on county decision-making is evident throughout debates around land use regulations aimed at reducing flood risk. This is illustrated in the GMA-required 1999 Lewis County draft comprehensive plan, which received much criticism for its failure to address flooding concerns. In 18 pages of comments on the plan, the state Department of Community, Trade and Economic Develop'd the document failed to address how the county's land use choices affect flooding, and insisted it must address how the county will discourage development in flood hazard areas. (Washington State Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development letter, April 8, 1999) Other letters from the state Emergency Management Division and the state Department of Ecology raised similar concerns about the lack of attention to flooding issues (Washington Department of Emergency Management letter, April 6, 1999). The Department of Ecology also went on to note that the county failed to use its own Flood Control Zone Citizens' Advisory Committee in the public participation process during development of the plan. (Washington State Department of Ecology letter, April 23, 1999) In fact, no committees or organizations concerned with flooding were consulted in the development of the comprehensive plan.

"When the institutions of money rule . it is perhaps inevitable that the interests of money will take precedence over the interests of people." (Korten, 1996: 247) The consequences of growth coalition domination of Lewis County land use and flood control decision-making is that the voice of money and power will continue to grow stronger, and its impact on local government will increase. The longterm impact that may result from focusing only on the growth agenda could have a costly effect on the citizens and the county and city governments. Citizens and business owners may be affected by increased flooding due to lack of restrictions on flood plain filling and development; property losses due to flooding will continue to increase; local property owners will be forced to pay higher federal flood insurance premiums; communities along the river will likely lose revenue due to the reluctance of businesses to locate in the community; and the county could face litigation resulting from inadequate land use regulations that cause flooding to worsen and put the health and safety of the community at risk. Another important issue is the effect of upstream flood decisions on downstream communities, including the Chehalis Tribe in Grays Harbor County, which enjoys special federal protections and a potentially powerful legal standing. (Curtis DuPuis, interview, April 13, 1999) Failure to comply with GMA and other state and federal land use requirements also puts Lewis County at risk of litigation and loss of state and federal funding.

In pursuit of the growth agenda, Lewis County has placed greater emphasis on engineering approaches to "protect" development from floods using methods such as dredging; installing riprap on stream banks; excavating the river bank; and building dikes and dams. Some negative implications of this policy approach include:

- Natural systems may be compromised, harming the river's ecosystem.
- Valuable river resources such as fish and oysters may be threatened.
- Salmon, cutthroat trout and other species listed as threatened or endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act may be harmed, resulting in federal regulatory intervention.
- The flood plain's capacity to slow flood water may be reduced, increasing the chance of river bank erosion and worsening downstream flood conditions.
- Greater public investment may be required due to the significant costs of building and maintaining flood control structures.

Lewis County govemment's reluctance to adopt appropriate land use regulations aimed at reducing flood risk carries the following implications:

- Flooding will likely increase due to uncontrolled filling and development of the flood plain.
- Businesses will be reluctant to locate in a flood-prone community, crippling the local economy over the long term.
- Local property owners will be forced to pay higher federal flood insurance premiums.
- County government could face litigation when inadequate land use regulation results in damage to private property due to flooding.
- Failure to comply with GMA and other state and federal land use requirements may result in litigation and costly government sanctions.
- Failure to adopt appropriate land-use restrictions due to property-rights proponents' objections to government "taking" of private property ignores the cost to the public when unlimited development on one parcel of land increases flood damage on another.

It appears that by pursuing a growth agenda in the area of land use and flood policy development, Lewis County has chosen short-term gain over long-term planning and investment in the community. The agenda of the local growth coalition is focused on immediate and continued economic development, which over time benefits growth coalition members at the expense of the community as a whole.

The Implications of Inadequate Public Participation in Policy Decision-making

Lewis County's weak efforts at ensuring meaningful public participation in the policy decision-making process can be expected to have the following implications:

- Policy decisions will likely fail to consider the values and needs of diverse interest groups.
- Lewis County government will have incomplete information about how various land use and flood policy choices may affect individuals and interest groups whose perspectives are not represented by the growth coalition.
- Policy decisions will be based on the agendas advanced by only the most well-funded and most powerful interest groups, such as that represented by the growth coalition.
- Lewis County government could face a crisis of legitimacy if disenfranchised interest groups continue to be excluded from participation in policy making.
- Disenfranchisement will result in a growing lack of public confidence in government.

According to Domhoff, when one set of values and goals dominates decisionmaking in a community, that agenda is able to set the terms under which other groups and classes must operate. . .". (Domhoff, 1998: 5) In explaining the application of the power indicator "who governs," Domhoff writes: ". . . when a group or class is highly overrepresented or underrepresented in relation to its proportion of the population, it can be inferred that the group is relatively powerful or powerless, as the case may be." (Domhoff, 1998: 20) In Lewis County, the local Economic Development Council is a primary player in the local growth coalition, wielding great influence within the local business community and actively working to maintain representation in all government policy decisions related to growth. Because flood control is important to the economic future of the county, the Lewis County Economic Development Council - the institution that embodies Lewis County's growth coalition - plays a powerful and influential role in all flood policy decisions.

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