Thursday, October 23, 2003
By Brian Mittge, bmittge@chronline.com, The Chronicle
A landmark Chehalis River watershed plan apparently isn’t quite ready for prime time, despite four years of work and what had been seen as an important Oct. 31 deadline.
The inch-thick Chehalis Basin Watershed Management Plan was completed in draft form a month ago, but it probably will not be up for a vote at Friday’s meeting of the Chehalis Basin Partnership as planned.
Instead, the partnership will be asked to continue refining the plan.
The wide-ranging group, which includes farmers, environmentalists, government agencies and tribes, has to approve any plan by unanimous consensus — any one person or group can slam on the brakes.
“There were some people who were really concerned about incurring obligations at this stage in the game without knowing what the costs would be,” said Kahle Jennings, a Washington Department of Ecology employee who has been actively involved with the watershed group.
Many partnership members had indicated they would vote against the watershed plan in its current form, according to a special notice included with the meeting agenda.
“A number of substantive issues and concerns” have been raised about the plan, according to the notice.
At an Oct. 16 meeting of the group’s steering-technical committee, groups worried that the plan might obligate local government to take action, creating “unfunded mandates.”
Others said the plan needs better organization and more information about where the money will come from to pay for further work.
Lee Napier, a Grays Harbor government employee who is project manager for the plan, said the group is still continuing to work toward a solution that will ensure clean water for people and fish.
The partnership has brought together diverse groups who will continue to talk about their concerns and needs, she said.
“If people hadn’t expressed concerns about a plan that we’ve put four years into, I’d be concerned,” Napier said.
She said the Chehalis Basin group is still a model for other watershed groups around the state, some of which have stopped meeting altogether.
So far the Chehalis watershed plan has cost about $1 million to put together. The money has come from state grants for watershed planning.
The draft plan includes complex data about water rights, river water flows and the history of the river basin from Pe Ell and Onalaska to Grand Mound and Aberdeen.
After detailed analysis and information collection about the river system, the draft plan has more than 100 recommendations for specific actions.
The list ranges from suggestions to improve the water rights process to ideas for habitat restoration.
The plan shows some skepticism toward government influence: One recommendation says, “The Chehalis Basin Partnership prefers voluntary approaches to regulatory in attempts to make water available for stream flows.”
Friday’s meeting of the partnership at the Lucky Eagle Casino between Oakville and Rochester will address the question of whether to move forward with refining the watershed plan for adoption.
The meeting runs from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. and meets in the bingo hall of the Lucky Eagle Casino on the Chehalis Indian Reservation.
The schedule a month ago had been to grind through details this week, then approve the plan Oct. 31. The schedule now is unclear.
If and when a plan is approved, it would go to the county commissioners in Lewis, Thurston, Mason and Grays Harbor counties for more public hearings and an eventual vote.
If approved, the next stage of watershed planning would define how the plan is implemented, including how to pay for the work.
Brian Mittge covers politics, the environment and Lewis County government for The Chronicle. He may be reached by e-mail at bmittge@chronline.com, or by telephoning 807-8237.
This page created and maintained by Chehalis River Council
Send comments or questions to the: Chehalis River Council