By Matt Hufman, Daily World writer, 1/23/1998
For years, people have been complaining about what's happening up the Chehalis River and what's coming down.
Pollution. Flooding. Erosion.
Despite efforts by local groups and governments, there's been little to do but grumble as the lack of a riverwide focus has let problems and water run off downstream.
That may be changing. In an unprecedented pact, the governments that represent people along the Chehalis River have resolved to work together. The counties in the Chehalis River basin - Grays Harbor, Mason, Thurston and Lewis - along with the state Department of Ecology, the Chehalis Tribe, and the various cities, ports and government agencies in the river basin, are forming an advisory committee to deal with watershed issues.
"I think in some cases a lot of the problems we're seeing in the watershed transcend the jurisdictional" territories, said Brian Walsh, a state Department of Ecology official working with the Chehalis group. "We want to be working more together to work comprehensively."
There is already one study under way between Lewis, Grays Harbor and Thurston counties that should give local officials a better understanding of flood and erosion issues.
"Now we're on the back end of things," said Brian Shea, the Aberdeen city planner who has been an organizer of the group. "Whatever things people do upstream, we deal with it."
The new working group could signal a new way of dealing with water issues, especially for downstream cities and counties.
"It's an acknowledgement that what happens upstream affects downstream," said Mike Daniels, Grays Harbor County's public services director. "We've always needed that recognition to solve the problem."
The group, using the working name of the Chehalis Basin Watershed Council, is setting out to solve some of the problems that have perplexed people who live along the river for years. The group is asking for $100,000 from the state Department of Ecology to get started.
The group faces a major task - bringing together the myriad agencies that represent people along the river to solve the myriad complex issues involving the river. More than a dozen government agencies will coordinate with businesses, experts and citizens on watershed issues. What the leaders hope to do, though, is start by sharing information.
"I think the big concern they have is everybody working in a coordinated fashion," Shea said.
With the heavy flooding in recent years, governments along the river have looked at ways to prevent problems.
"I think everybody's been drawn to the table (because) everybody's being impacted negatively," Daniels said.
Each county so far has been on its own. Lewis County has been tabbed as the lead agency and has been active in trying to prevent sending flood waters downstream.
The counties are all looking for ways to prevent flooding, slow the flow of water downstream, alleviate erosion and preserve water quality. There are also questions about wildlife management, timber, restoration and salmon issues. The river basin is complex, and each group has different concerns. "I think the very first step is to sit down and talk about it," said Dr. C.S. Sodhi, natural resources director for the Chehalis Tribe outside Oakville. "Everybody's got to do some give and take. We know the solution does not lie with one jurisdiction."
The Department of Ecology has formed watershed teams that are working in major basins, like the Chehalis. And the state Legislature is considering a bill (HR 2514) that would form similar advisory groups.
With more federal intervention into waterways and habitat management, local officials want to take a stake in the river, said Bob Berg, Lewis County's director of public services.
"If we don't look at them locally, they'll get looked at by somebody else, probably by somebody across the Mississippi River with a pair of binoculars," Berg said.
The local perspective, though, has been tried before.
The Chehalis Watershed Council offered a similar forum until the group disbanded last May after it said it found a lack of support from the state. "We tried to get everybody at the table" with the council, said Dave Palmer, who heads the Chehalis River Council, a nonprofit, volunteer group that promotes conservation and restoration in the basin. "It was watershed issues, not specifically water quality."
The government group says it will bring in technical advisers, including business people who live along the river and others for advice. But Palmer is concerned about non-government input into the process.
"How's it going to work without the buying in of the stakeholders?" Palmer asked.
Right now, the focus is as an advisory group to discuss issues and not have any regulatory powers.
Daniels said Grays Harbor County hopes the group would "establish a partnership of jurisdictions that are willing.
"We see more benefits to the participants than any downsides," Daniels said.