New Management Program for Lewis County shorelines need public input

County residents have until March 16 to weigh in

With more than 1,100 miles of river shoreline, Lewis County's new Management Program will affect
residents throughout the county. 

If you appreciate shoreline ecology, you’ll like the waters of Lewis County. The county boasts more than 1,100 miles of shoreline, including the Nisqually, Chehalis, Deschutes and Cowlitz rivers, numerous tributaries and 34 lakes.

Restoration of the Upper Chehalis River is a priority under the new Lewis
County Shoreline Management Program.

That’s a lot of water front property.

Lewis County has proposed changes to how it manages the edges of those waterbodies and the Department of Ecology is asking the public to weigh in on those plans. Ecology will compare the county’s proposed program to the requirements of the Shoreline Management Act and the Shoreline Master Program Guidelines. Based on the comparison and the comments the plan receives, Ecology will decide whether to approve the program or ask for changes.

Lewis County’s first Shoreline Master Program was adopted in 1974 and last amended in 1998. The comprehensive update now under consideration prioritizes water-oriented uses and development, protects sensitive areas and includes a restoration plan for degraded and damaged shoreline.

The restoration plan is a 98-page document that identifies priority projects within 16 management areas. An example is Lewis County’s five Upper Chehalis Management Areas, which include hundreds of river miles along the Coast Range, Willapa Hills, Puget Lowlands, Western Foothills and Cascade Lowlands, along hundreds of river miles. Restoration priorities include improved fish passage, restoration of riparian vegetation, and reconnecting the main stem of the Chehalis River and its tributaries with their floodplains..

The public has until 5 p.m. March 16 to comment on Lewis County’s program.

Lewis County’s proposed Shoreline Master Program can be viewed online. Paper copies can be viewed at Ecology’s Southwest Regional Office, 300 Desmond Dr., Lacey, WA 98577, or at the Lewis County Community Development office, 2025 NE Kresky Ave., Chehalis, WA, 98532.

Comments should be addressed to Ecology’s Kim Van Zwalenburg. Here’s how to submit them:

Mail:      Southwest Regional Office
              PO Box 47775
              Olympia, WA 98504-7775
Email:    kim.vanzwalenburg@ecy.wa.gov
Phone:  360-407-6520

By Dave Bennett, Southwest Region communications

Drought committee adds to list of areas at risk for water shortages

By Dan Partridge, communications manager, Water Resources Program  

This week six more river basins were added to Washington’s red zone of watersheds at risk of water shortages because of declining snowpack. That brings the total to 40 out of 62 designated watersheds in our state in the red zone. 

The Water Supply Availability Committee (WSAC) chaired by Ecology’s drought coordinator Jeff Marti determined that water supplies are at 75 percent of normal or below in these watersheds:  

• The Skokomish-Dosewallips basin in Jefferson County
• Alkali-Squilchuck basin in Kittitas County
• Chelan basin in Chelan County 
• The Okanogan basin in Okanogan County
• Lower and Middle Snake River basins in Columbia County

Available water supply is only half of a drought declaration   

This means these watersheds have met one of two criteria for a drought declaration. Under state law, an area must be at 75 percent of normal water supply or below and water users in that area must be experiencing or expected to experience hardships because of water shortages.

In March, Gov. Jay Inslee declared a drought in three regions:

• The Olympic Peninsula, primarily in Jefferson and Clallam counties
• The East side of the Central Cascades including Yakima and Wenatchee
• The Walla Walla Basin.

A declaration from the governor qualifies a region for drought relief funds. Ecology has requested $9 million from the Legislature to provide drought relief and technical assistance in any area declared to be in a drought emergency in 2015.

Water allocations drop for Yakima Basin irrigators

As much as $4 million of that money may be used in the Yakima Basin to boost water allocations for some irrigators. Earlier this week, the Bureau of Reclamation told farmers holding junior water rights that because of the drought they may be receiving only 60 percent of their water allocations during the irrigation season.

Lack of snowpack is the primary cause of Washington's drought. Currently, snowpack statewide is only 22 percent of normal, worse than at this time in 2005 when the last statewide drought was declared.

In normal years, snowpack is like a frozen reservoir that melts slowly in the spring and summer providing run-off that feeds our streams and rivers.

Recommendations of the WSAC on which areas of our state should be considered for a drought declaration based on hardships will be passed on to the governor’s Emergency Water Executive Committee. That committee will meet next week to advise Gov. Inslee on what additional drought declarations are warranted in Washington.