Watershed Planning
The WRIA 1 Watershed Management
Project brings together citizens, local governments, tribes,
and state and federal agencies to develop plans for allocating
water, protecting water quality, and restoring fish habitat. Whatcom
County provides staff support for the planning process, which
focuses on the Nooksack River basin and certain adjacent watersheds.
 The
1998 Legislature passed Engrossed Substitute House Bill 2514,
now known as the Watershed Management Act. This act provides
a framework to collaboratively plan and implement solutions to
water related issues. It is designed to allow local citizens
and local governments to join together with tribes, state, and
federal agencies to develop and implement a Watershed Management
Plan that balances the competing resource demands. The goal is
for current and future generations of people in the Water Resources
Inventory Area (WRIA) to have a sustainable environment and
economy which make it possible to continue to harvest salmon and
to have water of sufficient quality and quantity to meet our needs.
Given the current and future population growth of Whatcom County,
it is critical that we proactively develop water management strategies
that ensure economic vitality while protecting our water resources.
Currently the stakeholder-driven WRIA watershed management project
is developing a plan that will affect everyone in Whatcom County.
This plan will develop a comprehensive framework for managing
water resources in the county. Ultimately this plan will provide
the information needed to craft sound water resources policy in
the county's Comprehensive plan and other relevant ordinances.
With so much at stake, hundreds of Whatcom County citizens are
already participating in the development of the plan. They include
farmers, users of non-municipal water supplies, developers,
environmentalists, fishers, foresters, and others-as well as county
and city governments, Indian tribes, state and federal agencies,
and water utilities. All of these organizations will contribute to
developing the watershed management plan.
The four components of a Watershed Plan under the Watershed
Management Act consist of one required component, water quantity,
and three optional components, water quality, habitat, and instream
flows.
The framework is based on geographic
areas known as Water Resource Inventory Areas (WRIAs). In
Whatcom County, WRIA #1 includes the Nooksack river basin
and several adjoining smaller watersheds, such as the coastal
drainages of Dakota and California Creeks, as well as Lake
Whatcom. Locally established "Planning Units" are
to assess each WRIA's water supply and use, and recommend
strategies for satisfying water supply needs. In addition,
there is also the opportunity for local planning units to
address the closely related issues of improving water quality,
protecting and enhancing fish and wildlife habitat, and, in
collaboration with the Department
of Ecology, to determine instream flows.
To date majority of funding for this project comes from the
county's Water Resources Fund and over $600,000 in grant money
from the Department of Ecology. Local governments and stakeholders
also provide additional funds.
The county's Stormwater
Division plays a major role in this planning effort by providing:
technical staff support, facilitation services, grant administration,
contract administration, clerical support, data management,
and project management services. In addition, the Division
plays an integral role in the facilitation of regional and
county coordination efforts. Staff from Stormwater frequently
meets with other county departments to ensure that land use
planning and health-related issues are addressed during plan
development.
Currently the WRIA watershed management project anticipates the
development of the first version of the watershed plan in June
2003. Upon delivery of the plan in 2003, an implementation strategy
will be in place that will ensure the continued long-term
management of water resources in Whatcom County.
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