Pr esentationto the U .S. EP

A Fa rm, Ranch, and R

ur al Communities Co mmit te e Mar ch29, 2011 Ro n Shultz, P olicy

Dir ect or Wa shingt onStat e Co nser vationC ommission

### • Orientationto Pug et S ound 

### • Agricultur e int he Pug et S ound Basin 

### • Challeng es 

### • Opportunities 

### • Case Studies 

### • Mov ing F orwar d

### • Eight

major habitats o cc ur

inPug et Sound; k elps beds and eelgr ass meado ws cove r the lar ge st a re a. 

### • Other major habitats include e stuaries , int ertidal we tlands, mudflats a nd sandflats . 

### • Up land habitats include the forest z one cove ring 61% of the a re a. 

### • Other k ey u pland habitat

types include floodplains a nd pr airies .Scientists h ave identif ied about 221 species o f fi sh in Pug et

Sound and about 66,000 marine birds breed in or near the Sound. Sev er al Pacif

ic s almons pecies u tilize Pug et Sound, including chinook , co ho , chum, pink, and sock eye s almon. Anadr omous st eelhead and cutthroat tr out a lso u tilize Pug et

Sound habitats. Nine p rimar y marine mammal species oc cur in Pug et Sound including : har bor seal, California

s ea lion, Steller sea

lion, Northern elephant

s eal, har bor porpoise, Da ll's porpoise, killer wh ale, gr ay wh ale, and mink e wh ale.

### • Pug et

Sound populationhas d oubled fr om2 millionto 4 millions inc e 1960 and is p ro ject ed t o re ach5.4 millionb y 20 25 .

# Tr ibes

• 14 T ribes in Puget Sound. • Co - manager s in natur al re sour ces. • Major Issues:

– Salmon r ec over y

– Shellfish

– Wa te r rights

– PS fisheries

### • Int he 12 co unties int he Pug et Sound Basin, ther e a re : 

### • 11,501 farms to taling 580,000 acr es . 

### • All co unties ha

ve s eena n incr ease int he number o f farms s inc e 200 2. 

### • Pug et Sound agricultur e has a n e co nomicv alue o f ove r $1 billion , including pr oc essing value. 

### • Fa rma nimals int he Pug et Sound Basin:



### - Cat tle a nd Calve s 24 3,4 71



### - Da ir y Cow s 12 7,84 7



### - Chick ens 2,3 70,000



### - Ho rses 26,2 32Inputs o f nutrients a nd pathog ens affect e co sy st emfunctions , the healtha nd habitat

o f aquatic s pecies , including ec onomicall y important

s pecies (sucha s s almona nd shellf ish), and human health. As a ge ner al rule, phosphorus te nds to b e t he limiting nutrienti n fr esh wa te r s ys te ms , and nitr og en te nds to be t he limiting nutrient i n m arine s ys te ms . This means t hat incr eased loadings of t hese n utrients c anha

ve s ignif icant e ffects o n t he c har act er and co nditiono f these re spective s ys te ms . Pa thog enp ollution is a n equall y s ignif icant w at er q uality pr oblemint he Pug et

Sound Basin. P athog ens a re disease
causing micr oor ganisms t hat i nclude a va riety

o f pr ot oz oa, bact eria, and viruses . Some p athog ens o cc ur natur all y int he marine e nv ir onment. Mo st, ho we ve r, a re c arried by host or ganisms a nd ar e associat ed withhumana nd animals f ec es

### • Ther e a re 53 5 monit oring sit es w ithinPug et Sound and Pug et Sound wa te rsheds that a re impair ed for

d issolve d ox yge n. 

### • Nu trients s our ce s include d ra inag e fr oma gricultur al, for estr y, a nd residential activities a nd other s our ce s. 

### • Fre sh wa te r sit es – 43 2 

### • Marine s it es – 103



### • 91 3 monit oring sit es w ithint he Pug et Sound and Pug et Sound wa te rsheds e xce ed the w at er q uality s tandar d for fecal co liformbact eria. 

### • Fre sh wa te r sit es – 769 

### • Marine s it es - 1441. Te nsionbetw eenr egulat or y a ppr oacha nd vo luntar y inc entive - based sy st em. Assur anc es v s. implementation. 2. Gr ow thmanag ement – re quir ements to p ro te ct c ritical ar eas while re taining ability

to ha ve viable, pr oductiv e a gricultur e. 3. Gr ow thpre ssur es a nd ec onom y – land near

u rb ana re as bec omes mor e va luable for d evelopment

t han ag pr oduction. 4. Mu ltiple go ve rnmental entities , including feder al, stat e, local, tribal. Str ong stak eholder g ro ups ina ll sides o f the issue. L ack of

t rust. 5. Re duc ed budg ets limit t ra ditional re sponses , sucha s ac quisition, inc entive p ro gr ams . 6. Mitigationo n agricultur al lands
– salmonhabitat, mitigation banking .1. Re duc ed budg ets mak e co llabor ationa mor e a tt ra ctiv e option. Ag encies w ithlimit ed re sour ce s wo rk tog ether . 2. Shift f ocus to re sour ce o ut co mes . 3. Pr oc ess wh er e a n e ntity o f multi
- jurisdictional and stak eholder

g ro ups o ve rsees t he re sponse s tr at eg y. 4. Ke y is to ha

ve a cco untability

for re sult a nd adaptiv el

y manag e. 5. Ke y q uestion....w ho d oes the a cco untability?1. Small riv er

basinflo wing thr oughhea vy ag ar ea. 2. Po or wa te r quality

d ue to fecals . Sour ce s include s eptic sy st ems, st orm

wa te r runoff

, agricultur e. 3. SamishBa

y shellf ishc losur es . 4. Agricultur e s our ce s include livest ock, horses , cr ops . 5. Pr oc ess: CleanSamishInitiativ e - CSI 6. Established b y Ec olog y to implement T MDL. 7. Includes local stak eholders a nd ag encies . 8. Mo nit oring and identif y “hot s pots” 9. Is sue: R elationship betw eeninc entiv e a ppr oacha nd re gulat or y.1. Independent

s tat e a ge nc y e stablished in2007. 2. Purpose is to c ra ft

NEP C ompr ehensive Plan
– the 20 20 ActionA ge nda. 3. Impr ove linkag e o f activities to identif ied thr eats . 4. Link funding at

a ll levels to t he a ctions . 5. Tr ack progress a nd adaptiv el y manag e the p lan. 6. GMAP
– Go ve rnment M anag ement

Ac co untability

a nd Pe rformanc e Pr ogr am. Go ve rnor led panel. 7. Ac co untability
– actions co mpar ed t o re sults leading t o chang es .1. Addr essing re sour ce inputs f ro m d air y o per ations . 2. Stat e p ro gr amu sing local co nser vationd istrict to wo rk withd air y o per at ors to d ev elop a nd implement d air y manag ement

p lans .

## 1998 Dairy Nutrient Management

Act
• Goal -- Zero Discharge of Pollutants • Management Plan by 7/31/2002 • All Dairies Implement the Plan by 12/31/2003 • Compliance: Pro - active Inspection, Referral & Fine

## Technical Assistance Provided

Plan Development
• Structure Design • Vegetative Practices • Nutrient Management Practices Plan Implementation
• One on One • General

## Producer, State & Federal Contributions CD NRCS Farmers 4 ftes x 6 yrs 4 ftes x 7 yrs >250 Farms $1.1 Million $2.7 Million $1.3 Million

~ 54, 000 acres implementing BMPs ~ 400 miles of buffered watercourse > 2,100 acres in grass buffer stripsBellingham Herald2010 annual re port

o f CREP a cco mplishments: 

### • 916 to tal co ntr acts, including 9 for t he new hedg er ow pr actic e a nd 2 for

t he new we tland enhanc ement pr actic e. 

### • 12,976 acr es o f riparianh abitat re st or ed and pr ot ect ed. 

### • 74 0 miles o f str eambuffer ed by CREP . 

### • The p lants a re g row ing about 11 - 29” per

ye ar w itha medians ur vival of

91 - 93%. 

### • 4 - 8 ye ar

o ld plants a lr ead

y pr ov ide s hade o ve r 66% of t he str eams urfac e (small str eams).**CREP Buffer No**  **oksack Riv er**  **Ly nden**  CREP buffer

a long Kamm Creek, which f lo ws into the N ooksack Riv er.

### • Limit ed re sour ce s a t all levels w ill re quir e t ar ge te d appr oaches and co or dination. 

### • Ta rge te d appr oaches need to :



### - Id entif y s our ce pr oblems w ithindependent s cienc e.



### - All in vo lve d need to a cce pt

t he p ro ce ss a nd out co mes . TFW example.



### - Mu st u tilize a n inc entive - based sy st emw itha re gulat or y sy st em. U se co nser va tiond istrict lando wner re lationships .



### - Fo cus o n re sults
– implementation a nd re sour ce impr ove ments .



### - Find ways to lever ag e l imit ed re sour ce s.



### - Ut ilize e co nomic d rivers for ag lando wners . Includes a ll farms izes a nd types . Goal is to ke ep land inp ro duction.

### Ro **n Shultz, P**  **olic y**  **Dir ect**  **or WA**  **Stat e**  **Co nser**  **vation**

**C ommission**  **rshultz@sc c.w**  **a.g ov**  **360 -**  **407 -**  **75 07**