Ample, clean water is vital to the restoration and survival of our fisheries and for continued economic growth and development. However, our most valuable resource is threatened by pollution and supplies in many areas of the state are already overdrawn or dwindling rapidly. Increasing population growth is placing ever greater demands on our water resource. In response, the 1998 legislature passed legislation 90.82 RCW, the Comprehensive Watershed Planning bill. The bill provides a framework for developing local solutions to water issues on a watershed basis.
State agencies provide technical assistance and if requested serve on the planning units.
Planning units organized under the legislation are required to do a detailed assessment of the planning area's current water supply and uses, and recommend long-term strategies to provide adequate water for fish and future growth. The planning units may also choose to develop strategies for improving water quality, for protecting or enhancing fish habitat, and, in collaboration with the Department of Ecology, may set minimum instream flows. The agency does not currently know how much they will have to provide in the upcoming biennium. While there is a significant amount of money to support local watershed planning, the agency will be limited in the direct technical assistance that it will be able to provide. Funding is available in three phases.