Washington Administrative Code › Title 332 - Natural Resources, Board and Department of (See also Title 222) › Chapter 332-30 - Aquatic land management › Section 332-30-163 - River management

Current through Register Vol. 24-14, July 15, 2024
(1) Use and/or modification of any
			 river system shall recognize basic hydraulic principles, as well as
			 harmonize as much as possible with the existing aquatic ecosystems,
			 and human needs.
(2)
			 Priority consideration will be given to the preservation of the
			 streamway environment with special attention given to preservation of
			 those areas considered esthetically or environmentally
			 unique.
(3) Bank and
			 island stabilization programs which rely mainly on natural vegetative
			 systems as holding elements will be encouraged.
(4) Research will be encouraged to
			 develop alternative methods of channel control, utilizing natural
			 systems of stabilization.
(5) Natural plant and animal
			 communities and other features which provide an ecological balance to
			 a streamway, will be recognized in evaluating competing human use and
			 protected from significant human impact.
(6) Normal stream depositions of
			 logs, uprooted tree snags and stumps which abut on shorelands and do
			 not intrude on the navigational channel or reduce flow, or adversely
			 redirect a river course, and are not harmful to life and property,
			 will generally be left as they lie, in order to protect the resultant
			 dependent aquatic systems.
(7) Development projects will not,
			 in most cases, be permitted to fill indentations such as mudholes,
			 eddies, pools and aeration drops.
(8) Braided and meandering channels
			 will be protected from development.
(9) River channel relocations will
			 be permitted only when an overriding public benefit can be shown.
			 Filling, grading, lagooning or dredging which would result in
			 substantial detriment to navigable waters by reason of erosion,
			 sedimentation or impairment of fish and aquatic life will not be
			 authorized.
(10) Sand and
			 gravel removals will not be permitted below the wetted perimeter of
			 navigable rivers except as authorized under a departments of
			 fisheries and game hydraulics permit (RCW 75.55.100 ). Such removals
			 may be authorized for maintenance and improvement of navigational
			 channels.
(11) Sand and
			 gravel removals above the wetted perimeter of a navigable river
			 (which are not harmful to public health and safety) will be
			 considered when any or all of the following situations exist:
(a) No alternative local upland
			 source is available, and then the amount of such removals will be
			 determined on a case by case basis after consideration of existing
			 state and local regulations.
(b) The removal is designed to
			 create or improve a feature such as a pond, wetland or other habitat
			 valuable for fish and wildlife.
(c) The removal provides
			 recreational benefits.
(d) The removal will aid in
			 reducing a detrimental accumulation of aggregates in downstream lakes
			 and reservoirs.
(e) The
			 removal will aid in reducing damage to private or public land and
			 property abutting a navigable river.