HomeMy WebLinkAbout1714Resolution No. 1714
["Beginning August 1, 2004"]
CFN= 1 038 -Public Works
Passed-11/15/05
WRIA 9 Chinook Salmon Conservation Plan
RESOLUTION NO. I 7 14
A RESOLUTION of the city council of the city of
Kent, Washington, ratifying, with conditions, the Water
Resource Inventory Area (WRIA) 9 Salmon Habitat Plan.
RECITALS
A. In March 1999, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA) Fisheries listed the Puget Sound Chinook salmon evolutionary significant
unit as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
B. Under ESA Section 4(f), NOAA Fisheries (for Chinook salmon) and
USFWS (for Bull Trout) are required to develop and implement recovery plans to
address the recovery of the species.
C. An essential ingredient for the development and implementation of an
effective recovery program is coordination and cooperation among federal, state, and
local agencies, tribes, businesses, researchers, non-governmental organizations,
landowners, citizens, and other stakeholders as required.
D. Shared Strategy for Puget Sound, a regional non-profit organization, has
assumed a lead role in the Puget Sound response to develop a recovery plan for
submittal to NOAA Fisheries and the USFWS.
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Chinook Salmon Conservation Plan
E. Shared Strategy intends that its recovery plan will include commitments
from participating jurisdictions and stakeholders.
F. Local jurisdictions have authority over some habitat-based aspects of
Chinook survival through land use and other policies and programs; and the state and
tribes, who are the legal co-managers of the fishery resource, are responsible for
addressing harvest and hatchery management in WRIA 9.
G. In WRIA 9, habitat actions to significantly increase Chinook
productivity trends are advisable and may be necessary, in conjunction with other
recovery efforts, to avoid ex,tinction in the near term and restore WRIA 9 Chinook to
viability in the long term.
H. As it balances the complexity of accommodating and encouraging
growth as it addresses protection of critical areas, the city values ecosystem health;
water quality improvement; flood hazard reduction; open space protection; and
maintaining a legacy for future generations, including commercial, tribal, and sport
fishing, quality oflife, and cultural heritage.
I. The city supports cooperation at the WRIA level to set common
priorities for actions among partners, efficient use of resources and investments, and
distribution of responsibility for actions and expenditures.
J. Seventeen (17) local governments in WRIA 9 jointly funded
development of The WRIA 9 Steering Committee Proposed Green I Duwamish and
Central Puget Sound Watershed Salmon Habitat Plan {the Plan), published August 10,
2005, following public input and review.
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Chinook Salmon Conservation Plan
K. While the Plan recognizes that salmon recovery is a long-term effort, it
focuses on the next 10 years and includes a scientific framework, a start-list of priority
actions and comprehensive action lists, an adaptive management approach, and a
funding strategy.
L. The city has consistently implemented habitat restoration and protection
projects, and addressed salmon habitat through its land use and public outreach policies
and programs over the past five years.
M. It is important to provide jurisdictions, the private sector, and the public
with certainty and predictability regarding the course of salmon recovery actions that
the region will be taking in the Green I Duwamish and Central Puget Sound
Watershed.
N. If insufficient action is taken at the local and regional level, it is
possible that the federal government could list Puget Sound Chinook salmon as an
endangered species, thereby decreasing local flexibility.
NOW THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF KENT,
WASHINGTON, DOES HEREBY RESOLVE AS FOLLOWS:
RESOLUTION
SECTION J. -Ratification. The city hereby conditionally ratifies The WRIA 9
Steering Committee Proposed Green I Duwamish and Central Puget Sound Watershed
Salmon Habitat Plan, dated August 10, 2005 (the Plan). The Plan is incorporated into
this resolution by this reference, and the city clerk will keep a copy of this ordinance
and the Plan in his or her files and make it available for review. Ratification is intended
to convey the city's approval and support for the following:
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Chinook Salmon Conservation Plan
1. Purpose: The purpose of the Plan is to restore habitat used by Chinook
salmon, bull trout. and other salmonids in the Green I Duwamish and Central Puget
Sound Watershed.
2. Goals: The goals of the Plan are to:
a Protect and restore physical, chemical, and biological processes
and the freshwater, marine, and estuarine habitats on which
salmonids depend;
b. Protect and restore habitat connectivity where feasible;
c. Protect and improve water quality and quantity conditions to
support healthy salmonid populations; and
d. Provide an implementation plan that supports salmon recovery.
3. Continuing to work collaboratively with other jurisdictions and
stakeholders in the Green I Duwamish and Central Puget Sound Watershed (WRIA 9)
to implement the Plan.
4. Using the scientific foundation and the habitat management strategy as
the basis for local actions recommended in the plan for future projects, ordinances, and
other appropriate local government activities.
5. Adopting an adaptive management approach to Plan implementation
and funding to address uncertainties and ensure cost-effectiveness by tracking actions,
assessing action effectiveness, learning from results of actions, reviewing assumptions
and strategies, making corrections where needed, and communicating progress.
Developing and implementing a cost-effective regional monitoring program as part of
the adaptive management approach.
6. Using the Proposed Actions and Policies to Achieve a Viable Salmonid
Population, and other actions consistent with the Plan, as a source of potential site
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Chinook Salmon Conservation Plan
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specific projects and land use and public outreach recommendations. Jurisdictions,
agencies, and stakeholders can implement these actions at any time.
7. Using the Watershed-Wide Programs and Subwatershed-specific
Policies, Programs and Priority Projects list to guide priorities for regional funding in
the first ten years of Plan implementation, and implementing these actions through
local capital improvement projects, ordinances, and other activities. The list of
policies, programs and projects will be revised over time, as new opportunities arise
and as more is learned through adaptive management.
8. Using an adaptive approach to funding the Plan through both local
sources and by working together (within WRIA 9 and Puget Sound) to seek federal,
state, grant, and other funding opportunities.
9. Forwarding the Plan to appropriate federal and state agencies through
Shared Strategy for Puget Sound, to be included in the Puget Sound Chinook salmon
recovery plan.
SECTION 2. -Implementation. The city recognizes that negotiation of
commitments and assurances/conditions with appropriate federal and state agencies
will be an iterative process. Full implementation of this Plan is dependent on the
following:
1. NOAA Fisheries will adopt the Plan, as an operative element of its ESA
Section 4(f) recovery plan for Puget Sound Chinook salmon.
2. NOAA Fisheries and USFWS will:
a. take no direct enforcement actions against the City under the ESA
for implementation of actions recommended in or consistent with the Plan;
b. endorse the Plan and its actions, and defend the City against legal
challenges by third parties; and
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Chinook Salmon Conservation Plan
c. reduce the regulatory burden for City activities recommended in or
consistent with the Plan that require an ESA Section 7 consultation.
3. Federal and state governments will:
a. provide funding and other monetary incentives to support Plan
actions and monitoring activities;
b. streamline permitting for projects implemented primarily to restore
salmonid habitat or where the actions are mitigation that further Plan implementation;
c. offer programmatic permitting for local jurisdiction actions that are
consistent with the Plan;
d. support the monitoring and evaluation framework;
e. incorporate, to the best of the government's ability, actions and
guidance from the Plan in future federal and state transportation and infrastructure
planning and improvement projects; and
f. to the extent feasible, direct mitigation resources toward Plan
priorities.
SECTION 3. -Obligation. This resolution does not obligate the city council to
future appropriations beyond current authority. Although the city is committed to
furthering the work of WRIA 9 and the Plan, it also must balance its other goals and
priorities, beyond funding limitations, under the state Growth Management Act to
further economic development, enhance and accommodate growth, and protect
property rights. As a result, this council action to ratify the Plan is conditioned on the
city's fulfillment of these other needs and demands as well.
In particular, the city maintains a primarily aquifer-based water supply system,
and the city will not implement any Plan requirement or goal if doing so would
threaten or harm the city's ability to provide a safe, secure, and adequate water supply
to its citizens, including future population increases, whether due to annexation or
additional growth through infill.
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Chinook Salmon Conservation Plan
SECTION 4. -Severabilitv. If any section, subsection, paragraph, sentence,
clause or phrase of this resolution is declared unconstitutional or invalid for any
reason, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this
resolution.
SECTION 5. -Ratificqtion. Any act consistent with the authority and prior to
the effective date of this resolution is hereby ratified and affirmed.
SECTION 6.-Effective Date. This resolution shall take effect and be in force
immediately upon its passage.
PASSED at a regular open public meeting by the city council of the city of Kent,
Washington, this ./S_ day of ~ 2005.
CONCURRED in by the mayor of the city of Kent this !5 day of
'71trv:~Dl..()05 .
AITEST:
A... .. IJ..~t-~ 'BRENDA JACOBER, cfLERK
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WRIA9
Chinook Salmon Conservation Plan
I hereby certify that this is a true and correct copy of Resolution No.
/2{~ the City Council of the City of Kent, Washington, the /5' day of
U-"--4.-J~U~~~.::...::..--'' 2005.
~L.;~tc•~
BRENDAJACOBER:{TYCLERK
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WRIA9
Chinook Salmon Conservation Plan