While supportive of King County’s overall river management approach, an independent peer review of the County’s river and floodplain projects found that the program would benefit by better defining and articulating its overall strategy to the public.
The review looked at Water and Land Resources Division (WLRD) river and floodplain projects over the last decade to evaluate how well the project scoping and implementation practices address specific policy objectives of protecting public safety, preventing property damage from flooding, recovering salmon, and providing recreation.
“It is gratifying to see experts affirm our river management approach, and yet it is clear we have room for improvement in explaining why and how certain projects are chosen, clarifying project goals and linking them to a system-wide strategy, addressing recreational concerns, and explaining regulatory constraints,” saidChristie True, Director of the King County Department of Natural Resources and Parks (DNRP).
True said she initiated the independent review in the summer of 2011 as part of DNRP’s emphasis on increased efficiency and effectiveness, and to respond to complaints about engineering and construction methods.
The review was led by the consulting firm of Montgomery Watson Harza and was conducted by a five-member expert panel composed of recognized experts in the fields of engineering, riverine ecology, salmon habitat management, recreation, and stakeholder involvement.
“There are useful recommendations here related to earlier and more inclusive stakeholder engagement, providing a system-wide vision that people understand, and monitoring the success of our projects. I know WLRD is already doing some of this work and it is important to citizens and our neighbors on our rivers that we take prudent actions,” True said.
WLRD last year began a more comprehensive river basin public engagement and outreach effort, starting with the Cedar River basin.
Consistent with the recommendations of the peer review, the goals of the outreach effort include earlier and more collaborative stakeholder engagement, and improving information sharing with residents and stakeholders about the regional vision for King County rivers, its benefits for local communities, and the changes to rivers that may occur to achieve the vision.
The panel credited WLRD for a progressive approach to river management that integrates ecosystem restoration into river management activities, while working to achieve goals in public safety, flood management and recreation. And it recognized that the County’s approach has helped it satisfy state and federal regulatory agency requirements (such as the Endangered Species Act, Clean Water Act and others) and has helped leverage public funds.
But the panel also concluded this progressive approach will sometimes result in uncertainty about local conditions by allowing river segments to become more dynamic and provide related benefits. The report concluded that “King County may need to assume greater responsibility to identify and possibly mitigate some hazards, while providing more systematic public outreach efforts to warn recreational users of potential river hazards.”
While recognizing that King County is among the only government entities in the state to, by public rule, explicitly consider recreational safety when placing large wood in river projects, the panel reiterated the need for earlier and increased public engagement related to the potential for recreational hazards.
The panel’s full report is available online at: http://www.kingcounty.gov/environment/dnrp/publications/wlrd-expert-review-report.aspx.
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