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Department of Ecology News Release - March 1, 2010
10-036
YAKIMA – The Washington Department of Ecology has approved new shoreline management practices developed regionally by Yakima County and communities within the county, including Grandview, Granger, Mabton, Naches, Toppenish, Union Gap, and Wapato.
The cities of Yakima, Selah and Zillah are also working on Shoreline Master Programs (SMP), and are expected to soon have final plans adopted and approved.
The new shoreline programs reflect six years of work by a citizen advisory committee and a technical advisory committee. The work began with a thorough inventory of existing land-use patterns and environmental conditions in the county and cities shoreline areas.
“The new SMP will provide clear and objective policies and standards to guide land use decisions in shoreline jurisdictions,” said Steven Erickson, Yakima County planning division director. “Early adoption of the Regional SMP provides regulatory stability for citizens of Yakima County through this decade because the county and cities will not be required to participate in the mandatory update of the SMP scheduled for 2013."
While allowing for future shoreline development, the Regional SMPs adopt practices to protect and restore shoreline functions along rivers and other water bodies in the county. Guidelines promote plant buffers to improve overall water quality by naturally filtering out pollution that comes with high density uses near streams and wetlands.
“Our understanding of shoreline science has greatly improved over the past 30 years. The local advisory groups, planning staff and elected officials are to be lauded for working so hard on these plans,” said Jeff Lewis, a manager with Ecology’s Shorelands program in Yakima. “This plan will protect and enhance the environment while encouraging public access and use of the shorelines for Yakima County residents.”
Shoreline Master Programs are the cornerstone of the state Shoreline Management Act passed by voters in 1972. Most jurisdictions haven’t comprehensively updated their shoreline master programs in more than 30 years. State guidelines were developed in 2003 establishing the basic requirements for updating local programs.
All of Washington’s more than 260 cities and counties with regulated shorelines must update their shoreline programs by December 2014.
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Contacts:
Jeff Lewis, Dept. of Ecology, CRO Shorelines Section Manager 509-574-3992;
jlew461@ecy.wa.gov
Joye Redfield-Wilder, media relations, 509- 575-2610;
jred461@ecy.wa.gov
For more information: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/sea/shorelines/smp/index.html
Copyright © Washington State Department of Ecology. See http://www.ecy.wa.gov/copyright.html.
