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Shoreline Management Home

Washington’s Shoreline Management Act (SMA) was adopted by the public in a 1972 referendum “to prevent the inherent harm in an uncoordinated and piecemeal development of the state’s shorelines.” The SMA has three broad policies:

• Encourage water-dependent uses: "uses shall be preferred which are consistent with control of pollution and prevention of damage to the natural environment, or are unique to or dependent upon use of the states' shorelines...”
• Protect shoreline natural resources, including "...the land and its vegetation and wildlife, and the water of the state and their aquatic life..."
• Promote public access: “the public’s opportunity to enjoy the physical and aesthetic qualities of natural shorelines of the state shall be preserved to the greatest extent feasible consistent with the overall best interest of the state and the people generally."

State-local partnership

The SMA is administered through a cooperative program between local governments and Ecology:

• Cities and counties develop shoreline master programs that regulate development along larger streams, lakes, and marine waters.
• Ecology provides technical assistance, and reviews and approves local master programs and permit decisions.

The Act places a strong emphasis on public participation in developing local shoreline programs and in the local permit process.

Shoreline Master Programs

Ecology's adoption of new shoreline master program (SMP) guidelines in 2003 initiated a new generation of shoreline planning in Washington. The guidelines were developed as part of a year-long negotiated settlement that also led to adoption of shoreline legislation (effective July 2003) that established a new schedule for updating SMPs, and a biennial appropriation of $2 million to fund local SMP development.

Ecology administers an SMP Grants Program that provides funding for local jurisdictions to undertake comprehensive SMP updates. The next grant cycle will open in the spring of 2009.

• Introduction to the Shoreline Management Act.
• SMP Register (pdf) - a list of all Ecology-approved shoreline master programs and amendments since 1971.
• Master programs updated in accordance with the SMP Guidelines that took effect on January 17, 2004:
  • City of Sultan (pdf, 6 mb.)
  • Town of Darrington (pdf, 751 kb.)
  • City of Monroe (pdf, 46 mb.)
  • City of Marysville (pdf, 655 kb.)
  • City of Chewelah (pdf, 1.6 mb.) l  Environmental Designation Map (pdf, 360 kb.)
  • Port Townsend (pdf, 7.3 mb.)
  • Whatcom County (pdf, 2.1 mb.)
• Lists of streams and other ‘water bodies’ regulated by county and city shoreline master programs. (pdf, 126 kb.)