Restoration planning

Definition

The definition of restoration under the guidelines is the "reestablishment or upgrading of impaired ecological shoreline processes or functions." The definition is close to what most scientific literature refers to as "rehabilitation." For the purposes of shoreline management, the term restoration does not imply returning shoreline areas to aboriginal or pre-European settlement conditions. Read Rule Citation

Principles

The overarching principles section of the guidelines clarifies that in developing policies and strategies to address restoration of shorelines, local governments should "make real and meaningful use of established or funded non-regulatory policies and programs that contribute to restoration of ecological functions, and should appropriately consider the direct or indirect effects of other regulatory or non-regulatory programs..." Read Rule Citation

Policies

In the section that describes the process for developing SMPs, the guidelines specify how the policies in a shoreline master program must appropriately promote restoration of impaired shoreline ecological functions. Read Rule Citation

The rule requires the following six steps be included in the SMP development process:

1. Identify degraded areas, impaired ecological functions, and sites with potential for ecological restoration; (Note: This is done through the shoreline inventory and analysis process)

2. Establish overall goals and priorities for restoration of degraded areas and impaired ecological functions;

3. Identify existing and ongoing projects and programs that are currently being implemented, or are reasonably assured of being implemented (based on an evaluation of funding likely in the foreseeable future), which are designed to contribute to local restoration goals;

4. Identify additional projects and programs needed to achieve local restoration goals, and implementation strategies including identifying prospective funding sources for those projects and programs;

5. Identify timelines and benchmarks for implementing restoration projects and programs and achieving local restoration goals;

6. Provide for mechanisms or strategies to ensure that restoration projects and programs will be implemented according to plans and to appropriately review the effectiveness of the projects and programs in meeting the overall restoration goals.

How should local governments develop a Shorelines Restoration Plan?

To understand the "shoreline ecological functions" that are at the heart of restoration planning, the best approach is to know the relevant Guidelines provisions that describe how local governments should inventory and characterize shoreline ecological functions. To minimize the risk of being ordered to supplement its scientific inventory, and to ensure that the restoration plan and other elements of the master program are based on defensible information, a local government and its consultants should follow these guidelines with great care. In addition to the requirements of the Guidelines, click here for a step-by-step overview of the process local governments should generally follow in developing a restoration plan.

For more information and further clarification of certain terms and issues, please refer to this list of Questions and Answers about restoration planning.

Suggestions for policy language

The City of Seattle has published a thoughtful report outlining ways local governments can incorporate incentives into local shoreline policies regulations that encourage voluntary restoration projects in degraded shoreline environments.

For more information

To contact one of Ecology's regional planners responsible for reviewing local SMPs go to the Contacts page and click on the map. Ecology's statewide contact on the SMP amendment process is Peter Skowlund, (360) 407-6522.

Back to SMP menu