Puget Sound Coordinated Monitoring Program > Background

Background

• Puget Sound Monitoring Consortium Problem and Purpose Statement
• A Governance Committee was formed to propose an organizational structure and inclusive decision-making for coordinated regional monitoring that is suited to the unique interests and circumstances of the Puget Sound Basin.
• The Stormwater Work Group was formed to test some of the Governance Committee’s recommendations and develop an urgently-needed regional monitoring and assessment strategy to assess stormwater impacts to beneficial uses; calculate pollutant loadings; and evaluate the effectiveness of stormwater management practices.
• A Technical Advisory Committee oversaw four pilot projects that the committee identified to test working relationships, meet pressing needs for coordination, and in two cases expand local government initiatives.

Prior to the formation of the current Puget Sound Partnership, Ecology supported and staffed a stakeholder-driven effort to create a coordinated monitoring program for Puget Sound. In 2007 an exploratory committee looked at monitoring programs that are up and running elsewhere in the country, and submitted their recommendations. The Legislature provided Ecology with funding to take the next steps to develop a regional monitoring program during the 2007-2009 biennium. The purpose was to establish a new multi-party structure to provide credible and useful information about the Puget Sound ecosystem and guide the Puget Sound Partnership’s, Ecology’s, and others’ monitoring efforts and improve our policy and management decisions.

The stakeholder group became known as the Puget Sound Monitoring Consortium (PSMC). A Governance Committee was formed to recommend an organizational structure and a decision-making process that are suited to the unique interests and circumstances of the Puget Sound Basin. In December 2008 this committee completed its Report to the Washington State Legislature and presented its findings to the Puget Sound Science Panel, the Washington Forum on Monitoring Salmon Recovery and Watershed Health, and other decision making bodies. Committee members presented their findings to Legislators early in the 2009 session. On May 28, 2009 the Puget Sound Partnership’s Leadership Council formally decided to move forward with setting up an ecosystem monitoring program at the Puget Sound Partnership.

Having completed its report and presented its findings, the PSMC stopped meeting in July 2009. PSMC members are willing to meet again, if requested, to provide further assistance in implementing its recommendations. The support and involvement of federal, tribal, state, and local governments, the private sector, academia, and environmental organizations has been critical to the success of this effort.

• Cover letter for final report from Jay Manning, Director of the Department of Ecology, to the Washington State Legislature.
• Cover letter for final report from Puget Sound Monitoring Consortium to Jay Manning.
• Report to the Washington State Legislature.

Contact Karen Dinicola, Project Manager, at 360-407-6550 for more information.