Drafter
Clerk 11/18/2010
Title
A MOTION supporting clarification of federal jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act for streams and wetlands.
Body
WHEREAS, for nearly thirty years, virtually all natural surface waters were "waters of the United States" and protected by the Clean Water Act, and
WHEREAS, despite the goals of the Clean Water Act, counties across the nation are facing increased flooding, surface water pollution, toxic blue-green algae outbreaks and contamination of their wetlands and estuaries, and
WHEREAS, it is a priority in Washington state and King County to protect high quality, diverse and interconnected habitats throughout our lands, river systems and marine water to aide in the restoration and recovery of the Puget Sound ecosystem, and
WHEREAS, for more than forty years, King County citizens have invested in the clean water by creating a centralized wastewater treatment system that cleaned up Lake Washington and vastly improved effluent discharges to Puget Sound and currently treats an average of one hundred seventy million gallons of sewage per day, and
WHEREAS, for over twenty years King County has invested in and continued to improve its programs to manage stormwater runoff to protect people, natural resources and wetlands from damage caused by pollutants and uncontrolled runoff, and
WHEREAS, King County's groundwater protection program seeks to protect the health and viability of drinking water for its residents and to preserve fish and wildlife habitat by ensuring groundwater replenishment of streams, lakes and wetlands, and
WHEREAS, King County has embraced and provided leadership in the groundbreaking collaborative efforts to protect and restore salmon runs through coordinated watershed planning and investments to restore and improve habitat by working with local citizens, tribes, technical experts and policy makers to make investments and leverage state and federal funding, and
WHEREAS, in a concurrent and complementary eff...

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