title
AN ORDINANCE authorizing the executive to enter into an agreement with the United States Army Corps of Engineers to implement Phase I of the preconstruction engineering and design portion of the Green/Duwamish river ecosystem restoration project, and declaring an emergency.
body
STATEMENT OF FACTS:
The King County council has determined that:
1. The Green/Duwamish river watershed ("watershed") in King County is an invaluable natural resource that is home to many fish and wildlife species, including Chinook salmon and bull trout, recently listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Degradation of the watershed, due to urbanization, physical alterations, and other factors, is of concern to citizens, interest groups and governments sharing jurisdiction in or with a major interest in the watershed.
2. In recent years, governments with jurisdiction or interests in the watershed, with input and participation from other interested parties, have initiated significant cooperative efforts to evaluate habitat restoration needs in the watershed. Of particular note among these efforts is the multiphase Green/Duwamish river ecosystem restoration project ("ERP"), undertaken jointly among the United States Army Corps of Engineers ("USACE"), King County, and other jurisdictions in Water Resource Inventory Area ("WRIA") 9.
3. In 1998, through an interlocal agreement, jurisdictions in the watershed provided the required local sponsorship share for the ERP feasibility study. A primary product of this study, completed in 2000, was the identification of forty-five sites in the watershed with high potential for habitat restoration. An environmental impact statement, completed in 2000, addressed potential effects of implementing the ERP.
4. The USACE, King County, and other WRIA 9 jurisdictions intend to initiate the next phase of the ERP to prepare designs and environmental documents for the restoration sites. This work will be completed through a ser...

Click here for full text