Counties Join Forces for Shoreline Study

DAYTON - The Colum­bia County Board of Com­missioners Wednesday ap­proved a motion that would allow Columbia, Garfield and Asotin Counties to work together to complete their state-mandated Shore­line Master Programs. The cities of Starbuck and Clarkston are also likely to join the effort.

Each county and city in the state which has a waterway designated as a "shoreline of significance" - defined as a river, large lake or marine waterfront - must complete an SMP to meet the requirements of Washington's Shore­line Management Act. The studies, which are under­taken by private consulting firms, take between two and three years. Those in Southeast Washington must be completed by mid-2016.

Each of the government entities will receive fund­ing from the state depart­ment of Ecology, which oversees the Act, to com­plete their plan. The three counties will each receive $250,000. Dayton will receive $50,000 and Star­buck, $35,000.

According to county planning director Kim Ly­onnais, the commissioners in the other two counties also approved the joint effort. Clarkston has also signaled its intention to join. "It's likely we'll have close to $1 million for the combined study," he said.

The City of Dayton is considering signing on to the joint effort but, ac­cording to City Planning Director Karen Scharer, no decision has yet been made. "I'm studying the requirements right now," she said. "I plan to make a recommendation to the city council in September." Scharer said that if the city decides to conduct its own study, it will still hire an outside consultant.

Planning services for Starbuck are conducted by Lyonnais' office, and so its shoreline study will be included with that of the county. Lyonnais also said that the City of Pomeroy isn't required to have an SMP, since its only water­way, Pataha Creek, is not considered a significant shoreline.

Lyonnais said the group is expected to hire a con­sultant this fall to conduct the study. "Conducting one study for all of these counties makes much more sense," Lyonnais said, "since these shorelines have many features in com­mon."

A Shoreline Master Pro­gram is defined by the act as "a comprehensive use plan for a described area, and the use regulations, together with maps, dia­grams, charts or other de­scriptive material and text, a statement of desired goals and standards."

In Columbia County, significant shorelines in­clude the Snake River, the Tucannon River, the Touchet River, including its north and south forks, south of Dayton, and Wolf Fork Creek. Patit Creek is not considered a significant shoreline, according to Ly­onnais.

The study will look at many development issues near the rivers and streams, including building regula­tions, crop and livestock use, habitat enhancement, salmon recovery and public access.