Watershed Council

The Watershed Planning Act (RCW 90.82) relies on local communities to take responsibility for organizing watershed planning efforts. The initial purpose of the Planning Unit was to agree to a Watershed Management Plan that would assess the quantity and quality of water in the river basins, including recommendations for managing the water resources. The Planning Unit was then charged with developing a Detailed Implementation Plan (DIP). The DIP is intended to provide the details on how the Watershed Management Plan is to be implemented (i.e. who, what, how and when). Currently the Planning Unit is engaged in Phase 4 Implementation activities.

The Planning Unit is composed of three categories of members. Government members include the Initiating Governments as defined in Chapter 1, and other government organizations invited to participate as Government members by the Planning Unit. Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) Voting Members include those invited to join when the Planning Unit was initially formed, and those invited subsequently. Non-Voting Members are invited to participate in the discussions as members of the Planning Unit, but have no decision-making vote. Meetings are open to the public and are held on the second Tuesday of each month.

Meeting Minutes

Steering Committee

The Steering Committee of the WRIA 17 Planning Unit is a subcommittee of the initiating governments and a representative of the NGO members that works on administrative issues and makes recommendations to the full Planning Unit.

Meeting Minutes

Technical Committee

The Technical Committee provides a number of services to the Planning Unit including assembling information, reviewing technical work products of the Planning Unit, and making recommendations to the Planning Unit on future scientific work. The Technical Committee uses consensus agreement as a decision making tool.

The Steering and Technical Committees often meet as a combined group in joint meetings.

Meeting Minutes

Education and Outreach Committee

The Education and Outreach Committee is responsible for the quality of education and outreach activities sponsored by the Planning Unit. The membership is open to all members of the Planning Unit, their designees, or members of the public or other organizations as approved by the Planning Unit. This subcommittee meets as needed and makes recommendations to the Planning Unit on future education and outreach activities for the watershed.