H-4429              _______________________________________________

                                                   HOUSE BILL NO. 1834

                        _______________________________________________

State of Washington                              50th Legislature                              1988 Regular Session

By Representatives Holland, Leonard, Lux, S. Wilson, Hine, Butterfield, May, Beck, Sutherland, Fuhrman, J. Williams, Cole and Patrick

Read first time 1/27/88 and referred to Committee on Natural Resources.

AN ACT Relating to the removal of accreted material from the mouth of the Cedar River; and creating a new section.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.     The department of natural resources, through the state of Washington, owns the beds of the navigable rivers and lakes.  From time to time, the rivers' sediment load carries downstream such quantities of silt that the stream flow cannot carry the silt to deep areas at the river mouths and the silt accumulates at the river mouths.  In the case of the Cedar River, silt has accumulated near the city of Renton to the point that it has formed a sandbar.

          The number of birds attracted to the sandbar has reached such a quantity that the birds pose a hazard to commercial and private aviation at the Renton airport which is immediately adjacent to the mouth of the Cedar River.  Further, the channel's depth at the commercial dock is now too shallow to permit the use of the oil spill containment boom.

          The legislature finds that the presence of the sandbar and the birds attracted to the sandbar present an immediate danger to navigation and human safety.  The department of natural resources shall work with federal agencies, local governments, and other state agencies to alter this sandbar immediately.