BILL REQ. #: H-2090.1
State of Washington | 59th Legislature | 2005 Regular Session |
READ FIRST TIME 03/01/05.
WHEREAS, The legislature recognizes the critical importance of
providing and securing sufficient water and watershed health to meet
the needs of people, farms, and fish; and
WHEREAS, The legislature finds that an effective way to meet the
water needs of people, farms, and fish is through strategies developed
and implemented at the local watershed level; and
WHEREAS, Long-term sustainable and economically productive
watersheds are necessary for the well-being of the citizens of the
state of Washington; and
WHEREAS, In times of decreasing revenues and increasing demands, it
is critically important to ensure the efficient and effective use of
scarce financial resources by avoiding overlap and duplication of
effort among watershed-based planning and implementation efforts; and
WHEREAS, Thirty-seven local watershed planning areas, twenty-six
lead entity salmon groups, fourteen regional fisheries enhancement
groups, and five regional salmon recovery entities have been
successfully implementing projects and developing plans to improve
watershed health, recover salmon populations, and provide sufficient
water for residential, commercial, industrial, and agricultural needs
and productive fish populations; and
WHEREAS, Local salmon recovery groups have established an efficient
process for developing and prioritizing local salmon recovery projects
that are submitted to the salmon recovery funding board for funding
consideration; and
WHEREAS, Implementation of watershed plans and salmon recovery
plans must be coordinated with existing watershed projects, monitoring,
and other activities in a manner ensuring attainment of the state's
goals for watershed management as outlined in chapter 90.82 RCW and for
salmon recovery as outlined in chapter 77.85 RCW;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, By the House of Representatives of
the state of Washington, the Senate concurring, That the joint select
legislative task force on watershed management and salmon recovery is
established to evaluate and make recommendations to the legislature
regarding the implementation of watershed management and salmon
recovery plans; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the evaluation and recommendations of
the joint select legislative task force include:
(1) A review of the current status of local watershed and salmon
recovery plans and projects;
(2) A review of the current sources and uses of funding for
administration, planning, and project implementation;
(3) A review of the organizational structure and governance of the
regional recovery organizations and watershed level entities currently
preparing or implementing plans and projects;
(4) The development of recommendations for any changes, if
necessary, to current governance and organizational structures to
ensure efficient use of resources in attaining the state's goals for
watershed management as outlined in chapter 90.82 RCW and for salmon
recovery as outlined in chapter 77.85 RCW;
(5) The development of recommendations for new or existing sources
of funding for ongoing administration, projects, plan implementation,
and monitoring; and
(6) The development of recommendations for improving the allocation
of mitigation funding on a watershed basis, consistent with the state's
policies and programs of optimizing mitigation projects; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the joint select legislative task
force consists of the chair and ranking minority member of the house of
representatives economic development, agriculture, and trade committee;
the chair and ranking minority member of the house of representatives
natural resources, ecology, and parks committee; the chair and ranking
minority member of the house of representatives capital budget
committee; the chair and ranking minority member of the senate water,
energy, and environment committee; the chair and ranking minority
member of the senate natural resources, ocean, and recreation
committee; and the chair and ranking minority member of the senate ways
and means committee; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the task force gather information that
the task force considers appropriate for the evaluation of the next
steps needed to successfully implement actions identified in watershed
and salmon recovery plans; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That an advisory committee be established
to provide assistance to the task force, upon request of the task
force, that is limited to the specific scope and content requested by
the task force; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the advisory committee be composed of
the following members or their designees: The director of the
department of ecology; the director of the department of fish and
wildlife; the chair of the salmon recovery funding board; a
representative from the office of the governor; a representative from
a watershed planning group; a representative from a lead entity; a
representative from a regional salmon recovery group; a representative
of the regional fisheries enhancement groups; a representative from the
federal fisheries service; a representative from federally recognized
Indian tribes; a representative of counties; a representative of
cities; a representative of water purveyors; and a representative of
agriculture; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the advisory committee shall select a
chair from among its members for the purpose of conducting meetings and
transmitting information from the advisory committee as a group to the
joint select legislative task force; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That in developing its recommendations, the
joint select legislative task force may consult with the advisory
committee; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the joint select legislative task
force and the advisory committee shall use legislative facilities, and
staff support shall be provided by senate committee services and the
house of representatives office of program research; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the task force may invite staff from
the department of ecology, the office of the interagency committee for
outdoor recreation, and the department of fish and wildlife to provide
additional staff support for the joint select legislative task force
and the advisory committee; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That legislative members of the task force
shall be reimbursed for travel expenses in accordance with RCW
44.04.120. Nonlegislative members, except those representing an
employer or organization, are entitled to be reimbursed for travel
expenses in accordance with RCW 43.03.050 and 43.03.060; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the joint select legislative task
force be established by June 1, 2005, report its evaluations and
recommendations to the appropriate legislative committees by December
31, 2005, and expire January 1, 2006.