HomeMy WebLinkAboutSurface Water Work Session March 14 20171
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Whatcom County Council
Surface Water Work Session
March 14, 2017
CALL TO ORDER
Council Chair Barry Buchanan called the meeting to order at 10:30 a.m. in the Civic
Center Garden Level Conference Room, 322 Commercial Avenue, Bellingham, Washington.
ROLL CALL
Present: Barbara Brenner, Satpal Sidhu, Rud Browne, Barry Buchanan, Ken
Mann, Todd Donovan and Carl Weimer
Absent: None
SURFACE WATER WORK SESSION (AB2017 -024)
1. WATER PLANNING UPDATE
Gary Stoyka, Public Works Department, stated the last Planning Unit meeting was
February 22, and the next is March 22, when there will be a presentation on water use
efficiency and the results of Phase 2 and 3 of the groundwater modeling. Also, the City of
Bellingham representative will talk about middle fork diversion. Geneva consulting will
present an implementation strategy report.
The first meeting of the new Management Board is March 30. They are closing out
the account for the old Joint Board, and must identify a funding source for administrative
costs of the new Board. Staff is working with the Whatcom local integrating organization
(LIO) for the Puget Sound Partnership to do an ecosystem recovery plan that encompasses
all local efforts to recover Puget Sound under one document.
A supplemental budget has been approved for phase 4 of the groundwater model.
They are awaiting a Puget Sound Partnership grant for part of the cost. They are working
on ongoing monitoring of the groundwater modeling well network.
Stoyka answered questions on how they monitor all the creeks with the U.S.
Geological Survey (USGS) and on using new technology, when the County will receive the
Puget Sound Partnership grant, and average instream flow levels versus necessary instream
flow levels.
2. 2016 ANNUAL REPORT AND 2017 NPDES PLANNED ACTIVITIES
Surface Water Work Session, 3/14/2017, Page 1
1 Cathy Craver, Public Works Department, submitted and read from a presentation (on
2 fi /e) on the annual update for the national pollution discharge and elimination system
3 ( NPDES) permit. This report is open for public comment before being submitted to the
4 Department of Ecology. She answered questions on the frequency of tasks the County
5 must undertake as an NPDES permit holder; what triggers an area as being subject to the
6 permit; diverting plastics pollution; coordinating with the municipalities that are subject to
7 the permit; funding from the Birch Bay Watershed and Aquatic Resources Management
8 (BBWARM) District for construction and capital projects; staffing and contracts for catch
9 basin inspections; increased scheduling of sustainable landscape community classes;
10 whether large industrial facilities are subject to this permit; and lack of access on property
11 without an easement.
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13 Rob Ney, Public Works Department, answered questions on equipment purchases to
14 complete NPDES tasks and going beyond permit requirements to help people find solutions.
15 They want to identify the existing status of all infrastructure, including catch basins and
16 outfalls. Now they've moved on to the outfalls. Once they have a complete picture, the
17 Council will be involved in the decisions on programming and expenses.
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19 Craver continued the presentation on the final stretch of this permit cycle, which
20 ends at the end of 2018. She answered questions about the number of properties on Lake
21 Whatcom that have voluntarily implemented low impact development.
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23 Gary Stoyka, Public Works Department, stated one person on the lake went through
24 the homeowner incentive program.
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26 Craver concluded the presentation on the upcoming permit cycle.
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28 Councilmembers discussed other homeowners that have used the homeowner
29 incentive program, but not on the lakefront: what happens when plastic enters the system
30 and how to remove it before it reaches the ocean; micro plastics getting into the food chain;
31 and whether there are bacteria that can eat plastics.
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33 3. OVERVIEW OF WATER SUPPLY PLANNING ACTIVITIES
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35 Gary Stoyka, Public Works Department, submitted and read from a presentation (on
36 file). He answered questions on desalination, posting past studies on the watershed
37 management plan website, whether the Public Utility District (PUD) conducted out -of- stream
38 user plans for agricultural needs, and private water districts that can't provide infrastructure
39 and extend services.
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41 Steve Jilk, PUD #1, stated they applied to the State Department of Health to respond
42 to the State request to support the local water associations in meeting their capacities.
43 With the PUD's two -year grant, they are identifying water associations that are underwater
44 in infrastructure and future planning needs. In the last few months, they are also
45 responding to the Hirst Decision and helping people manage their resources. They've hired
46 a contractor to work cooperatively with water associations. They are also engaging County
Surface Water Work Session, 3/14/2017, Page 2
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flood staff to identify flood management projects to create off - stream storage and
potentially tie it to a nearby water association or irrigation district to augment water needs.
ADJOURN
The meeting adjourned at 12:01 p.m.
The Council approved these minutes on April 18, 2017.
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Jill Nixon, Minutes Transcription
WHATCOM COUNTY COUNCIL
WHATCOM COUNTY, WASHINGTON
*EB3y Ahanan, *Council ir
Surface Water Work Session, 3/14/2017, Page 3