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Home My WebLink AboutTIS 2021-11-08 Item 1D - Discussion - Draft Proposal for Surface Water Fund: Duwamish River Basin StewardCity of Tukwila Allan Ekberg, Mayor Prlbk Works 0Epartrnent - Harr Pcrrpekcwntr, Director/City Engineer INFORMATIONAL MEMORANDUM TO: Transportation and Infrastructure Services Committee FROM: Hari Ponnekanti, Public Works Director/City Engineer BY: Mike Perfetti, Surface Water Sr. Program Manager CC: Mayor Ekberg DATE: November 5, 2021 SUBJECT: Surface Water Fund — Duwamish River Basin Steward Draft Proposal for a Duwamish Basin Steward ISSUE To bring forward a draft proposal for the City to be party to an interlocal agreement supporting a new Duwamish Basin Steward position. BACKGROUND King County's Basin Stewards are a team of professionals knowledgeable about community and natural resources in specific King County watersheds. They work with communities to steward natural resources, protect and restore habitat and coordinate volunteer efforts. DISCUSSION The Duwamish Basin Steward would work to develop and implement Chinook salmon habitat restoration projects in the Duwamish River in coordination with tribes, landowners, local jurisdictions, agencies and non-profit partners. The position would support efforts to acquire property (fee or easement) and restore shallow water rearing habitat, leveraging available funding to maximize the environmental benefits. The steward would serve to coordinate partners and add to partner capacity toward common goals, communicate to the public about salmon recovery, and serve as a point person for Duwamish projects and planning efforts. Additionally, the steward would work to ensure the interests of underserved communities within the Duwamish Basin are represented in conservation and habitat restoration projects. FISCAL IMPACT The projected loaded cost of the Duwamish Basin Steward position, including a support budget, is $210,000. It is anticipated that Tukwila's annual contribution would be $26,000. For 2022, $10,000 of this position will funded by remaining budget in the WRIA 9 2021/2022 CIP and $15,000 from Surface Water Enterprise Fund. Starting in 2023, ongoing costs for this position will be included in the Surface Water budget process. ILA Partner Annual Contribution 2022 Contribution King Co. $79,000 $66,500 Seattle $79,000 $66,500 Tukwila $26,000 $26,000 Port of Seattle $26,000 $26,000 WRIA 9 $0 $25,000 Total $210,000 $210,000 RECOMMENDATION Discussion only. Attachments: King County Basin Stewards web page Duwamish Stewardship Proposal, July 2021 2021 CIP Page 81 49 King County Basin Stewards - King County https://kingcounty.gov/services/environment/watersheds/general-informa... kig King County King County Basin Stewards Water and Land Resources Division Who are the Basin Stewards? Greg Rabourn y �r 1'.• ,rr Judy Blanco Denise _Pi Sang Katie Beaver Gmer, ,rat L. c_ Judy Blanco 6•sam c,,r, Andrea Mojzak low, Snoqu A r, e Josh Kahan South Folk Skykatmh Denise Di Santo Uppn 5410pue m,e Snoqualmie River downstream of Snoqualmie Falls Andrea Mojzak, 206-263-7934 ................................ Snoqualmie River Forks, South Fork Skykomish River, Bear Creek Denise Di Santo, 206-263-0259 Cedar River, Issaquah Creek in unincorporated areas Judy Blanco, 206-263-8445 Middle Green River, White River in unincorporated areas Josh Kahan, 206-477-4721 Lower Green River Katie Beaver, 206-263-0951 �r- 50 1 of 3 10/26/2021, 3:15 PM King County Basin Stewards - King County https://kingcounty.gov/services/environment/watersheds/general-informa... Miller/Walker Creeks Stewardship jointly funded by King County, Burien, Normandy Park, SeaTac, and Port of Seattle. Matt Goehring, 206-263-6826 Vashon Island & Maury Island Greg Rabourn, 206-477-4805 For stewardship information regarding other parts of King County or to learn more about the overall basin stewardship program, contact Janne Kaje, Watershed Stewardship Program Manager at 206-477-4078. What is the Basin Steward Program? Basin Stewards are a team of Water and Land Resources (WLR) Division professionals knowledgeable about community and natural resources in specific King County watersheds. They use a number of approaches to work with landowners and other public agency officials to protect local habitats: • Responding to residents requests for information regarding stream basin health and conditions. • Providing direct "on -the -ground" technical service to rural community members to improve and protect watersheds, streams, and rivers. • Building relationships with community members that make construction of restoration and other capital projects possible. • Working closely with community members and staff from other public agencies to implement WRIA and other conservation plans by coordinating and obtaining grant funding for important habitat protection and restoration projects. How the Stewards can help you: Stewardship The Basin Stewards work with residents to answer questions about best management practices, regulations, wildlife concerns, land conservation, habitat restoration, and water quality concerns. Habitat protection and restoration The Basin Stewards work with residents and technical staff to develop and implement priority habitat protection and restoration projects in critical habitat areas along our rivers and streams. They can help streamside landowners identify resources including funding for habitat protection. Volunteer opportunities The Basin Stewards work with other County staff to coordinate volunteer efforts to restore streamside habitat areas. • Sign-up for volunteer announcements 51 2 of 3 10/26/2021, 3:15 PM King County Basin Stewards - King County https://kingcounty.gov/services/environment/watersheds/general-informa... [Enter email address Subscribe Get in touch with your WLR Basin Steward. They are there for you! • Let the WLR Division know if you have an idea that might improve or protect surface water resources near your home • Learn about volunteer opportunities in your watershed • Learn about ways to protect habitat Related information • King County watersheds map • King County environment Related agencies • Department of Natural Resources and Parks .................................................................................................................................................................. • Water and Land Resources Division • Parks and Recreation Division Last Updated October 23, 2020 52 3 of 3 10/26/2021, 3:15 PM Duwamish Stewardship Proposal July 20, 2021 Duwamish Stewardship Gap The Green/Duwamish and Central Puget Sound Watershed (WRIA 9) includes five distinct geographic sub watersheds: Upper Green, Middle Green, Lower Green, Duwamish, and Vashon/Maury Island. King County basin stewards currently serve the Middle Green basin, Lower Green basin, Vashon/Maury Island, and a subbasin—Miller/Walker Creek (See Figure 1). Stewards are not working in the Upper Green or the Duwamish River. This request focuses on the Duwamish as a priority. The Duwamish River—the lowest eleven miles of the Green/Duwamish River watershed-- lies mainly within incorporated areas. The Duwamish basin is unique in many ways, including its critical transitionary role for juvenile salmon adapting to salt water conditions; its mostly industrial land use; history of contamination and ongoing clean-up efforts; its diverse and historically marginalized communities; and unique challenges for habitat enhancement or creation because of extensive urbanization. Stewards' duties vary from basin to basin, and can include planning and prioritizing open space acquisitions and habitat restoration projects, coordinating with local jurisdictions and non-profit partners, pursuing grants and other restoration funding sources, coordinating community science and monitoring efforts, and engaging the public both to convey and receive input on priority work. These roles are critical for advancing salmon recovery in the watershed. Without a Duwamish Basin Steward, opportunities for land acquisition and habitat restoration have been left untended and have been lost to development of incompatible uses. Currently, there is no coordinated approach to salmon recovery and project implementation in the Duwamish basin beyond the watershed -wide work of the WRIA 9 team. While the WRIA 9 team can support and help fund projects, the WRIA 9 team is not designed to drive project development and implementation without both willing landowners and engaged project sponsors'. Because of the complex and unique nature of the basin, the stewardship duties cannot simply be added to an existing steward's workload. Despite the work of multiple entities implementing habitat related improvements in the Duwamish (i.e., Seattle, Tukwila, Port of Seattle), there is no one entity focused on coordination and collaboration to leverage efforts to maximize ecological lift. Given the collective investment projected within the watershed over the next decade, a steward would help maximize the opportunities and benefits to the watershed. Role of Duwamish Basin Steward The Duwamish Basin Steward would develop and implement Chinook salmon habitat restoration projects in the lower eleven miles of the Green-Duwamish River in coordination with tribes, willing landowners, the local jurisdictions, the Port of Seattle, Boeing, WRIA 9, and non-profit partners. Salmon recovery priorities in the Duwamish include enhancing juvenile salmon rearing and off -channel refuge 1 Project sponsors initiate projects and manage to completion all aspects of project development and implementation, including communication and coordination of stakeholders, strategic phasing and sequencing, and grant writing and funding strategy development. 53 habitat, removing bank armor when feasible, adding large wood, and planting native riparian vegetation. The position would help support efforts to acquire property (fee or easement)2 and restore shallow water rearing habitat, leveraging available funding to maximize the environmental benefits of both NRDA-driven habitat projects and locally sponsored, plan driven projects. Additionally, a steward could work with private business to promote creative solutions for stormwater management, riparian restoration, and conservation easement options. The Duwamish Basin Steward would also serve to coordinate partners and add to partner capacity toward common goals, communicate to the public about salmon recovery, and serve as a point person for Duwamish projects and planning efforts. Additionally, the steward would work to ensure the interests of underserved communities within the Duwamish Basin are represented in conservation and habitat restoration projects. Duwamish Steward Position Description The Duwamish Basin Steward would identify opportunities to protect and restore habitat along the Duwamish River and its associated tributaries, working collaboratively with key partners and engaging with the community. The ideal candidate would have excellent communication skills, be politically savvy, and comfortable working with a wide variety of stakeholders including businesses and federal partners. Job duties would include: - Coordinate salmon recovery and habitat protection in the Duwamish with key salmon recovery partners, working to implement the Duwamish Blueprint, the WRIA 9 Salmon Habitat Plan, SCAP, WQBE and other County priorities - Coordinate with diverse partners to achieve common goals including acquisition, riparian restoration, noxious weed management, shallow water habitat creation, stormwater solutions, and clean-up of legacy contamination - Support open space preservation and capital project priorities in partnership with jurisdictions Identify funding sources and write grants for acquisition, revegetation, and habitat restoration - Focus on equity and social justice and work closely with the City of Seattle and Duwamish community to advance equity through their Duwamish Valley Action Plan, with Port of Seattle through their Duwamish Valley Community Equity Program, and the City of Tukwila's Equity Policy Serve as point person for Duwamish-related planning efforts and priorities as they arise - Manage and track restoration projects and environmental monitoring efforts occurring throughout the basin with the goal of increased coordination across multiple partners Help identify efficiencies in permitting and partnerships, especially where restoration is multi - jurisdictional - Accelerate riparian revegetation work in the Duwamish and its tributaries - Work with business and residential landowners to take voluntary action along their shoreline, including riparian planting and stormwater retrofits Build relationships with community groups actively engaging underserved communities in the service area Proposed Geographic Scope of Work: 2 Property would not be held by King County in incorporated areas. 54 The Duwamish Basin Steward position would focus on the Duwamish basin, highlighted in yellow in Figure 1. The position would work on the lower eleven miles of the Green-Duwamish River and the Duwamish tributaries. King County has a related interest in bringing stewardship capacity to its urban unincorporated areas of North Highline and Skyway, focused on property acquisition and habitat restoration. If the scope of this position were to include those responsibilities, an expanded geographic scope is shown below in dark blue. I Greg Rabou Duwamish River Basin MiIIer/walkel Bas1n Katie Beaver North Highline & Skyway unincorporated areas Josh Kahan Figure 1. Proposed geographic extent of Duwamish Steward position Key Partners and Programs ...rosy..` Considering the nature of the basin, the Duwamish Steward position must work closely and collaboratively with many partners. Key Duwamish basin partners include: City of Seattle, City of Tukwila, King County, WRIA 9, Port of Seattle, Boeing, business and residential landowners, tribes, and non-profit groups (e.g. DRCC, ECOSS, Duwamish Alive Coalition, Puget Soundkeeper, EarthCorps). Lo In addition to working collaboratively with basin partners, the Steward position would be knowledgeable of Duwamish programs, plans, and initiatives including: • Duwamish Blueprint, WRIA 9 • Salmon Habitat Plan, WRIA 9 55 • Re -Green the Green Revegetation Strategy, WRIA 9 • Duwamish Valley Action Plan, City of Seattle • Lower Duwamish Waterway Group efforts • Lower Duwamish River Habitat Restoration Plan, Port of Seattle • Lower Duwamish River NRDA Restoration Plan, NOAA • Our Green/Duwamish Implementation Plan • RainWise and stormwater retrofit efforts, King County & City of Seattle • North Highline (White Center) Subarea Plan, King County Local Services • King County Land Conservation Initiative, Strategic Climate Action Plan, and the Clean Water and Healthy Habitat Strategic Plan Funding The fully loaded cost of a King County basin steward is approximately $185,000 per year.' Including an additional $25,000 per year for consultant support and monitoring, the funding need is approximately $210,000. Funding for on the ground implementation (e.g., restoration or acquisition) will need to be supported through multiple other fund sources and grants. The Duwamish Steward position, like the Lower Green and Miller/Walker stewards, would most likely be funded through a combination of partners. The following scenarios include cost -shares among the three jurisdictions and Port of Seattle. In addition to these funding partners, there is potential to seek start-up funding from other partners including WRIA 9, South Central Local Integrating Organization (LIO), Boeing, and Vulcan. Option 1: Even Split Option 2: Geographic Weighting, based on geographic area within the Duwamish Basin (Figure 2) This scenario double -counts area owned by Port of Seattle. An alternative approach is to come up with a contribution for Port of Seattle and subtract from the other partners. The Port of Seattle's tax district extends throughout the basin. Geographic weighting Annual Contribution City of Seattle $ 52,500 City of Tukwila $ 52,500 King County $ 52,500 Port of Seattle $ 52,500 TOTAL $ 210,000 Option 2: Geographic Weighting, based on geographic area within the Duwamish Basin (Figure 2) This scenario double -counts area owned by Port of Seattle. An alternative approach is to come up with a contribution for Port of Seattle and subtract from the other partners. The Port of Seattle's tax district extends throughout the basin. Geographic weighting Acres Percent of total area Annual Contribution City of Seattle 7,810 49.06% $ 103,027.83 City of Tukwila 3,096 19.45% $ 40,841.76 King County 4,099 25.75% $ 54,073.12 3 Assumes Project/Program Manager III, plus benefits and overhead. 56 Port of Seattle TOTAL 914 5.74% $ 12,057.29 $210,000 Option 3: Split by Work Plan Cost share allocations would be based on each partner's interaction with various parts of a proposed work plan. Below is a representation of a potential work plan split that includes general program coordination (A) and three geographic sub -areas (B, C, D). Under this funding model, we assume that King County will be solely responsible for funding the work program within the unincorporated urban area (North Highline and Skyway). All other percentages will need to be developed jointly with partners. Next Steps King County has convened several meetings with the proposed cost share partners. All partners have expressed interest in establishing a Duwamish Basin Steward; however, a final cost share allocation needs to be agreed to by partners. King County will be convening partners in late July/early August to evaluate potential cost share allocations. Once partners agree to an allocation formula, a formal ILA will need to be executed. As with most other ILAs for watershed services, annual inflationary adjustments will be built in to the agreement. The ILA can also include provisions for adding additional partners in the future. For example, Burien and SeaTac combined represent approximately 7% of the Duwamish Basin. 57 Work program elements All work plan (A%) Unincorporated Urban (B%) Lower Duwamish (C%) Upper Duwamish (D%) % contribution of total Annual Contribution City of Seattle % % % City of %Tukwila King County % 100% % % Port of Seattle % 100% $210,000 Next Steps King County has convened several meetings with the proposed cost share partners. All partners have expressed interest in establishing a Duwamish Basin Steward; however, a final cost share allocation needs to be agreed to by partners. King County will be convening partners in late July/early August to evaluate potential cost share allocations. Once partners agree to an allocation formula, a formal ILA will need to be executed. As with most other ILAs for watershed services, annual inflationary adjustments will be built in to the agreement. The ILA can also include provisions for adding additional partners in the future. For example, Burien and SeaTac combined represent approximately 7% of the Duwamish Basin. 57 Duwamish Subbasin Discussion Map Duwarnish-Subbasin Duwana is h_Su bbasi n+un Inco rp c r ate d Duwamish Subbasin Jurisdictions -Sullen King COun' Renton - SeaTac Seattle Tukwila Jurisdiction Renton 5eaTac Buri en Tukwila King County Seattle Totals Acres 42 372 856 3,096 4,099 7,810 16,275 0% 2% 0!6 2% 5% 19% 25% 48% Figure 2. Geographic distribution of proposed steward territory by jurisdiction 58 CITY OF TUKWILA CAPITAL PROJECT SUMMARY 2021 to 2026 PROJECT: WRIA 9 Watershed Planning Project No. 91641205 DESCRIPTION: City participation in an Interlocal Agreement with WRIA 9 jurisdictions and administered by King County. Endangered Species Act (ESA) related project. Services provided by King County Dept. of Natural JUSTIFICATION: Resources (KCDNRP) under an Interlocal agreement between participating jurisdictions in Water Resource Inventory Area 9 (WRIA 9) and King County. STATUS: Interlocal Agreement has been adopted by all cities with an extension through 2025. MAINT. IMPACT: Policies and recommendations will impact maintenance. COMMENT: Ongoing project, only one year actuals are shown in the first column. FINANCIAL Through Estimated (in $000's) 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 BEYOND TOTAL EXPENSES Design 13 20 20 21 21 21 22 23 23 184 Land (R/W) 0 Const. Mgmt. 0 Construction 0 TOTAL EXPENSES 13 20 20 21 21 21 22 23 23 184 FUND SOURCES King Conservation District 13 14 14 15 15 16 16 103 Proposed Grant 0 Mitigation Actual 0 Mitigation Expected 0 City Oper. Revenue 13 20 7 7 7 6 7 7 7 81 TOTAL SOURCES 13 20 20 21 21 21 22 23 23 184 Project Location: Entire System 2021 - 2026 Capital Improvement Program 81 59