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WASHINGTON
The Washington State Nonpoint Source Pollution Management Program
identifies high priority watersheds, programs that need to be developed, and
specific implementation actions to protect or control nonpoint sources of water
pollution. Using section 319 funds, Washington State has been able to organize
an exemplary cooperative watershed-based forest management program balancing
industry needs with water quality concerns.
Consensus and Cooperation Protect Forest Resources
An innovative coalition in central Washington State has taken on a
challenge to manage and protect resources on - forest lands while still
maintaining a viable forest products industry. This coalition--the Yakima
Resource Management Cooperative (YRMC)is a voluntary group of forest
landowners, government agencies, environmental groups, and the Yakima Indian
Nation that has proven to be a model in using consensus and cooperative
planning to improve water quality.
In 1990, the YMRC Water Quality and Fisheries Technical Committee
identified fine sediment from forest practices as the major threat to the
area's water quality. Committee members began a sediment monitoring program to
identify streams with the greatest sediment problems. The committee developed
standards, based on amount of sediment, to determine which streams needed
watching and which needed immediate attention.
The biggest single source of sediment came from logging roads, often due to
high road densities, poor location and design, or lack of maintenance. After
identifying the sources, the YMRC undertook activities to address the problems.
Over four years, $240,000 of section 319 funds has paid for technical support
staff to help correct the problems. Individual landowners paid for corrective
actions. Activities included reconstructing and improving roads, abandoning
over 50 miles of road, adopting forest - practices to reduce sediment, and
using erosion control matting and slash filter windows. Other activities
included installing more frequent relief drains, constructing bridges to
replace culverts, replanting eroded sections of a creek, and relocating some
roads. In addition, a major timber harvest was modified to leave a wider stream
buffer, take a smaller percentage of trees, provide sediment traps, and
incorporate special treatments for landings and skid trails. Agreements were
also reached for more protective riparian buffers along upper Taneum Creek.
Together, these activities have reduced sediment delivery into streams, as
visual observation and monitoring have clearly shown.
Part of the section 319 funds have been used to provide ongoing training
for area loggers. Since 1993, more than 110 foresters and loggers have attended
workshops designed to familiarize them with new forest practices required under
state law, especially those needed to protect and preserve water quality and
wetlands. The YRMC's work has paid off. Major landowners who harvest timber in
the watershed have agreed to implement practices that go beyond their
requirements under the State Forest Practices Act. These landowners are not
only voluntarily adopting these extra practices, but in many cases they are
allowing these commitments to be written into the site-specific harvest plans
required by the state.
Currently, the YRMC is implementing a new three-year plan. This includes
watershed analysis to evaluate and identify other problems and implement
appropriate solutions.
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