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State wildlife agency recommends wider, function-based riparian zones; Edmonds staff to study urban application
Summary
A Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife (WDFW) presentation urged Edmonds to adopt riparian management zones based on site-potential tree height or a 100-foot minimum for pollution removal; the planning board heard the guidance and asked staff how RMZs would be applied in urban areas and to existing developed lots.
The Edmonds Planning Board heard a presentation from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife on Sept. 24 that recommended replacing traditional DNR buffer categories with riparian management zones (RMZs) sized to provide full riparian functions. WDFW advised using the site-potential tree height at age 200 as the preferred RMZ width and, where that is infeasible, a minimum RMZ of 100 feet to support pollution removal functions.
WDFW presentation: Kara Whitaker, land-use conservation and policy section manager (WDFW), described the agency's 2020 "best available science" synthesis and riparian management recommendations. Whitaker said riparian functions important to water quality, bank stability, shade, wood input and…
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