Chair Sarah Perry on Sept. 8 said the committee would consider an ordinance authorizing the executive to enter into interlocal agreements for watershed-based salmon recovery in three King County water resource inventory areas. The committee voted unanimously to forward the ordinance to the full council with a due-pass recommendation.

The motion matters because the three agreements — for WRIA 7 (Snoqualmie and South Fork Skykomish), WRIA 8 (Lake Washington/Cedar/Sammamish) and WRIA 9 (Green/Duwamish and Central Puget Sound) — set the governance, funding and membership rules for local watershed forums charged with developing and implementing salmon conservation plans.

Brandy Parabella, Council Central Policy staff, told the committee the draft agreements update membership rules, expand the kinds of eligible parties, and move some membership details out of the interlocal agreement into memoranda of understanding. She said changes of note include allowing state and local agencies and special purpose districts to be eligible members; expanding tribes and special-purpose districts as eligible members; and moving specific stakeholder lists and some term limits into an MOU to provide more flexibility. Parabella said the WRIA 7 table would change timing for county review of the service provider from annual to every other year beginning in 2027.

John (regional partnerships unit supervisor, Water and Land Resources Division) explained county staff reach out to affected tribes and that, for WRIA 7, two tribes are dues-paying members. Vice Chair Quinn welcomed explicit inclusion of tribes in the eligible-members definition and said tribal participation is “vital.”

Parabella also reported partner participation levels reported in the staff packet: 6 of 8 partners had approved the WRIA 7 agreement at publication of the staff report; 27 of 28 partners had passed or signed WRIA 8; and 10 of 17 jurisdictions had signed WRIA 9.

Vice Chair Quinn moved the ordinance with a due-pass recommendation; the roll call showed four ayes and zero nos. By the committee vote, the item will be forwarded to the full council and placed on the council consent agenda.

The ordinance and the revised interlocal agreement templates in the staff packet describe anticipated expenditures funded from surface-water management fees and grants, and include projections assuming a 3% annual increase. Parabella said executive staff do not anticipate future revenue shortfalls for the grant sources listed in the packet. The agreements retain provisions for how parties join and how funding and service-provider reviews are handled.

The committee did not adopt further amendments in committee; the matter now proceeds to the full council for final action.