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King Conservation District outlines farm plan process, cost‑share and data/privacy limits
Summary
The King Conservation District briefed the committee on farm conservation plans — how plans are written, typical timelines and cost‑share rules — and staff and councilmembers discussed barriers farmers face paying upfront costs and limits on county access to plans because of state privacy rules.
Jay Muro, senior resource planner at the King Conservation District (KCD), briefed the Local Services and Land Use Committee on May 21 about farm conservation plans and related KCD programs.
Muro said a typical farm plan begins with a site visit of two to three hours, and that producing a site‑specific plan often takes 15 to 30 staff hours and can run roughly 140 pages for complex properties. Plans describe natural resource inventories, site maps, recommended best management practices (BMPs), siting guidance for structures, and monitoring and implementation steps; KCD staff review the plan with the landowner before finalizing it.
KCD’s cost‑share program can reimburse 50%–100% of some practice costs depending on the practice; once approved, a landowner generally has 12 months to complete the work and submit receipts for reimbursement. Muro and other KCD staff said some mechanisms exist to lessen upfront capital barriers: KCD can pay contractors directly under an “assignment of payment” approach; projects can sometimes be staged to receive partial reimbursements; and district‑implemented projects can reduce the need for landowners to front full project costs.
Privacy and county access to plans: Muro told the committee there is a state privacy law that took effect in 2006 that limits sharing of farm plans without landowner consent. He said KCD submits to King County the farm plans that are tied to county approvals or programs (for example, farm plans connected to county permit approvals, PBRS enrollment or drainage assistance projects), but plans created solely as voluntary documents may not be shared unless the landowner authorizes it. On balance, Muro said many landowners decline wider public disclosure — “two thirds are a no” — so the county’s visibility into every farm plan is incomplete.
County oversight and monitoring: Committee members asked how the county monitors implementation of farm plans. Jim Chan, Permitting Division director, and Camille Beasley, environmental scientist, said the county currently conducts limited routine monitoring of plans unless there is a compliance complaint but that the proposed CAO update includes a public rule that will strengthen monitoring expectations and provide clearer implementation and inspection protocols for plans that carry regulatory allowances.
KCD described common practices it supports — buffer fencing, heavy‑use or confinement areas, manure storage and gutter/runoff management — and services including soil testing, tool loan programs and an Agricultural Drainage Assistance Program. Staff emphasized farm plans are tailored to landowner goals and property characteristics and that new managers taking on farmland often require a full new plan rather than a simple update.
No committee vote was taken; the session was a briefing and Q&A.
