Advocates, tribes and Thurston County officials push to form Deschutes Watershed Council after state review stalled

Thurston County Commissioner Ty Mentzer told the board May 21 that local stakeholders are reviving efforts to form a Deschutes Watershed Council after the Department of Ecology declined to adopt a previously negotiated plan.

Mentzer summarized the multi‑year effort: an earlier group called WREC drafted a watershed plan and recommended creating the Deschutes Watershed Council. He said the plan was submitted to Ecology in December, but Ecology did not adopt the group's unanimous recommendation to form a watershed council after the building industry withdrew support following late changes requested by the Squaxin Island Tribe.

Stakeholders who participated in the earlier process — including the City of Tumwater, the City of Olympia, the Squaxin Island Tribe and local estuary groups — have been meeting periodically for about three years to seek a path forward. Mentzer said the group has formed a subcommittee of five to six people to develop a specific proposal that will be considered by the larger group in about two months, and that the county can expect to see a formal proposal in the future.

Mentzer also mentioned a separate, related issue: the Scatter Creek local strategy, developed with consultants and stakeholders to advance stream health, water quality and quantity work, is expected to reach a final report in June. He asked stakeholders and the public to watch for that report.

No formal county action or vote was taken at the May 21 meeting on the watershed council proposal; Mentzer said the forthcoming subcommittee proposal will return to the broader group for consideration.