Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Environment topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
City introduces Salmon Basins Plan to guide habitat, stormwater and land‑use planning
Summary
Lake Stevens staff and consultants introduced a watershed‑scale Salmon Basins Plan funded by the Department of Commerce under the Washington Climate Commitment Act; the GIS‑driven project will map existing conditions, prioritize restoration/preservation, and feed into the critical areas and comprehensive plan updates.
City staff and consultants presented the Salmon Basins Plan to the Lake Stevens City Council on Sept. 23 as a watershed‑based, GIS‑driven project intended to integrate fish habitat, water quality, stormwater and land‑use planning across jurisdictional boundaries.
Environmental Programs Manager Shannon Front said the project is funded through the Department of Commerce as part of the Washington Climate Commitment Act and will produce a GIS fish‑habitat model covering streams that flow into the city. Consultant Jen Schmidt of Herrera Environmental Consultants described the work program: compile and gap‑check existing data (riparian canopy, floodplains, water quality, equity), complete tree‑canopy mapping by year‑end, run modeling and produce draft model outputs in 2026, hold two public workshops to validate results, and finalize a plan with policy recommendations by fall 2026/2027.
The plan’s stated goals include prioritizing salmon habitat protection and restoration, meeting relevant state and federal regulatory requirements, reducing flood risk and informing comprehensive plan and stormwater updates. Staff emphasized tribal and agency coordination and an outreach approach that includes a public web map (with Spanish translation) for residents to submit local observations.
Council members asked how the basin plan would account for population growth, development and the pending critical areas ordinance update tied to state guidance on riparian buffers (including a riparian management zone approach discussed with the Department of Fish and Wildlife). Staff said the basin plan would explicitly examine planned development areas and help target mitigation or preservation actions so that buffer adjustments can be science‑based and balanced with growth goals.
Next steps: staff and consultants will complete tree‑canopy mapping and existing‑conditions mapping in 2025, begin modeling and stakeholder coordination in winter 2026, hold the first public workshop on draft existing conditions in early 2026, and return to council with preliminary mapping and recommendations.
