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Committee hears update on Foster pilot; staff pursuing Parish Creek augmentation and regional mitigation with tribes and counties
Summary
Port Orchard staff said the Foster pilot requires in‑place mitigation including stream augmentation at Parish Creek, that tribal partners have proposed a regional mitigation plan including managed aquifer recharge, and that memoranda with local partners must be in place before Ecology will review a resubmitted application.
Port Orchard — City staff told the Port Orchard utilities committee May 12 that the Foster pilot remains under active development and that required in‑place mitigation will include stream augmentation at Parish Creek to increase production at Well 11.
Dennis Ryan, public works director, said the city is starting a preliminary survey and feasibility study and has contacted affected property owners about easements and compensation. He told the committee that "the tribes have reached out to the city and wanted to see if we are willing participant in a regional mitigation plan," and that one proposed approach is managed aquifer recharge, similar to a project cited in Yelm.
Ryan said staff will meet with Mason, Kitsap and Pierce counties and tribal partners to explore a regional plan; he emphasized that memoranda of understanding with local partners must be in place before Ecology will review the city's resubmitted mitigation application. He said being at the table with regional partners "are going to assist the city in our hopes of not having appeals."
A representative from the McCormick development, Greg Krabby, asked whether tribal participation in planning would count as mitigation. Staff responded that planning participation alone would not substitute for augmentation: "Not not in the planning itself...We're going to end up having to do uh some augmentation," staff said. Council members were told the city will brief council and executive session before any final mitigation commitments.
Ryan also reminded the committee that Foster has been a long process: staff characterized it as nearly a decade in the making and said the city expects to resubmit a draft mitigation plan this year but is not optimistic Foster will be fully wrapped up by 2027. City council will see memoranda and recommendations before staff makes any formal offers or finalizes mitigation agreements.
What's next: staff will continue feasibility work, negotiate easements as needed, finalize memoranda of understanding with regional partners, and prepare a resubmitted mitigation plan for Ecology review.
