Thurston County wins grants, hires consultant to advance watershed and "net gain" framework

Thurston County commissioners on May 26 reviewed a package of grants and contracts intended to strengthen watershed planning and environmental monitoring, including a $489,000 Department of Commerce award to prototype a watershed-scale "net gain" framework and a proposed $200,000 contract (plus an optional $150,000 add-on) with Raw Strategic for an integrated water-resources framework.

Staff said the integrated-water-resources contract — $200,000 for a county-wide baseline assessment with an optional $150,000 for additional Nisqually watershed technical support — was selected through a recent competitive request-for-qualifications process and will fund program assessments, engagement activities, policy development and regional gaps analysis. ‘‘The work is part of the integrated water-resources framework,’’ a staff presenter said, noting the contract is grant-funded.

Separately, staff described the Department of Commerce grant to prototype a net-gain methodology that would measure whether projects deliver improvements in the functions and values of critical areas at a watershed scale, not merely prevent loss. Commissioners were told Thurston County expects to be among the first in the state to develop a formal net-gain framework; staff emphasized the county’s existing data and experience with the voluntary stewardship program as reasons Thurston is well positioned to pilot the effort.

The Commerce grant involves two board actions: acceptance of roughly $489,000 and an interlocal agreement to pass $275,000 to the Thurston Conservation District as the county’s implementation partner; the remainder will fund county staff work to develop methodology and analyses. Commissioners asked for a board work session to unpack the framework and the metrics the county will use, and staff agreed to return with more detail.

If advanced, staff said the effort will focus on identifying data sources, analytical methodology and pilot indicators that could be scaled countywide. The proposed approach emphasizes prototyping the measurement method rather than presuming immediate project-level enforcement to achieve gains.

Next steps: staff will bring a board work session in the coming weeks with more detail on objectives, metrics, timelines and the interlocal agreement with the Thurston Conservation District.