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Proposed move to DNR stream typing would change riparian buffer widths in parts of Whitman County
Summary
Consultants recommended replacing the county's numeric stream type system with the DNR Type F/N system and using site‑potential tree height methodology; the change would reduce many buffers to roughly 180 ft or a 100‑ft non‑forested minimum and includes an 'alternative pathway' for site‑specific adjustments.
Planning Commission members were briefed on a proposed overhaul of riparian habitat standards that would replace Whitman County's older numeric stream‑type system with the Washington State DNR Type F (fish) / Type N (non‑fish) classification and apply site‑potential tree height (SPTH) methods to set buffer widths in forested areas. Consultant Dan Nickel said the method reduces many existing buffers to about 180 feet for streams where SPTH data exist, while establishing a 100‑foot minimum buffer where riparian tree cover is absent.
Nickel said the approach follows Department of Fish and Wildlife methodology and that the county has discussed it with WDFW. He noted an alternative pathway that would allow applicants to use site‑specific data and WDFW/SPTH resources to justify narrower buffers in certain dryland shrub‑steppe conditions. Commissioners expressed concern about relying solely on state databases (one commissioner recalled Palouse Prairie listings had been omitted historically), and staff said the CAO retains a nomination path for locally important habitats that WDFW may not have catalogued.
Commissioners did not adopt any changes at the workshop; they asked staff to provide redline language and additional mapping so the Commission can examine buffer calculations with the SPTH data before the public hearing.
