Covington Water District is a special purpose district that constructs, owns, and operates numerous capital facilities, in addition to providing water to multiple jurisdictions, and is subject to a varying array of local, state and federal laws, regulations and ordinances.  Under some circumstances, implementation of the Endangered Species Act may conflict with these statues and pose significant challenges to the District’s ability to maintain compliance with these laws.  The expectation of statutory conflict is based on the fact that stringent application of the ESA regulations (e.g., critical habitat, indirect effects, and cumulative effects) has already resulted in national Marine Fisheries Services (NMFS) and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) imposing habitat and fishery protection standards.  These standards could significantly limit the ability to maintain existing facilities, construct new facilities, and meet existing statutory-based water and land use planning requirements and customer service obligations.

 Covington Water District conducts activities necessary to operate, maintain and replace water facilities in and adjacent to critical habitats, in which species that are “listed” as threatened or endangered occur.  These activities have the potential to conflict with conditions imposed by the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Consequently it is in the Districts best interest to develop the means to effectively maintain, operate and replace key facilities and infrastructure while protecting these critical habitats and “listed” species.

 District Resolution #3016 expresses the District policy to identify, prioritize and implement policies, procedures and practices to assure compliance with the Endangered Species Act.  Employees will take all steps necessary to identify and avoid any District action or inaction, which may result in an unlawful “take” of endangered or threatened species.

 Any maintenance, operations or replacement of existing facilities or installation of new facilities conducted in or near wetlands, riparian corridors, critical habitat areas, ecosystems, or other environmentally sensitive areas, shall be undertaken pursuant to the use of programs, policies and Best Management Practices identified through Best Available Technology.

 

ESA

The 1973 Endangered Species Act replaced earlier enacted laws, which provided for a list of endangered species but gave them little meaningful protection. The 1973 law has been reauthorized and amended on several occasions.  The purpose of the ESA is to conserve the ecosystems upon which endangered and threatened species depend, and to conserve and recover listed species.   It is regarded as one of the most comprehensive wildlife conservation laws in the world. The purpose of the ESA is to conserve “the ecosystems upon which endangered and threatened species depend” and to conserve and recover listed species

NMFS defines a population “as a group of fish of the same species spawning in a particular lake or stream

or portion thereof) at a particular season.  This group to a substantial degree does not interbreed with fish from any other group spawning in a different place or in the same place at a different season.”   Currently Puget Sound Chinook salmon and bull trout are listed as threatened species, and both are common in streams located within the Districts service area.

 A.     PUGET SOUND CHINOOK SALMON                 

Adult summer/fall Chinook migrate upstream from late June to mid November in the Green River.  Spawning typically occurs from early September through mid November.  The length of Chinook egg incubation varies depending on the location of the redd,

but is generally completed by the end of February.  Spawning occurs in the main channel of the Green River and in portions of Big Soos Creek.

         

In the Cedar River system, Chinook migrate upriver from early September through mid November.  Spawning occurs soon after entry into the river, with peak spawning occurring in mid October.  Fry emerge from the gravel from February through April.

 

                                        

B.      COASTAL-PUGET SOUND BULL TROUT 

 

The Green River and Cedar River are considered part of the Puget Sound bull trout distinct population segment which encompasses all Pacific coast drainage’s in Washington state north of the Columbia River.  Disease, predation, increased stream temperatures, and loss of habitats are factors that contributed to their threatened listing by USFWS.

Spawning in most bull trout populations occurs during the fall, mainly in September and October.  Eggs incubate and hatch in the late winter or early spring, Juvenile bull trout of anadroumous populations may remain in fresh water two to three years before migrating to the ocean

 

DISTRICT responsibilities

In developing this ESA response framework, it is recognized that while the district is “trying to do the right things” to protect habitat for listed species, it must also continue to operate within the existing legal constraints in serving its customers.  Specific activities can be divided into the following categories.

 

PUBLIC HEALTH and SAFETY

Activities include maintenance, operation, and construction activities, including system improvements required for protecting public health and safety of the customers or others potentially at risk by not upgrading existing facilities or continuing critical activities.

 

OPERATIONS REQUIRED by LAW

These activities include maintenance, operation, and replacement activities including system improvements required by law, statute, or regulation.  Including installation of new facilities capable of meeting new design standards established by statute or regulation.

 

ENVIRONMENTAL

Activities again include maintenance, operation and replacement activities, including system improvements required or necessary to protect the environment.

 

ADMINISTRATION

An essential element of the ESA compliance and risk reduction plan is assurance that the activities proposed to protect habitat are completed.  Other essential elements include:

 

ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT

As the recovery process of salmon is evolving and growing daily, actions required may need to be modified as knowledge gaps are filled over time.  Adaptive management will serve as a formalized process to ensure that new information will be incorporated into decisions and actions affecting salmon recovery.

 

DEFINITIONS

BASIN PLAN – a plan and all implementing regulations and procedures including but not limited to land use management adopted by ordinance for managing surface and storm water quality and quantity management facilities and features within individual sub-basins. 

BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES – Physical, structural, and/or managerial practices that when used singly or in combination, reduce the downstream quality and quantity impacts of storm water. 

BUFFER – zone contiguous with a sensitive area required to maintain function and structural stability of sensitive areas such as open bodies of water, wetland or steep slope.

BUILD-OUT – Condition of development where all land parcels are developed to their maximum potential per current zoning conditions. 

CHANNEL MIGRATION ZONE – the area where the active channel of a stream is prone to move and which represents a potential near-term loss of riparian habitat adjacent to a stream. 

CLEAN WATER ACT OF 1972 – This act regulates discharges of pollutants to the surface and ground waters of the United States.  These regulations are applied through a number of sections of this Act, including Section 404, which regulates the discharge of dredge, and fill materials into waters of the U.S.  It also authorized the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES), which regulates the discharge of pollutants into waters of the U.S. and primarily point discharges, including development related storm water discharges. 

Maintenance, repair and/or construction activities on District facilities that cross or abut stream and wetland habitats or require excavation and placement of backfill material in aquatic habitats will require a Section 404 permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

 CONVEYANCE SYSTEM – The drainage facilities, both natural and man-made, which collect, contain and provide for the flow of sanitary sewage, and storm and surface water from the highest points on the land down to the receiving waters or receiving treatment facility.  The natural elements of storm water conveyance system include swales and small drainage courses, streams, creeks, rivers, lakes and wetlands.  The man-made elements of conveyance systems include gutters, ditches, pipes, channels, and retention/detention facilities. 

CULVERTS – Relatively short segments of pipe of circular, elliptical, rectangular or arch cross section that are usually placed under road embankments to convey surface water flow safely under the embankment.  Culverts may be used to convey flow from constructed or natural channels, including streams.

CURED-IN-PLACE PIPE (CIPP) – Method of repairing existing pipe by inverting a resin impregnated flexible tube into an existing line using hydrostatic head or air pressure.  The resin is then cured using heat to form a new pipe inside the host pipe.

DETENTION POND – A pond that provides temporary storage for increased surface water runoff resulting from development.  A detention pond can be used to collect and hold surface water and/or storm water runoff while the discharge is regulated to the approved design flow rate.

DETERMINATION OF NON-SIGNIFICANCE – The written decision by the responsible official of the lead agency that a proposal is not likely to have a significant adverse impact, and therefore and Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is not required.

DEWATERING – Construction practice of removing groundwater from a construction site to allow project improvements to be installed in a relatively dry excavation. groundwater is typically removed by well points, deep wells, or sump pumps dropped into open excavation.

DRAINAGE BASIN – A geographic and hydrologic sub-unit of a watershed.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT – A document that discussed the likely significant adverse impacts of a proposal and proposes methods to lessen the impacts.  The document also describes alternatives to the proposal.  Environmental impact statements are required by the National and State Environmental Policy Acts when projects are determined to have significant environmental impacts.

 

EROSION and SEDIMENT CONTROL – Any temporary or permanent measures taken to reduce erosion, control siltation and sedimentation, and ensure that sediment-laden water does not leave a site.

FORCE MAIN – Pressurized pipes used to convey sewage from lift stations to gravity sewers.

GROWTH MANAGEMENT ACT – The purpose of the GMA is to avoid the possibility of uncoordinated and unplanned growth inherent in these population increases. Uncontrolled growth and a lack of common goals expressing the public's interest in the conservation and wise use of our lands were seen by the state legislature as threats to the state's environment, sustainable economic development, and the health, safety, and high quality of life enjoyed by its residents. The GMA was intended to protect the public's interest by requiring county and city governments to adopt locally-derived plans and regulations around a basic framework of natural resources issues defined by the state legislature.

It requires special purpose districts, cities, and county utilities to plan and prepare capital facility plans that are consistent with and support population and planning assumptions, critical area protection standards, and development policies contained within the comprehensive land use plans of general purpose local governments. 

GULLY – A channel caused by the concentrated flow of surface and storm water runoff over unprotected erodible land.

HARM – any significant habitat modification that actually kills or injures an individual or the species by impairing essential behavioral patterns including, breeding, spawning, rearing, migrating, feeding or sheltering.

HEAVY RAIN STORM – 0.5 inches of rain within a 24-hour period.

IMPERVIOUS SURFACE – A hard surface that prevents or retards the entry of water into the soil mantle.  Common impervious surfaces include, but are not limited to; roof tops, walkways, patios, driveways, parking lots, or storage areas, concrete or asphalt paving, gravel roads, packed earthen materials, and oiled macadam or other surfaces which similarly impede the natural infiltration of surface and storm water runoff.

MITIGATION – Any of the following actions based on SEPA rules, WAC 197-11-768:

• Avoiding the impact altogether by not taking a certain action or parts of an action: or

• Minimizing impacts by limiting the degree or magnitude of the action and its implementation, by using appropriate technology, or by taking affirmative steps to avoid or reduce impacts; or

• Rectifying the impact by repairing, rehabilitating, or restoring the affected sensitive area; or

• Reducing or eliminating the impact over time by preserving or maintenance operations during the life of the development proposal; or

• Compensating to the impact by replacing, enhancing, or providing substitute sensitive areas.

 

NATIONAL POLLUTION DISCHARGE ELIMINATION SYSTEM (NPDES) – The part of the federal Clean Water Act that requires point source discharges to obtain permits.  These permits are referred to as NPDES Permits and are administered by the Washington Department of Ecology. 

POTHOLING – The process by exposing a buried facility by using an excavator or a vactor truck’s high pressure water sprayer and vacuum suction line to remove the pavement, soil and bedding from around the facility.

PROPERLY FUNCTIONING CONDITION (PFC) – as the sustained presence of natural habitat forming processes (hydraulic runoff, bedload transport, channel migration, riparian vegetation sequence) that are necessary for the long-term survival and recovery of the species.

PUBLIC WATER SYSTEM COORDINATION ACT – Public water systems operating within the boundaries of a critical water supply service area are required to prepare water system plans.  A critical water supply area is defined as a geographical area that is characterized by a proliferation of small inadequate systems, or water supply problems that threaten the present or future quality or reliability of service. This threat is in such a manner that orderly development may best be achieved through coordination of water utilities in the area.  The plans describe the water system’s service area, capital facilities, coordination with local land use agencies and adjacent utilities, water right status, conservation measures and system efficiencies.

RARE, THREATENED, or ENDANGERED SPECIES – Plant or animal species that are regionally relatively uncommon, are nearing endangered status, or whose existence is in immediate jeopardy and is usually restricted to highly specific habitats.  Threatened and endangered species are officially listed by federal and state authorities, whereas rare species are unofficial species of concern that fit the above definitions.

RILL – A small intermittent watercourse with steep sides, usually only a few inches deep.  Often rills are caused by an increase in surface water flow when soil is cleared of vegetation.

RIPARIAN AREA – pertaining to the banks of streams, lakes or tidewater buffer areas.

SEDIMENT – Fragmented material that originates from weathering and erosion of rocks or unconsolidated deposits, and is transported by, suspended in, or deposited by water.

SENSITIVE AREA – are requiring special consideration and protection (streams, wetlands, tidelands, steep slopes, erosion hazards, and coal mine hazards). 

SERVICES – refers to the National Marine Fisheries Services (NMFS) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS).

SHEETFLOW – Runoff which flows over the ground surface as a thin, even layer, not concentrated in a channel.

SOIL FREEZING – is a method of construction that minimizes the need for dewatering and extra shoring requirements.  Process involves drilling holes into the ground in a bowl shape around the area to be excavated, inserting self-contained tubes into the holes, and then circulating super cooled fluid through the tubes in order to freeze the ground.

STATE ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT – The Washington State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) requires state and local governments, including special purpose districts, to undertake an analysis of the environmental impacts of project proposals.  Where impacts are found to be significant and adverse, entities engaged in SEPA reviews must assess reasonable alternatives to such actions and provide for public review and comment.  As a matter of law and science, ESA may require the District to apply new, more stringent standards in their environmental review of projects.

STEEP SLOPE – slopes of 40% or greater. 

SUBBASIN – A drainage area which drains to a water course or waterbody named and noted on common maps and which is contained within a basin.

TAKE – is the harassing, harming, wounding or killing an individual of the species.

TRENCHLESS CONSTRUCTION – methods of construction that requires limited or no ground excavation.

WATER QUALITY STANDARDS – Minimum requirements of purity of water for various uses.  In Washington, the Department of Ecology sets water quality standards.

WETLANDS – Those areas that are inundated or saturated by ground or surface water at a frequency and duration sufficient to support, and that under normal circumstances do support, a prevalence of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions.  Wetlands generally include swamps, marshes, bogs and similar areas. 

WET SEASON – October 1 to May 15, or as defined by NMFS and USFWS. 

WDFW – refers to the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife.