2020-10-26-minutes-public-works-study-session

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DRAFT FbD capital support sign -on letter: Governor's 2021-23 budget (Fall 2020) The Honorable Jay Inslee Governor of Washington Office of the Governor P.O. Box 40002 Olympia, WA 98504-0002 November 2, 2020 Dear Governor Inslee, Thank you for your support of Floodplains by Design, a popular, cost-effective public -private -tribal -agricultural partnership that delivers critical results for communities, conservation and Washington's urban and rural economies. We write today to respectfully request that you include $70 million in your 2021-23 biennial capital budget for Floodplains by Design. Administered by the Department of Ecology, Floodplains by Design has been supporting tribal nations, farmers, and flood managers across the State to transform how floodplains are managed since 2013. With $165 million in public funds appropriated by the Legislature since then, Floodplains by Design (FbD) projects funded between 2013 and the current biennium have leveraged $$XXXX [we are awaiting this #] from other sources. Local demand for this type of collaborative multi -benefit investment has only grown and become more sophisticated in its abilityto provide local results and leverage public investment. Among the 2021 FbD projects are broadly supported packages that protect farmland; restore estuaries; remove, improve or set back levees, improve agricultural drainage, reduce flood hazards, restore salmon and shellfish habitat, and more. These projects are the result of hard work by local governments, tribes, farmers, watershed groups, the conservation community, salmon recovery advocates and state and federal agencies to come together to craft creative and unique suites of actions that deliver reach and watershed scale change. They would create an estimated 1,169 jobs impacting at least 38 legislative districts throughout the state, many of which are currently experiencing nearly double-digit unemployment. Floodplains by Design projects reduce flood risk, restore salmon habitat, deliver vital resources in support of agriculture, increase access to public lands and outdoor recreation, and create local jobs. This funding is a tremendous investment opportunity. By prioritizing and rewarding collaborative, integrated decision-making, the State can reduce conflict in local communities and better spend limited public dollars. Investment in Floodplains by Design, paired with flood dollars, salmon and orca recovery investments and agricultural programs can begin to deliver results at a pace and scale demanded by growth, climate change and failing infrastructure. Washingtonians depend on healthy, livable, safe floodplains, and local communities need state support and incentives to better manage river systems in holistic way that builds community, economic and environmental resilience. At a time when Washington's iconic orca and the salmon they depend on are in peril, Floodplains by Design has reconnected more than 7,000 acres of floodplain — critical habitat for chinook salmon — and restored more than 50 miles of river. Climate change is increasing flows in our rivers by tens of percentage points and flood managers are working hard to reduce risk and protect public safety. Since 2013, Floodplains by Design projects have removed 434 homes and other structures from high-risk areas and reduced flood danger in 59 communities. Farmland in Washington state is disappearing at an alarming rate, increasing floodplain development pressures and associated flood risk. Floodplains by Design projects have protected more than