2021-01-11-minutes-public-works-study-session

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Support capital funding for Floodplains by Design It has also been a time when more and more families find solace in the outdoors. Floodplains by Design has created or improved 25 public areas where Washingtonians and visitors can go to find respite and renewal in nature — creating more opportunities for improving not just physical resilience, but spiritual resilience as well. It's clear that now, more than ever, it is time to invest in Washington's people and natural places. Floodplains by Design supports cultural, ecosystem and economic well-being — since 2013, it has created 2,755 new jobs across Washington, supporting 45 watershed -scale projects in 16 counties. Scientists find fish in the newly built restoration sites, farmers see another year they can farm, and many people are proud to have jobs that contribute to a State they love. By working toward the goals held by diverse people in a community and by working at a landscape scale, communities are coming together to shape their own future — one in which they are more resilient to the impacts of climate change, including abnormally destructive floods, mudslides and extreme storms. A record of results From the Olympic Peninsula to the Palouse, and Bellingham to Vancouver, Floodplains by Design projects have improved outcomes for flood risk reduction, working lands and fish and wildlife habitat along 15 major rivers. Flood managers, tribal nations, farmers and community organizations are developing clear plans for how to solve their community problems. This is much -deeded work. As communities work together more closely and link funding sources, staff resources, and previously disconnected plans — a path forward is ever increasingly emerging. Because communities are seeing actual results that matter, resources better leveraged, and time spent more efficiently, the program continues to grow as a trusted tool that can respond to creative solutions brought forward by local collaborations. More than half the 7,217 acres of floodplains FbD projects have reconnected since the program began is the result of work that was funded in the 2019-21 biennium, when the Legislature appropriated $50.4 million for the program — its highest appropriation yet. Floodplains by Design is poised to rapidly scale up multiple -benefit results in communities across Washington with increased public investment. Time to Invest We ask for your support for $70 million in capital funding for Ecology to incentivize collaboration on flood risk reduction, salmon recovery and working lands protection and enhancement through its Floodplains by Design program. With a capital investment of $70 million, Floodplains by Design projects in the 2021-23 biennium would leverage another $91 million in funding from other sources, resulting in $161 million in support for getting Washingtonians back to work. This investment will also increase our collective climate resilience, reducing risk, protecting land and water and restoring habitat and — perhaps most importantly — fueling the hope and hard collaborative work represented in the suite of projects that are ready to go. Thank you. Respectfully, filc:lllkitnt1privatelpworks_privlmark.cookl2021%20FbD/Support%20capital%20funding%20for%20Floodplains%20by%20Dcsign.html[1/512021 8:13:38 AM]