2022-11-08-minutes-public-works-study-session

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The Honorable Jay Inslee Governor of Washington Office of the Governor P.O. Box 40002 Olympia, WA 98504-0002 November EARLY/MID MONTH, 2022 Dear Governor Inslee, Floodplains by Design • REDUCING RISK, RESTORING RIVERS Thank you for your continued support of Washington's natural resources and the communities that depend upon them. As you know, the Floodplains by Design program brings together a diverse array of partners to address some of the biggest challenges facing Washingtonians and our environment today — from increased flood risks, to declining salmon runs and polluted water, to deep-seated division and distrust. Pragmatic, long-term partnerships like those fostered by Floodplains by Design (FbD) are crucial to enabling a sustainable future for people and nature anywhere. Since 2013, FbD has been delivering results for conservation and communities across Washington — in urban, suburban, and rural areas alike. As collaborators in this public -private -tribal partnership, we respectfully request that you include $70.4 million in your 2023-25 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 work for almost a decade. As a voluntary program and collaborative partnership benefiting agriculture, salmon, flood protection and local economies, FbD grants have been in increasing demand each biennium. Grants have supported the restoration and protection of more than 70 miles of river, reduced flood risk for more than 3,000 homes and other structures and created more than 3,700jobs in 18 of Washington's counties. Floodplains by Design fosters the development of relationships and shared values, allowing diverse interest groups to work hand-in-hand at the scale these challenges require: considering all those who live, work, play and pray in a shared watershed. Rather than competing for limited resources, partners work together for long-lasting, holistic solutions to watershed -scale problems. Engagement is both broad and deep — with tribal nations, local governments, industry and agricultural stakeholders, environmental groups and others typically working together over several years to develop project proposals for the FbD grant program. • Fish and Farms We simply cannot be the generation to lose Washington's iconic salmon. Now, more than ever, is the time to invest in solutions that will help save our salmon — solutions that honor the generations of stewardship practiced by the farmers that feed our region alongside the wisdom of place garnered by Tribes over millennia. Floodplains by Design projects are proof that both farms and fish can benefit when we invest in long-term, cooperative partnerships that engage all residents along a river. Floodplains by Design has reconnected more than 7,900 acres of floodplain —critical habitat for chinook salmon — and improved more than 11,600 acres of working lands, including farmland, dairies, aquaculture sites and ranches.