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Water and Land Resources Division (WLR), King County, Washington

2002 Accomplishments
Water and Land Resources Division

The mission of the Water and Land Resources Division is "to sustain healthy watersheds, protect wastewater systems, minimize flood hazards, protect public health and water quality, preserve open space, working farms and forests, ensure adequate water for people and fish, manage public drainage systems, and protect and restore habitats". Here are a few the projects, products, milestones, and other achievements we accomplished in carrying out our mission during 2002:

Removed 36 tons of hazardous chemicals from 275 King County schools through the Rehab the Lab program;

Completed a public review draft of the proposed Stormwater Ordinance and Surface Water Design Manual for the Critical Areas Ordinance;

Completed "fish-friendly" and innovative flood control projects on the Green River as part of the Green River Flood Control Zone District;

Completed 16 technical papers related to the marine outfall for the Brightwater Draft Environment Impact Statement;

Developed Best Available Science papers as documented support and background for the Critical Areas Ordinance;

Developed a public involvement strategy for the Critical Areas Ordinance;

Received $899,000 of FEMA funds for property acquisition related to the Nisqually earthquake, the significance of which this was the only Hazard Mitigation money awarded to the County;

Received $3.5 M in grants from Salmon Recovery Funding Board, Conservation Futures and King Conservation District sources for acquisition and restoration of critical habitat areas;

Completed 52 real estate transactions which resulted in 2800 acres of property for public benefits including preservation and restoration;

Completed critical projects in May Valley, Tuck Creek, Wilderness Rim, Madsen Creek, and other locations;

Analyzed 442,514 lab parameters - an 11% increase - with existing staff;

Continued to exceed standards for lab analysis quality by achieving 98% accuracy ratings through standard annual audits;

Added 120 acres to the Farmland Preservation Program;

Completed review drafts of 34 of 80 management plans for WLR's 8200 acres of natural lands;

Completed voluntary weed compliance and weed control on 3555 sites;

Made substantial progress advancing the technical and policy work for the Normative Flows project;

Continued to provide valuable WRIA planning services to jurisdictions in WRIA 8, WRIA 9 and the King County portion of WRIA 7;

Developed protocols for responding to Surface Water Management fee adjustments and requests for remeasurements;

Implemented elements of Data Management, Project/Matrix Management, Performance Measures, and Capital Project improvement; the four initiatives outlined in the 2001 Strategic Plan.