Washington Ratings Indicator Type Info Status Beach Access 6  5  Water Quality 6   5  Beach Erosion 6   -  Erosion Response -  5   Beach Fill 5  -  Shoreline Structures 5  2  Beach Ecology 7  -  Surfing Areas 2  8  Website 8  -  Explain this chart

Washington 

Summary

There have been several major initiatives launched recently that seek to protect Washington's Coast. The first is the Puget Sound Partnership, an initiative launched by Governor Christine Gregoire and tasked with developing a plan to protect and restore Puget Sound. Another major initiative is the Washington State Ocean Policy Work Group. This initiative was established by the Governor’s Office in order to: 1) summarize the status of Washington’s ocean resources and their value to the state’s economy, cultural identity, and quality of life and 2) provide recommendations for improving protection and management of the state’s ocean resources.

Washington fully implemented their ocean water quality monitoring program in 2004. Establishing an inventory of shoreline structures and monitoring existing sites with structures would be beneficial. Washington's Coastal Atlas provides a wealth of information regarding coastal features and issues and enhances an already excellent web site. The Atlas could be further improved to show coastal access points. The Department of Ecology could be more aggressive in establishing coastal access points and protecting the public's right to access the coast.

The Department of Ecology BEACH Program has recently completed the first draft of the Shoreline Public Access GIS dataset. This data maps all of Washington’s public marine shoreline and contains detailed information about the public accessibility and other characteristics of the beach. The data will be valuable to shoreline planners, public access advocates, and many others. The BEACH Program hopes to incorporate this data into the Washington Coastal Atlas.

Indicators

(+) An encouraging development regarding shoreline armoring occurred in 2007 when rip rap was removed from the shore at Belfair State Park in the Lower Hood Canal area. This was part of a $2 million estuary restoration project designed to improve both the habitat and the public's ability to enjoy the park. The project included removal of a tidal swimming pool and creation of a sandy beach in its place. A rocky wall was removed to create a walking beach, Little Mission Creek bridge was relocated and a small culvert was replaced to enhance fish passage. Now, kayakers and wind surfers can launch from the beach, which was impossible when rip rap lined the shore.
(+) The Washington Department of Natural Resources’ ShoreZone Inventory provides GIS data for the location and type of shoreline structures along Washington’s marine shorelines.
(+) In October 2005, King County announced the completion of a $77 million "Henderson/Martin Luther King Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) Project", which features a 15-foot-diameter, two-thirds-mile-long pipe that can hold four million gallons of combined storm drain and sewer overflow water until it can be treated.
(+) Washington tends to look at beaches as an integral part of the nearshore system which is centered on the intertidal zone, and extends both landward and seaward. Washington has a program in place for collecting data related to beach ecology. The Nearshore Habitat Program at the state Department of Natural Resources is the lead agency for this inter-agency program in Washington State.
(+) The Department of Ecology recently completed the first major overhaul of Washington's water quality standards in a decade.
(+) Washington's Department of Ecology SEA Program website has been significantly enhanced, with a very informative "Washington's Coast" section and aerial photography of the entire coast.

(0) About 40% of the tidelands and 70% of the shorelands are publicly owned.
(0) 80% of Washington residents go to the freshwater or saltwater shoreline at least several times a year.

(-) In the 2009 legislative session coastal programs endured deep cuts, including Department of Fish and Wildlife shoreline conservation activities and the Department of Ecology's Water Quality Program and Oil Spill Program. In addition, funding for the Washington Wildlife and Recreation Program, which provides state grants for park, trail, wildlife habitat, farmland preservation, and shoreline access projects was cut 30 percent.
(-) In 2007, seven beaches identified as high use and/or high risk in Washington were not monitored because of a funding shortage created by increased expenses.
(-) Marine life appears to be disappearing rapidly in Puget Sound. Populations of seabirds, fish (pacific cod, whiting, walleye pollock, salmon), crabs, eelgrass, and tidepool life (sea anemones, sea urchins, sea stars) have plummeted in the last few years. Puget Sound herring contain higher levels of contamination that those in Europe's highly polluted Black Sea. "Dead zones" and extensive fish kills are common in Hood Canal.
(-) The Snohomish County Health District stopped routine monitoring of swimming beaches in 1999 because the tests were too costly and provided little useful information, according to the director of the environmental health for the district.
(-) The Washington Department of Natural Resources’ ShoreZone Inventory found that approximately one-third of all saltwater shorelines in Washington State have some kind of shoreline modification structure (includes boat ramps and landfills).
(-) Over 30% of the Puget Sound shoreline is armored; this includes the eastern shoreline of central Puget Sound between Everett and Tacoma that is more than 95% armored.
(-) The "preferred alternative" to deal with erosion problems in Westport consists of the placement of 40,000 tons of 12-inch minus gravel and cobble material along approximately 1,000 linear feet of beach in the southwest corner of Half Moon Bay.

Victories

• Plastic Bags Banned in Edmonds The Edmonds City Council approved a ban on plastic shopping bags following a successful campaign by the Seattle Chapter. The campaign received solid support from the community and local businesses.
• Washington State Year-Round Rescue Tug On March 24th, 2009, Washington State Governor Chris Gregoire signed a measure that requires shippers, tankers and other large vessels to pay for a year-round rescue tug at Neah Bay. The bill's primary sponsor was long-time Surfrider activist and past regional manager, State Senator Kevin Ranker. For Washington chapters, it is hard to imagine a better way to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Exxon Valdez oil spill than by winning this long-fought campaign. Not long after the tragedy in Prince William Sound, Surfrider members and activists began advocating for a rescue tug to be stationed at Neah Bay. The tug aids ships in danger of spilling oil, forming a strong defensive line against oil spills in the Strait of Juan de Fuca and on Washington's outer coast.
• Jetty Island Water Quality Everett City Waste Water Treatment Plant averages 2-4 spills per year and with the current methods of reporting the public is not made aware for 24 hours to sometimes 3 days, as was the case for a spill in late October 2008. The belief was that it wasn’t a large issue with not a lot of recreational users in the water; that there were no high use beaches in the area. This is not the case. Jetty Island, just off the shore of Everett, is a prominent location for swimmers, kite surfers and wind surfers, especially the time frames of May – October of every year. So human health is definitely at risk. The engineers from the water treatment facility agreed to err on the side of caution and post immediately for the public to know. Surfrider Foundation in Washington is also on the notification list so that we can alert the public as well to the closures as they happen. More info.
• Neah Bay Rescue Tug Funded. The Washington State Legislature approved $3.7 million to fund a year-round rescue tug at Neah Bay, located on the northern tip of Washington’s Olympic Peninsula. The rescue tug is believed to be the best defense against a catastrophic oil spill for Washington’s coasts which are heavily trafficked by oil tankers and cargo vessels. Scientists believe that just one catastrophic spill in Washington’s Puget Sound could mean devastation for sea bird populations, killer whales and other wildlife. Such a spill would also cause oil slicked beaches, closing the coast to recreation indefinitely. The rescue tug responds to vessels in trouble, preventing spills from ever taking place. Since 1999, a part-time stationed tug at Neah Bay has assisted 40 vessels in distress, including a bulk carrier in February 2008 that had lost propulsion because of a fuel pump failure. Washington chapters and a regional network of conservation groups reached out to decision makers and raised awareness for this important issue and the State Legislature responded by funding the tug year-round. Until now, the tug has only been funded during the winter, but oil spills can happen any time of year. This new state funding is just for one year. Washington chapters are also working on behalf of important federal legislation that will require industry to pay for a year-round rescue tug permanently.
• WA Legislature supports coastal Marine Resources Committees The Washington State Legislature passed a bill to support the establishment of Marine Resources Committees on Washington’s outer coast. Marine Resources Committees are citizen advisory groups that address issues concerning coastal ecosystems, including the health of our beaches and rocky shorelines. Similar committees have been working successfully in Puget Sound for over a decade. Now, local governments will be establishing Marine Resources Committees on the state’s outer coast, offering an exciting opportunity for citizens to get engaged in determining the future health of their ocean and beaches. These committees bring together diverse marine interests, including the scientific, economic, recreational and conservation communities and tribes to address some of the toughest environmental threats facing our coastal ecosystems, such as pollution, invasive species and loss of habitat. Surfrider activists in Grays Harbor County and the Olympic Peninsula Chapter helped generate support for this initiative from coastal legislators and county commissioners. This support convinced the legislature to pass this legislation and provide $250,000 to establish coastal Marine Resources Committees.
• Stopped gold mining on WA coast The Washington Chapters of Surfrider Foundation enjoyed a victory by stopping a proposed law (House Bill 2588) that would have permitted mining on public beaches. Though designed to make it easier for recreational miners to go out and collect small bits of gold, the bill was worded such that larger operations could have been feasible.
• WA septic system legislation The Surfrider Foundation partnered with a number of other organizations in the Priorities for a Healthy Washington coalition. Surfrider activists provided grassroots support to a campaign that ultimately led to greater protections for Puget Sound and better regulation of failing septic systems.
• Surfrider Foundation activists helped generate grassroots support for the elimination of state park day-use fees. This change was approved by Governor Gregoire on March 20, 2006.
• The Seattle Chapter received a grant to fund their Blue Water Task Force program and partnered with Olympic National Park to design a program for the entire Olympic Peninsula. The Olympic Peninsula Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation then created an online database of water quality data from four peninsula beaches. The water quality monitoring program is the only one of its kind in Washington State because it targets coastal recreational beaches used for surfing, paddling and fishing.
• Olympic Peninsula Chapter partnered with Clallam County Parks to improve access and facilities at the Elwha River Mouth, and are working to improve access at a variety of Straits of Juan de Fuca beaches.
• According to a May 2005 press release from the State of Washington Departments of Ecology and Health, "Various state and county agencies and the Surfrider Foundation are working with Ecology and Health to sample the beaches and notify the public of the results, using funding from the federal Environmental Protection Agency."
• Collected and analyzed over 300 water samples from all over Washington State
• Organized or partnered on at least 12 beach clean-ups, collecting over 32 tons of debris and involving over 700 people
• Established two new water quality monitoring labs - one in Port Townsend and one in Bellingham
• Each Washington Chapter implemented some form of the Respect the Beach Curriculum
• Partnered with Publicis to launch a major public education campaign about Surfrider and the importance of our coasts (www.protectnwcoasts.org) that featured billboard placement in Seattle, WA.