After two years of study, Pierce County Water Programs is ready to unveil the Draft Key Peninsula-Islands Basin Plan for public review and input. The Basin Plan is a comprehensive guide to surface water management in the Key Peninsula-Islands Basin and addresses water quality, flooding and habitat issues.
The Key Peninsula and Islands community has had a successful relationship with the county, and we are encouraged by county staffs willingness to listen and respond to our concerns and needs, said Jonathan White of the Key Peninsula-Gig Harbor-Islands Watershed Council.
The plans purpose is to ensure that financial and staff resources are applied to the highest priority capital facility projects and programs and to provide comprehensive surface water management in the basin. To that end the plan strategically identifies and evaluates surface water management issues in the basin and recommends a comprehensive suite of projects and programs to reduce flood hazards and improve associated water quality and habitat.
This basin plan lays out the capital improvement needs for this area for the next several years, said Harold Smelt, the county’s Water Programs manager. Through the basin plan, surface water management fees collected in the Key Peninsula-Islands Basins will be used in those basins to fix flooding and water quality problems and associated habitat concerns.
Water Programs is holding a public meeting to give interested citizens an opportunity to learn firsthand about the Draft Plan and provide their comments. The meeting will be held from 7 to 8:30pm Tues., Feb. 21 at the Key Peninsula Civic Center, 17010 S. Vaughn Road in Vaughn. In addition, the Watershed Council will hold a presentation and discussion of the Basin Plan at 4pm Tues., Feb. 21 in the Peninsula Light Business Office, 13315 Goodnough Drive N.W. in Purdy.
Following a presentation by Water Programs staff and the URS Corp. consulting firm, citizens will be given opportunity to comment on the Draft Plan and the Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement.
The boundary of the Basin includes the Key Peninsula, the Burley-Minter area, as well as Fox, Anderson, Ketron, and Herron islands.
