Watershed Management Plan - Mason County

Appendix
F Options for Funding New Efforts
• US Environmental Protection Agency, Catalog of Federal Funding
Sources for Watershed Protection, http://cfpub.epa.gov/fedfund/
• US Environmental Protection Agency, Environmental Finance
Program, http://www.epa.gov/efinpage/
• Boise State University, Environmental Finance Center,
http://sspa.boisestate.edu/efc/ and funding database
http://efc.boisestate.edu/searchmenu.asp.
• Puget Sound Action Team, Funding Programs,
http://www.psat.wa.gov/Programs/Funding.htm
Revenue from Special Districts or Utilities
Following are some examples of how special districts and utilities could be
used to raise and administer funds for watershed protection.
Option 95.
Establish a surface water management district or
utility
A surface water management district or utility would provide a mechanism
for assessing fees and managing surface water in unincorporated areas of
Mason and Jefferson Counties. Districts or utilities that focus on surface
and storm waters can be created or fee-raising power under a variety of laws
in Washington, including RCW 36.89, RCW 36.94, RCW 57, and RCW 85.
They are relatively common in western Washington, especially in growing
counties such as Skagit, Snohomish, King, Pierce, Thurston, and Clark.
Currently, Jefferson County has one SWMD, in the North Bay area of Port
Ludlow. The City of Port Townsend also collects a utilities fee for
stormwater management. Kitsap County has also established a district, an
action that some believe will help to proactively manage—or even
prevent—the types of water quality impacts seen in urban counties. One
option for counties is RCW 36.94.020, which authorizes counties to
implement comprehensive water resources programs under a single utility
(e.g., activities related to diking, flooding, stormwater, sewerage, lakes, and
shellfish).
Surface water management districts and utilities typically raise funds by
assessing fees on properties—residential, commercial, government, and, in
some cases, agricultural—based on impervious surface coverage. For
residential parcels, a standard fee is typically applied based on the average
impervious surface of all residential parcels in the district. Fees for
commercial properties are based on multiples of the residential fee. Fees
are typically collected with property tax billings. In WRIAs 16, the funds
generated could be used to collect and manage data, monitor water quality,
provide support for technical and educational programs, and implement
many other activities.
page 150 Final Plan for County Adoption – May 11, 2006