CITY OF DES MOINES SHORELINE MASTER PROGRAM

Des Moines Shoreline Master Program
• Salmon Recovery Funding Board - Interagency Committee for Outdoor Recreation
• Section 204: Environmental Restoration Projects in Connection with Dredging - U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers
• Section 206: Aquatic Ecosystem Restoration Program - U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers
• Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) - Washington Department
of Transportation
• Washington State Ecosystems Conservation Program - U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
• Wetland Protection, Restoration, and Stewardship Discretionary Funding -
Environmental Protection Agency
4.7 Implementation and Monitoring
The Puget Sound Nearshore Project/Partnership (PNSP) is working to develop an approach to
nearshore ecosystem recovery. The approach is fundamentally based on strategic principles and
concepts to guide ecosystem recovery in Puget Sound. These concepts are described in guidance
publications prepared by PSNP (2004a; 2004b; 2003). The strategic principles and concepts are
organized into five sections, briefly summarized below:
• Purpose and Need. Potential restoration projects should be consistent with overarching
goals and objectives. For example, the PSNP mission is to “protect and restore the
functions and natural processes of Puget Sound nearshore ecosystems in support of the
natural resources and beneficial uses of Puget Sound and the Puget Sound Basin.”
• Fundamental assumptions and concepts. This includes a fundamental understanding
of nearshore ecosystems and their properties, including physical and chemical factors,
ecosystem structure, and biological communities. There is also a need to recognize the
importance of landscape ecology and the role of population ecology in the ecosystem.
• Restoration Principles. Restoration planning should be strategic and restoration design
should be based on carefully developed goals and objectives. Follow-through, or
monitoring, should be employed, including development of performance criteria and use
of adaptive management in project development.
• Adaptive Management Principles. Adaptive management is a process that uses
research and monitoring to allow projects to proceed, despite inherent uncertainty and
risk regarding its consequences. Adaptive management is best accomplished at a
regional or watershed scale, but can be used at a project level to increase knowledge
about nearshore ecosystems and how they respond to restoration actions.
• Monitoring Principles. Three types of monitoring are defined: implementation,
effectiveness, and validation. Monitoring should be driven by specific questions, goals,
and objectives and should be used as the basis for determining if restoration goals are
being met. Monitoring should be long-term, interdisciplinary, and interinstitutional.
Another component of monitoring is information management; data should be well
documented and available to others.
Department of Ecology approval effective November 1, 2010
46 Adopted by City of Des Moines Ordinance No. 1502