Watershed Investment District Legislation Overview
May 11, 2011
Purpose of Legislation1
This legislation will allow the creation of special purpose districts – “watershed investment districts” -organized on watershed boundaries to raise and disburse funds to conserve and restore lands and waters. The
districts are intended foremost to provide funding to implement watershed/salmon habitat recovery plans in
Puget Sound but could be used statewide and could address other unmet watershed management needs.
Boundaries of Districts
The boundaries of a district are to be defined by the participating counties and should substantially follow the
boundaries of water resource inventory areas (WRIAs). Two or more contiguous WRIAs may be combined
into one district. A subbasin of one WRIA (e.g., the Snoqualmie) may be combined with another WRIA to
create a district.2
Process of Creating of District and Voter Approval of Funding
1. All counties that would have jurisdiction in the proposed district must pass substantially the same
ordinances to establish the district boundaries and governance structure.
2. Within three years of creation of the district, the governing board of the district would prepare and submit to
the voters a funding plan that lists activities and programs and authorizes the revenue sources to pay for
them. The funding plan must include a date by which the plan must be fully implemented.
3. If the voters approve the initial funding plan, within the plan’s last year the governing board may prepare a
new funding plan to present to the voters.
4. If the voters fail to approve the initial authorization of a district funding plan, the board may submit to the
voters a second funding plan within three years.
5. The second and all subsequent funding plans must include a date by which the plan must be fully
implemented.
6. If the voters fail to approve two consecutive proposed funding plans, the district will be dissolved.
7. If the voters approve the initial funding plan or as needed a second funding plan, the board may submit
subsequent funding plans to the voters within the year before the previous funding plan expires.
Governance of a District
A district will be governed by a board made up of elected officials of the counties and cities that are wholly or
partly within the district. Boards of districts with 15 or fewer local governments will include elected
representatives from all cities and counties. Boards of districts with more than 15 local governments will have
“rotating seats” for those cities with smaller populations and permanent seats for those cities with populations in
the district of over 100,000 and all member counties. Each board will appoint an advisory committee consisting
of stakeholders in the health of the watershed and will meet in plenary session with its advisory board. Votes
related to funding will be made by board members only.
1
2
Overview is based on draft of watershed investment district legislation dated April 5, 2011.
This provision has not yet been confirmed.
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Although the legislation gives the powers of a special purpose government to the district, it is intended that
districts would be “housed” within one of the partner cities or counties for maximum efficiency.
Activities and Programs Funded by a District
The principal motivation for the legislation is to provide funding for the watershed/salmon habitat plans that are
an integral part of the Puget Sound Salmon Recovery Plan and the Puget Sound Action Agenda. Activities and
programs that likely would be funded by districts include:
 Ecosystem restoration and protection projects throughout watersheds and associated marine water
 Acquisition of high-value aquatic and upland habitat
 Restoration of key aquatic habitat
 Projects and programs to address regional stormwater quantity and quality problems
 Closely related and overlapping activities such as floodplain management projects
 Education and outreach
Because a district is not created in perpetuity, a district cannot supplant an on-going flood control district or
other special purpose districts such as shellfish protection districts. The districts also are not intended to
supplant or compete with existing tax programs such as the conservation futures tax program, but rather
complement or augment existing programs.
Revenue Sources
The partners developing the legislation have not yet decided on revenue sources available to districts. Sources
being considered include:
 Property tax
 Sales and use tax
 Utility fee
 Real estate excise tax
 Per parcel assessment
 Pollution discharge tax
Who is Developing the Watershed Investment District Legislation
The draft legislation is being developed by a partnership that consists primarily of local government elected
leaders active in the watershed salmon recovery efforts (WRIAs) in central Puget Sound. This partnership
includes people from Pierce, King, and Snohomish Counties. To learn more, contact WRIA 9 Watershed
Coordinator Doug Osterman, 206-296-8069, doug.osterman@kingcounty.gov.
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