Five local projects included among $3 million to safeguard shoreline areas
The Department of Ecology announced they are awarding $3 million in competitive grants to 21 cities and counties across the state to help them safeguard their local shorelines.
Locally this will provide funding for five projects specifically along the coast, totaling more than $555,000.
| Recipient | Project | Grant Amount |
| Grays Harbor County | Sea level rise risk assessment and community engagement
Conduct a sea level rise vulnerability and risk assessment to identify potential impacts from sea level rise; characterize the risk of impact; and identify areas of the community, resources, sectors, or assets considered most vulnerable. The assessment will be paired with robust community outreach and involvement intended to educate the public and identify information gaps in existing flooding and groundwater conditions or unmapped infrastructure. |
$130,000 |
| Grays Harbor County | Channel migration zone mapping
Prepare a planning-level map of Channel Migration Zones throughout the County. |
$82,500 |
| Ilwaco | Sea level rise risk assessment
Based on Pacific County’s recently completed sea level rise risk assessment, evaluate how surface stormwater and groundwater conditions will interact with future sea level rise and extreme flood events. These additional analyses will be used to develop resiliency planning strategies, including draft policies and regulations, that can be incorporated into the shoreline master program, critical areas ordinance, and emergency planning documents. |
$136,500 |
| Pacific County | Sea level rise risk assessment phase 2 modeling and regulation development
Continue the recently completed sea level rise risk assessment to evaluate how surface stormwater and groundwater conditions will interact with future sea level rise and extreme flood events. These additional analyses will be used to develop resiliency planning strategies, including draft policies and regulations, that can be incorporated into county shoreline master program, critical areas ordinance, and emergency planning documents. |
$157,000 |
| Pacific County | Shoreline permit tracker
Develop and implement a shoreline permit monitoring system to enable the county to monitor shoreline authorizations for the shoreline master program compliance. The project will also identify possible solutions for improving implementation if gaps in the permitting system are identified. |
$50,000 |
| $556,000 |
The grants are designed to support local shoreline planning efforts such as:
- Building climate change resiliency
- Improving access to public shorelines
- Understanding how river channels migrate over time
- Monitoring shoreline permitting
- Updating environmental restoration plans
State law and regulations mandate that Washington cannot lose the important functions shorelines provide such as supporting water-dependent uses, controlling stormwater and erosion, filtering surface water runoff, providing habitat for fish and wildlife including salmon, and allowing access to public areas where land and water meet.
Climate change resiliency
While the maximum grant award is $250,000, two counties are receiving two separate grants. Grays Harbor County, for example, is getting $130,000 to conduct a vulnerability and risk assessment to identify potential impacts from sea level rise.
Grays Harbor County is also receiving $82,500 to study how local river channels meander and change over time. Mapping how river channels migrate will help the county better protect and manage its river shoreline areas.
In Puget Sound and on the Pacific coast, seven other jurisdictions are using state grants to build resiliency to rising sea levels and other climate change-driven events such as storm surges during higher-than-average tides.
Click here for a complete list of individual shoreline grant awards.
