Shoreline Master Program (SMP) and Critical Areas Ordinance (CAO) Updates

Whatcom County, Washington

Whatcom County needed to update its SMP and CAO. ESA performed the inventory and characterization of 220+ miles of river shoreline, 60 miles of lake shoreline, and 146 miles of marine coastline. ESA prepared approaches to ongoing agricultural activity, mitigation banking, and watershed management planning. The work also included a landscape-scale analysis of five key ecosystem processes using GIS data and information and a detailed reach-scale assessment of shoreline functions.

The project included a restoration plan and an integration strategy that assessed land use policies and regulations. The inventory and characterization information was used to develop shoreline environment designation recommendations.