Public Webinar on Outstanding Resource Waters

We invite you to an informational webinar for the rulemaking to consider designating outstanding resource waters. During this webinar, we will go over:

• Washington’s water quality standards and outstanding resource water policy
• A brief introduction of each nominated water body
• Rulemaking schedule and public involvement opportunities

This rulemaking considers designating the following nominated water bodies as outstanding resource waters under chapter 173-201A WAC, Water Quality Standards for Surface Waters of the State of Washington:

• Soap Lake in Grant County
• Part of the Napeequa River in Chelan County
• Part of the Cascade River in Skagit County
• Part of the Green River in Lewis and Skamania counties

An outstanding resource water has the highest level of protection assigned to a water body, under the Tier III Antidegradation rule in our water quality standards, WAC 173-201A-330. This means a water body adopted into rule as an outstanding resource water will be protected from degradation after the water has been formally designated. For more information, visit our rulemaking page.

We write rules to implement and enforce state and federal environmental laws and rules.  Ecology follows a 3-phase process for rulemaking:

1. Announcement and development
2. Proposal
3. Adoption

For each phase of the process, we update the rulemaking webpage and notify interested parties. We also file notice in the Washington State Register. To learn more about Ecology’s rulemaking process, read the Frequently Asked Questions.