The 6th Annual Lake Union/Portage Bay Sweep organized by Puget Soundkeeper Alliance will be held on Saturday, May 10th. Once again, FHA is one of the event sponsors. Last year 39 houseboat folks participated in the Sweep - 23 at South Lake Union and 16 at Portage Bay. In addition to that, we had six docks sign up for debris removal from houseboat waterways and shorelines. Please volunteer for this year's Sweep. It is a great opportunity for the floating home community to get actively involved in cleaning up Lake Union and Portage Bay. . Also, if there is enough interest by houseboat docks, we will again come by and pick up debris from houseboat waterways and shorelines. Let me know if your dock is interested. You can contact me at the email address below.
At the January Environmental Committee meeting, Karen Huber from King County Water Treatment Division gave a presentation on the County's Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) Control Program. In older cities such as Seattle, sewage and storm water are managed together. During large rainstorms, the pipes are not large enough to handle the increased flow; so, diluted wastewater overflows into Portage Bay, Lake Union, the Ship Canal and other waterways. These events are called Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs). The goal of CSO Control programs is to reduce sewage overflow events or treat the overflow so that water quality standards will be met. In Seattle, the city and county have responsibility to manage CSOs, with King County managing fewer but mainly larger CSOs. King County is now developing a schedule for four CSO Control Programs that will start in 2010 and be competed in 2030. Currently the East Ship Canal project (University/Montlake) is priority #2 and scheduled to start predesign work in 2009. However, the Duwamish project, priority #3 may be moved ahead of University/Montlake. The County would welcome comments from the community on project priorities. You can get more information on CSO projects and overflow events from the King County Metro website: http://dnr.metrokc.gov/WTD/cso/.
The Environmental Committee currently has six members: Diana Forman, Pat Sampson, Susan Susor, Jan Carlson, Sheryl Landon and Bob Bowman. Please let me know if you would be interested in joining the Committee or would like to be a dock representative for environmental issues. You can contact me at bobbowman2@msn.com.
UPDATING OF SHORELINE REGULATIONS
MAY IMPACT EXISTING HOUSEBOATS
by Bob Bowman
The Washington State Shoreline Management Act required local governments to establish a Shoreline Master Program (SMP). Seattle is now in the process of updating its SMP. The revised SMP will establish shoreline goals and policies for: 1) preferred shoreline uses, 2) environmental protection and 3) public access. This will result in new regulations and standards for shoreline uses including floating homes. Revised regulations and building codes for over water structures could have a major impact on how we maintain existing houseboats, floatation and docks, and how new houseboats are built. Seattle is establishing a 14-18 member SMP Citizen Advisory Committee. The FHA is one of many organizations and individuals who have applied for participation on the Advisory Committee. We should know by the end of March if the FHA will be represented on the Committee. Stay tuned for more information.
Additionally, the city is hosting seven community meetings to get input on the new shoreline policies. The Lake Union/Ship Canal Meeting was on Tuesday, March 25th at B.F. Day Elementary School, 3921 Linden Ave N, 98103. Look for report of this meeting on FHA Website.