Next Capitol Lake/Deschutes estuary workgroup meeting on Friday, April 22

The Department of Enterprise Services is seeking stakeholder and community input on long-term management options for Capitol Lake, with an extended input period that begins April 15 and ends June 30, 2016.

During this time, Enterprise Services will accept ideas for long-term management options, conceptual design ideas generated by the community, and other information supporting this planning effort. All input can be emailed to the department at DESCapitolLake@des.wa.gov.

The 2015 legislative proviso (see page 55, section Sec. 1095) that initiated the long-term planning effort directed Enterprise Services to "identify multiple hybrid options for future management of Capitol Lake, which options must include substantial improvement in fish and wildlife habitat and ecosystem functions, maintaining a historic reflecting pool at the north end of the lake/estuary, and adaptive management strategies."

The department, with the support of the executive workgroup assisting with the long-term planning, has decided to expand this effort beyond hybrid-only ideas by seeking other long-term management options that could satisfy the proviso conditions.

All submittals will be posted on the Enterprise Services Capitol Lake webpage as either "Options for Long-term Management" or "Stakeholder Provided Information Relevant to Capitol Lake."

Acceptable file formats for the submittals include PDF, Microsoft Word documents or PowerPoint slides. Enterprise Services will convert all submittals to a PDF format to make them easier to view and to shrink the file size. If your submission exceeds 30 megabytes, please send an email to DESCapitolLake@des.wa.gov to receive instructions on how to provide the material.

Submittals will be posted as is and will not be edited except to remove any subject matter that is inappropriate or unrelated to the Capitol Lake process. Documents will be batched and posted once each week. Submittals may be reviewed and vetted by the advisory committees, as relevant to the proviso topics being considered.

The public is encouraged to read submitted information by other stakeholders and community members. A summary of the input received on long-term management options for Capitol Lake will be shared with stakeholders and the community during the executive workgroup meeting on July 22, 2016. An additional opportunity for information and discussion will be provided at the community meeting on July 27, 2016.

Upcoming meetings

The next Capitol Lake/Deschutes estuary executive workgroup meeting will be held on Friday, April 22 at the 1500 Jefferson Street building in Olympia. The topics for this meeting will include:

• Timeline of events related to Capitol Lake and evolution of goals and objectives.
• Goals for long-term management of Capitol Lake provided by public comment on the 1999 Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement and the 2009 Capitol Lake Adaptive Management Plan (CLAMP) Alternatives Analysis for the Capitol Lake Basin.
• CLAMP Steering Committee 1999 and 2009 comments summaries.
• Discussion of goals for the long‐term management of Capitol Lake.

The full meeting agenda will be posted on the Capitol Lake webpage in the next few days.

No public comment will be taken at the April 22 meeting.

The next community meeting, which will include a discussion of goals and objectives for long-term management, is scheduled from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on April 27, 2016 at 1500 Jefferson Street building, which is located between 14th Avenue and Maple Park Avenue in Olympia, just south of the roundabout. Get directions.

An online survey to provide input on goals and objectives is also available on the DES website, and will be available from April 15-28, 2016.

Enterprise Services manages the 260-acre reservoir known as Capitol Lake as part of the 486-acre Capitol Campus.

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