PORT TOWNSEND — Six Jefferson County lakes eligible for protection from development have not been designated under Washington’s Shorelines Management Act, according to a recent report.
As many as 25 percent of the lakes that meet criteria as official shorelines of the state have not been identified for protection, according to a report released in August by Port Townsend-based Northwest Watershed Institute and Duvall-based Washington Trout.
Jefferson County has six such lakes that the report states could have been overlooked in error.
They are East Wahl, Beausite, Horsehoe, Ludlow, Teal and Rice lakes.
It isn’t known how many Clallam County lakes are eligible for but are not under Shorelines Management Act protection.
The report is called “An Assessment of Error in Shoreline Designation for Lakes of Washington,” and was funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Mapping errors?
According to the report, historic mapping errors may have left many lakes statewide unprotected that should be incorporated in the Shorelines Management Act.
The Act prohibits development 200 feet from lakes that have 20 acres or more of shoreline.
The Shoreline Management Act, enacted in 1971, states its major goal is “to prevent the inherent harm in an uncoordinated and piecemeal development of the state’s shorelines.”
But the report says that in addition to the 765 lakes throughout the state currently protected, 250 more should also be protected under the 20-acre designation but have been overlooked.
“These are lakes that meet the criteria of shorelines,” said Peter Bahls of Northwest Watershed Institute.
“We want to make sure the right lakes are included.”