Defense bill gives nod to Columbia River shoreline

The movement to return 34 miles of Columbia River shoreline to local control picked up steam in Congress this week.

The U.S. House of Representatives approved the National Defense Authorization Act which includes language directing the Army Corps of Engineers to document the process it used to acquired the local shoreline following devastating floods in 1948.

Teasing out what the Corps controls and how it acquired it will give Tri-City officials the data they need to decide if they want to press Congress to return the shoreline to local control, said U.S. Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Sunnyside, who inserted the language into the defense bill.

“This language will help the local communities make the determination if they want to move forward,” he said. “It’s a very preliminary step.”

The Corps gained control over the shoreline through a mix of condemnation and purchases some 60 years ago. The former occurred after 1948 floods left parts of Kennewick and Pasco underwater. The latter was associated with the creation of the McNary pool that formed behind the McNary Dam.

Newhouse’s predecessor, former Rep. Doc Hastings of Pasco, is working with a team that includes former Kennewick Mayor Brad Fisher and Gary Petersen of the Tri-City Development Council to build support for local control.

They want Congress to re-convey the property to local governments at no cost. The approach bypasses the 1996 Water Resources Development Act. The act allows the Corps to transfer property to other government agencies, but requires an extensive environmental impact review and restricts how the property can be used.

Newhouse said the Corps’ account of its history with the Columbia River waterfront will help guide if or how the shoreline should be treated.

If taxpayers paid for the land, it’s not appropriate to simply give it away. But if there was no payment, it could make sense to re-convey, he said Thursday.

More importantly, he said, the Army Corps data will inform good decisions.

Newhouse, who faces a re-election challenge this year, said he’s generally supportive of local control over lands in the federal inventory. He will push for local control if that’s what the community wants, he said.

It isn’t the first time the Corps has been asked to account for its history with the Benton-Franklin shoreline.

Franklin County Commissioner Brad Peck filed a federal Freedom of Information Act request for similar data on the county’s behalf more than a year ago. The county dropped the records request when the Corps said it would cost more than $30,000 to produce the requested information.

“It’s great that Rep. Newhouse has weighed in on this. I know from Franklin County’s perspective we’re grateful for his efforts,” Peck said Thursday.

The movement to restore local control over the shoreline dates to a 2014 Tri-City visit by U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D.-Wash. During a meeting with business leaders at the Reach center dedication, Murray told Fisher she would welcome a conversation about the shoreline if the community supported a return. Her office says she will consider all viewpoints on the matter.

The Pasco, Richland and Kennewick city councils and the Benton and Franklin county commissions have expressed varying levels of support as have the Port of Pasco and several business-oriented groups. In April, Washington state Sens. Sharon Brown, R-Kennewick, and Mike Hewitt, R-Walla Walla, and Reps. Terry Nealey, R-Dayton, Larry Haler, R-Richland, and Maureen Walsh, R-College Place, wrote Newhouse formally asking him to sponsor legislation directing the Corps to return the land it had acquired.

Proponents say the Corps’ role is obsolete. New dams have eliminated the risk of flood. Local control would lead to better management and use of the shoreline, including the potential for commercial development. Opponents fear local control will lead to excessive commercialization of the waterfront and restrict public access.

The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla, for example, expressed doubt about the loss of federal control.

“We are concerned any time there are discussions of lands going out of federal jurisdiction, due to the protection that statutes provides for cultural resources and our treaty resources,” it said.

TRIDEC’s Petersen is thrilled the defense bill addresses the Columbia River shoreline.

“This is an excellent step by Dan Newhouse and his staff,” he said. “It doesn’t commit to anything.”

This story was originally published May 19, 2016 at 3:58 PM with the headline "Defense bill gives nod to Columbia River shoreline."