On Thursday, September 19th, 2019 from 5-6pm, the Wasco County Planning Department will host an open house to share information about the next updates for Wasco County 2040.
We invite you to join staff at our office (2705 E 2nd Street, The Dalles) for informational materials on the next series of work tasks for Wasco County 2040. Proposed updates will be presented to the Citizen Advisory Group on Tuesday, October 1st at the Discovery Center from 3-5pm.
The proposed amendments include:
- Change references from National Wetland Inventory to State Wetland Inventory
- Removal of old references to Gorge Scenic Overlay Zone
- Clarifications on the Federal Wild and Scenic River and the Oregon Scenic Waterway protections.
- Updates to the Natural Hazards goal that make it consistent with the recently published Natural Hazards Mitigation Plan.
- Updates to the Public Facilities and Services chapter.
- Updates to the Energy Conservation chapter.
While many of these updates are required by changes to state law or as a result of other plans, we encourage your participation and hope you will join us at the open house.
We will also be sharing a concurrent process, required by the Department of Environmental Quality, to submit an implementation plan for protecting tributaries, creeks and rivers in Wasco County and ensuring a reduction in pollutants. Wasco County Planning is currently finalizing two implementation plans for the Miles Creek Subbasin, which feeds into the Columbia River, and the John Day Subbasin. These plans highlight many of our current rules, like setbacks from waterways, as well as the work done by partners like the Wasco County Soil and Water Conservation District (WCSWCD).
Staff is also planning to partner with WCSWCD to prepare education materials on riparian areas and how landowners can help improve water quality through riparian area management.
You can also submit comments at any time.