Floodplains for the Future: Puyallup, White & Carbon Rivers
Floodplains for the Future—Puyallup, White & Carbon Rivers is a cross-sector and inter-organizational partnership hosted by Pierce County in order to recover floodplain functions and to protect the health and safety of communities around them. Floodplains for the Future works to balance farm, fish, and flood management values, to provide a safe place to voice varied opinions and needs, and to advance integrated floodplain management solutions in the Puyallup, White, and Carbon Rivers.
Visit this page to access studies, reports, videos, and other resources related to this collaborative effort.
- Land Acquisition & Consruction
- Farming in the Floodplain Project
- Agricultural Land Conservation
- Habitat Science Committee
- Floodplain Health Monitoring
Land acquisition within floodways has a primary goal of moving people out of harm’s way. These acquisitions are made from willing sellers who have experienced repetitive flooding on their property or are likely to experience flooding in the future.
A secondary goal of moving people out of harm’s way is the potential to construct projects that provide additional flood protection, improve habitat, and support agricultural. These complex projects are estimated to take many years to complete.
Pierce County Planning and Public Works and municipal public works departments in the Puyallup Watershed participate in Floodplains for the Future. Working together makes it possible to coordinate flood management activities and property acquisition programs with other interests in order to better serve Pierce County.
Farming in the Floodplain Project Website
Findings and Recommendations Report
Farmland Impacts Memo
FFP Existing Conditions Report
FFP Existing Conditions Report Cover Letter
Clear Creek Drainage Memo (Final)
Clear Creek Drainage Inventory Preliminary Findings Memo
Agriculture Needs Report
Agriculture Needs Report Cover Letter
Sediment Conditions in Puyallup River and Clear Creek (memo)
Flood Risk Memo
Tide Gate Memo
Upstream Development Memo
Integration with Floodplains for the Future has benefited the scale and multiple benefit outcomes of farmland conservation work in the Puyallup Basin. Thanks to the integrated approach to management, farmland conservation partners of the SCP have been able to leverage an additional 200 acres of priority Puyallup Valley farmland protected in perpetuity. In addition, the protected farms all provide additional benefits to the multiple interests of the integrated management approach, including open space protection, compatible floodplain reconnection on site, and habitat improvements & protections.
Strategic Conservation Partnership (SCP) Shared Conservation Strategy
Farmland Conservation Focus Areas
Millions of dollars and tens of thousands of hours of staff and volunteer time have been spent over the years to both protect the Puyallup Watershed from flooding and enhance habitat for the recovery of endangered salmonid species. Few resources are spent on monitoring the effects of this work or the impact on the things we really care about, such as public safety, water quality, sustainable fish populations, and economically successful farms. Through the Floodplains by Design approach, monitoring is an important aspect of ongoing work and projects moving forward. The intent of the monitoring program is to look at the landscape level impacts that floodplain improvement work creates to determine if the Puyallup River floodplains are improving or degrading as we implement these projects.
For more information about the floodplain health monitoring effort, visit www.floodplainsforthefuture.org.
Puyallup Watershed and Reach Descriptions
Synthesis of Existing Monitoring Efforts in the Puyallup Watershed
Puyallup Stakeholder Summary Memo
Puyallup Floodplain Health Index and Metrics Memo