BOOTH GARDNER 



GOVERNOR 



STATE OF WASHINGTON 



OFFtCt OF T>« GOVERNOfI 



OLYMPIA 



96504-0413 



EXECUTIVE ORDER 

 PROTECTION OF WETLANDS 



EO 89-10 



WHEREAS, wetlands: 



(A) provide^ protect and preserve drinking^water supplies by purifying^surface water and 

 groundwater; 



(B) provide a natural means, of ftood:.and storm damage protection through the 

 absorptfocKand storage' ot^watiBr^during-high^ runoff periods, thereby reducing flood 



crestrand^preventing loss^of iife^and'^propcHrtyr 



:.;-■.■ re ?-j --• iu." • -q«3 ^'i^nw .. ... ■'-•: -r-*^ -.j . 



(cyibfteiorsacW^as' transitions tand^and^watec^^coorses^Etherebyu^ 



retarding soUerosion;^ ':.;)\-, 



(D)- provide!' essential breeding? spawning^ rearing^ feeding, nestings and-wintering>: 

 habitats'for-a major portlonof the^stattf'rfish^-and wildlife; -_ _ , 



(E) provide special vegetatibn^andvegetative'Communitiesr 



(F) maintain surface watere through the^graduat release^of stored -floods waters- and 

 ground water, particularly during drought periods; 



id) providereadily accessiblafoutdoop- biophysical' laboratories, livings classrooms; and 

 training:and^ducatlonaL<resourcesrancU<*^ ■ 



(H) provide ecological as well as economic benefits; and 



WHEREAS^^more^t han fifiy'peccent-of^the'state's original wetlands^ have^been drained, 

 dredged^filled or otherwise altwedrarx^ '^ ^^ 



WHEREAS^over^ninety percen^of* the- original- saltwater^ wetlands^ in' some urfoan»^ 

 estuaries of Puget- Sound havebeen ellminatedfand ' 



WHEREASr'wetlands losses statewtde<are-as^ much as two thousand acres-annuallyrand 



WHEREAS, in urban areas in the state of Washington, freshwater wetlands losses<are 

 estimated at seventy-five acres per month or more than nine hundred acres per year; and 



