Georgia Basin-Puget Sound: Ecosystem Indicators Report (Spring 2002)

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Introduction

This report concerns the binational area known as the Puget Sound region in the United States and the Georgia Basin in Canada, including the Strait of Juan de Fuca, as illustrated on the map shown below. In this report, the area will be referred to as Georgia Basin-Puget Sound.

A Message from the Sponsoring Agencies

This document presents the first joint report by Canadian and United States agencies on a number of environmental stresses affecting the binational Georgia Basin - Puget Sound ecosystem.

The underlying message is the challenge that we regionally share of maintaining the long-term environmental, social, and economic sustainability of the region in the face of continued population growth and current, resource-intensive consumption levels. The high air quality that is basic to healthy lives and important aspects of economic well being, for example, will be affected by choices about transportation technologies and strategies, settlement patterns, energy use and individual consumption practices. Also, critical wildlife habitats, species, and related economic resources will be significantly influenced by development patterns and land-use decisions.

Our governments, on both sides of the border, are working more closely than ever before on these issues. Through the B.C. - Washington Environmental Cooperation Council and the Environment Canada - Environmental Protection Agency Statement of Cooperation on the Georgia Basin and Puget Sound Ecosystem, we are improving the transfer of knowledge and best practices, developing shared goals and strategies, and implementing joint action programs. Ecosystem-wide initiatives such as the Georgia Basin Ecosystem Initiative in British Columbia and the Puget Sound Water Quality Action Team in Washington State are supporting on-the-ground action to begin addressing these complex problems through partnerships and capacity building.

While a number of these activities have already begun to have real effect, the solutions are not only the purview of specialized agencies, or even all of our governments acting alone. The many citizens, communities, volunteer organizations, commercial enterprises, industries, First Nations and Tribes that live in or otherwise influence the region, must also take collaborative action.

If the stewardship of our natural resources is a shared goal among governments, other organizations and individuals, we must all be equipped to work in a collaborative and focused manner. Providing scientifically sound, shared and commonly understood information, such as the indicators found in this report, is an essential step in the process.

Our thanks go out to the many scientific and technical staff from our agencies, as well as other organizations, that have contributed to the development of this report.

Overview

This report examines selective aspects of the state of the environment in the binational transboundary region consisting of the Puget Sound region in the United States and the Georgia Basin in Canada, including the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The report discusses six indicators that describe some of the stressors and human responses that account for the present state of this shared ecosystem. It represents an initial attempt to provide a sense of the current state and trends in this ecosystem in an integrated way across the Canada-United States boundary. The objective is to provide citizens, governments and other decision makers with information that can help them make better decisions for the future of this richly endowed yet fragile region that Canadians and Americans share.

Environmental Indicators are representations of data that reflect the status of, or trends in, key aspects of the environment. They can help draw attention to the challenges our communities face, our progress in addressing them, and possible responses necessary for achieving sustainability. These responses will require choices that reduce the over-consumption of natural resources and the degradation of our environment, while providing for long-term environmental, social and economic well being.

In 1999, data specialists from the United States and Canada met to assess options for identifying key indicators for which data were available on both sides of the boundary. It became apparent that even the selected indicators were not all identical in their format or methodology across the boundary. There are often differences in the purpose, measurement and classification of data from different jurisdictions. The differing regulatory and administrative frameworks presented a further challenge to presenting an integrated basin-wide picture.

Following the 1999 meeting, a Canada- United States Working Group on Environmental Indicators was established, building on an existing Environment Canada - US Environmental Protection Agency Joint Statement of Cooperation and the work of the BC-Washington Environmental Cooperation Council (ECC). This Working Group has developed the six indicators in this report with assistance from other scientific and data management experts listed in the Acknowledgements section.

The first indicator provides data on basin population and its distribution across the region. The growing population of the Georgia Basin-Puget Sound region is a major underlying force contributing to the cumulative stresses on the land, air, water and other ecosystem resources. This growth presents significant environmental, economic and social challenges both locally and across the basin ecosystem. As a result, all levels of government, the private sector and individuals need to make decisions that are responsive to the observed and expected environmental trends.

The impacts of this growing population, its affluent lifestyles and use of resources are reflected in measures of Air Quality, Species at Risk, Solid Waste, and Contaminants in Harbour Seals, each of which offers a different perspective on environmental quality and stresses in the region. Other indicators, including the amount of the solid waste being recycled and the areas that have been designated for protection, reflect social responses to recognized stresses.

As these indicators, and others yet to be developed in a binational framework, are tracked over time, they should provide a sense of how we as individuals and a society are affecting our basin ecosystem and whether we are moving towards or away from a more sustainable future. Each indicator is presented in terms of what is happening, why it is happening, why it is important, how it compares with other regions or locations, and what is being done to address the issues of concern.

The final section of the report, “What Can I Do?” provides some practical ways in which we can collectively take ownership of some of these challenges and move towards a more positive environmental legacy for future generations. We hope that you will be inspired to take action by these suggestions and information links.

More detailed information for each indicator is available as technical background documents, by calling Georgia Basin Ecosystem Initiative Coordination Office (604) 664-9100 or Washington State Department of Ecology (360) 407-7000. Information on other indicators being measured and reported in Georgia Basin- Puget Sound is available through the contact information provided inside the back cover of this report.