Utility Land Management Comprehensive Plan Update

Project Overview

The City of Bremerton owns and manages approximately 8,000 acres of Utility land, of which approximately 3,000 acres are the Union River Watershed. Collected within this watershed is the surface water source for the City’s water utility.  In 1986 the City created a Utility Land Management Plan to provide guidance on the management of these lands. The purpose of this project is to update this plan with current best scientific based practices as it has not been updated since 1996. 

Key goals for this updated plan are:

• Evaluate Utility Land Security.
• Evaluate land use of adjacent properties and potential conflicts with the City’s on-going operations.  
• Evaluate proposed Jarstad Park to Kitsap Lake pedestrian/bicycle/equestrian trail to identify potential conflicts with the City’s on-going operations.
• Evaluate sustainable timber harvest alternatives and associated revenue and water rate impacts.  
• Review carbon credit sales as a potential additional or alternative source of revenue and water rate impacts.
• Develop a 20-year capital improvement plan for forestry assets such as roads, culverts, bridges, etc. 
• Evaluate staffing to confirm appropriate staffing levels.

Public Outreach

Public Outreach will be a vital part of this process. There will be an Advisory Committee of technical experts to provide input during the Plan update. It will consist of City Staff, Tribal Representatives, Adjacent Forestry Property Owners, Adjacent Water Purveyors, Kitsap Public Health District Representatives, State Dept of Health, WA State Dept of Natural Resources, two Bremerton water customers/ratepayers as designated by the Mayor, and a Washington Dept. of Fish and Wildlife Representative. 

This is the same structure as used in the 1996 Plan Update and will provide valuable feedback through meetings as well as a field tour of Watershed and Utility Land. 

There will also be an opportunity for the public to provide comments through an online form that will be advertised on the City Water Utility Bill and posted on this project website.

City Council Engagement

City Council will be engaged using Council Study Session presentations on specific topics that will also allow for an opportunity to provide comments and feedback. 

There will also be a Final Plan presentation to summarize the work done as well as provide as much information as possible to help guide Council in their final decision whether to approve the adoption of the Updated Utility Land Management Plan. 

Funding

This project is funded by the Water Capital Budget.

Schedule

• Contract Submitted to Council for Approval July 2023 
• Begin Update to Baseline Information Fall 2023
• Advisory Committee First Meeting Fall 2023
• Draft Update to Utility Land Management Plan Winter 2024
• Solicit Public Input on Draft Update Spring 2024
• Utility Land Management Plan to City Council for Approval Summer 2024

Contact Us

Sean Walsh
Forestry Manager
P:360-473-5928
Email