Clarifying Information. WSDOT has expressed concern that the new definition could trigger a requirement to replace or retrofit existing structures in order to restore habitat that has been lost due to prior development when performing WSDOT maintenance activities. WDFW will honor the 2008 Memorandum of Agreement between WDFW and WSDOT concerning the administration of hydraulic project approvals. Appendix A of the MOA identifies mitigation that WSDOT can and cannot do for certain WSDOT activities. When WSDOT improvement or preservation projects trigger the need to obtain a hydraulic project approval, WDFW will not authorize WSDOT to create the loss of potential fish habitat (as defined above) without requiring mitigation. For example, WDFW would not authorize the loss (or would require mitigation for the loss) of potential fish habitat above a fish passage barrier in cases when it is reasonable to assume that the barrier would someday be removed and the habitat restored. In situations where existing conditions do not support fish life due to previously lost habitat, WSDOT and WDFW will work together to determine when it is reasonable to assume that recovery or restoration efforts are likely to occur.
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