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EVERETT — The political action committee Standing for Washington has begun collecting signatures for a local rights of nature initiative for an ordinance protecting the Snohomish River watershed by giving the watershed legal standing that can be defended in court if harmed or damaged.
If the initiative gains approximately 3,000 signatures by the first week of August, it will be presented to the Everett City Council, who will decide whether to pass it without changing the proposed ordinance, or submit it to Everett voters for November’s election.
If the Standing for Washington watershed initiative passes, it would allow Everett residents to enforce the Snohomish River watershed’s rights in court.
Standing for Washington’s mission is to support environmentally focused political candidates, legislation, and community efforts in the state. Their “Standing for Our Watersheds Campaign” is running local ballot measures in the cities of Olympia, Tumwater and Everett.
Rights of nature is a global movement and legal method in which ecosystems are granted inherent rights that allow them to exist without external harms and be defensible in court. For the Snohomish River watershed , this would allow it to “exist, regenerate, and flourish,” according to Standing for Washington’s petition.
“The beauty of (rights of nature) is that it doesn’t add any regulation,” initiative campaign co-manager Rachel Kurtz-McAlaine said. “It’s purely putting the rights in the hands of the community to kind of monitor the watershed and make sure no harm is coming to it that hurts everybody.”
The health of the Snohomish River watershed directly impacts human health, Snohomish County Department of Conservation and Natural Resources spokeswoman Meghan Jordan said.
“In general, the health of the air we breathe, water we drink or recreate in, and local food we eat can have a direct impact on human health,” Jordan said in an email. “Additional toxins in our rivers and streams such as flame retardants (found in Chinook salmon fish tissue) in the Snohomish Estuary can move through the food chain and potentially end up creating health risks for people who consume them.”
Snohomish County Surface Water Management staff monitor the health of streams and lakes for both fish and people through the “State of Our Waters” monitoring program, Jordan said.
Snohomish County was unable to comment on whether rights of nature would impact Everett residents.
In addition to federal laws that protect waterways, such as the Clean Water Act, local regulations such as the Snohomish County Water Pollution Control Code also aim to protect the health of the Snohomish watershed.
“Giving rights to the watershed will allow community stewardship of the watershed, and to defend those rights in court,” initiative campaign co-manager Abi Ludwig said.
Their first signature gathering event was at the Fisherman’s Village Music Festival in Everett from May 16 to May 18.
So far, the campaign has not experienced pushback, making the campaign managers optimistic about getting the initiative passed.
“We have not had any opposition pop up yet,” Ludwig said earlier this May. “And it’s going to be really interesting to see who is going to step to the plate.”
