Shoreline Master Program Response Updates: July 15, 2026

Island County has finally heard back from the state on its long-running shoreline plan update. In a letter dated July 9, the Washington State Department of Ecology conditionally approved the county's Shoreline Master Program periodic review amendment. Ecology concluded that portions of the county's proposal were not consistent with state law and identified 28 required changes needed to bring the amendment into compliance with the Shoreline Management Act, along with 14 recommended changes. The county now has 30 days to respond, and may accept the required changes, propose alternative language, or—for the recommended changes only—retain its existing wording.

Commissioners discussed Ecology’s response at their July 15 work session, during which planning staff recommended adopting most of the changes—required and recommended—but advised proposing new language for a required change related to how the need for shoreline armoring is evaluated. For more on the response to Island County's Shoreline Master Program, click here and start on page 91 of the packet.

In a letter responding to the July 15 discussion, the Whidbey Environmental Action Network urged commissioners to adopt REQ-10, which reinstates the requirement that the need for shoreline armoring be demonstrated through a trend analysis of prior erosion rates—exactly as Ecology wrote it. WEAN argues that the planning department's proposed alternative quotes only half of the relevant state regulation, stripping out its analytical foundation, and that dropping the existing trend-analysis standard amounts to unlawful backsliding on the state's no-net-loss requirement. Executive Director Marnie Jackson warned that if the county adopts the weakened language and Ecology approves it, WEAN will appeal to the Growth Management Hearings Board. Access WEAN’s letter here.

For more information on the issue of shoreline armoring, visit WEAN’s Story Map, The State of Our Shorelines.