Shoreline Management

King County's beauty is no doubt characterized by its bounty of water bodies. King County has nearly 2,000 miles of shoreline along major lakes and rivers and Vashon-Maury Island. These shorelines provide habitat for fish and wildlife, places for public enjoyment and space for wide-ranging waterfront land uses.

King County is seeking public comment on a third draft of its program for managing shorelines. This draft includes a number of revisions made in response to comments on the second draft of the Shoreline Master Program that was released in September 2007.

• Draft Shoreline Master Program (October 2008)
• Shoreline Fact Sheets

Public Opinion Survey

King County commissioned a phone survey in winter 2007 to help understand public goals and priorities for managing shorelines. Results are available from the Shorelines Public Survey Findings page.

Current King County Shoreline Master Program and State Guidelines

About the Shoreline Master Program
Find out why the Shoreline Master Program was created and what it is designed to accomplish. Look up enabling regulations, existing designations and a regulatory history of King County's current Shoreline Master Program.

Shoreline Master Program Update

King County is re-evaluating its 30-year old Shoreline Master Program. The first step in this effort was for us to review current shoreline conditions including ecology, public access, land use, and historic resources and discuss goals with the public. The current Shoreline Master Program goals, policies, and management standards were evaluated in light of what we learned. Public involvement is an essential part of this work. Our goal is to complete this work and transmit a proposal to the King County Council for adoption by the end of 2008. The Washington State Department of Ecology must approve King County's Program.

• Updating the Shorelines Program - timeline
• Shoreline Program Fact Sheets

Status as of October, 2008

In December 2008, the King County Executive is expected to propose an update to the Shoreline Master Program that will be incorporated into the King County Comprehensive Plan. Learn more about the King County Comprehensive Plan.

About your Shoreline Area

Find out if your property is within King County's shoreline jurisdiction (the area managed under the Shoreline Master Program) and view King County information about shoreline conditions. Educational materials about shoreline ecology and uses are available. Also view proposed draft shoreline designations that King County would use to manage shorelines.

• Look up your shoreline property on an interactive map, and learn about it
  Enter your address, parcel number, or browse a map of your drainage basin with point and click ease.

Stay in touch with our e-mail list!

• To subscribe or unsubscribe from the King County Shorelines Update e-mail list, please send a message to shorelines@kingcounty.gov letting us know if you want to be added to or removed from the list.