2013 State of the Sound
The 2013 State of the Sound is the Puget Sound Partnership’s third report to the Legislature on progress toward the recovery of Puget Sound by 2020. The document reports on both the status of the Partnership's recovery efforts and the status of a suite of ecosystem indicators.
Introduction and Key Findings
The 2013 State of the Sound builds upon the information presented in the 2012 State of the Sound, which described this complex ecosystem as a patient in “serious condition.” Our objective for this year's report was to update that assessment, recognizing that with a short, 12-month period between the 2012 and 2013 reports, we can expect relatively little change in recovery trajectory and pace.
The Partnership works closely with its many partners to coordinate the recovery and long-term protection of the ecosystem. This collaborative effort includes government agencies, tribes, business and private sector interest groups, non-governmental organizations, and citizens, who work together to plan, evaluate, and continually advance efforts to meet our collective vision of a healthy Puget Sound.
The 2012 Action Agenda is our regional plan for what work is required to address the pressures that are impacting the health of the Sound. The Leadership Council confers with the groups that are responsible for actions in the plan to assess their effectiveness, advance what has been successful, and address challenges to implementation. One year into the implementation of the 2012 Action Agenda, 2/3 of our proposed actions are on plan or complete.
The State of the Sound also tracks our efforts to fund the recovery effort. The total cost estimate for implementing the Action Agenda has been calculated as $560 million. Based on a well coordinated funding effort among our regional partners this year, we were able to reduce the funding gap from $475 million to $390 million.
The scientific community reports on the status of the ecosystem indicators that have been identified as key to recovery and whether we have made progress in reaching the 2020 targets adopted by the Leadership Council. Based on an analysis of the most recent monitoring data, progress continues at a very slow pace. The three indicators that did make progress are primarily indicators of management response related to pathogens and pollution reduction or implementation of restoration projects.
