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(1) The following general regulations apply to flood protection measures within shorelines:

(a) Flood protection measures are subject to chapter 30.65 SCC and shall be planned, constructed and maintained in accordance with a county and state approved floodplain management plan, if applicable.

(b) New structural flood protection measures may be allowed if:

(i) A geotechnical report establishes that structural flood protection measures are necessary to protect existing primary structures, new or existing public utilities, roads or bridges, or designated farmlands, and that non-structural measures are not feasible; or

(ii) Necessary to facilitate a project whose sole purpose is restoration or enhancement of shoreline ecological functions.

(c) Except as allowed under SCC 30.67.540(1)(h) or 30.67.540(2)(d), removal of sand, gravel or sediments for flood management purposes is only allowed under the following conditions:

(i) The proposal is consistent with a current Snohomish County Flood Hazard Management Plan;

(ii) A geotechnical or engineering analysis demonstrates that the removal will result in the long-term reduction of flood hazards;

(iii) The activity does not result in a net loss of ecological functions or impair migration, spawning or rearing of anadromous fish; and

(iv) If proposed waterward of the ordinary high water mark, the activity is conducted in compliance with the requirements for dredging and dredge spoil disposal in SCC 30.67.530.

(d) Flood protection measures shall not result in channelization of normal stream flows, interfere with natural hydraulic processes such as channel migration, or undermine existing structures or downstream stream banks.

(e) New flood control dikes shall be landward of any associated wetlands and their buffers, and where feasible, landward of the channel migration zone.

(f) New flood protection structures such as dikes and levees shall provide public access pursuant to SCC 30.67.330.

(g) Normal maintenance or repair of flood protection measures is allowed.

(h) Emergency flood protection measures are allowed subject to the provisions in SCC 30.44.280.

(i) Except as otherwise allowed in SCC 30.67.540(1)(b)(ii), new structural flood control measures are prohibited on estuarine shores, on point and channel bars and in salmon and trout spawning areas.

(2) In addition to the general regulations contained in SCC 30.67.540(1), the following shoreline environment designation-specific regulations for flood protection measures apply:

(a) Structural flood protection measures in conjunction with ecological restoration or enhancement projects are permitted in all shoreline environments except the Natural environment. Non-structural flood protection measures are permitted in all shoreline environments in conjunction with ecological restoration or enhancement projects.

(b) When not in conjunction with ecological restoration or enhancement projects, non-structural flood protection measures are permitted in all shoreline environments, except that non-structural flood protection measures in the Aquatic environment are conditionally permitted.

(c) When not in conjunction with ecological restoration or enhancement projects, and when a geotechnical report demonstrates that flood protection measures are necessary to protect existing primary structures, new or existing public utilities, roads or bridges, or designated farmlands, and that non-structural solutions would be inadequate to achieve the needed protection, structural flood protection measures are permitted in all shoreline environments, except that structural flood protection measures are prohibited in the Natural and Urban Conservancy environments and the Aquatic environment adjacent to Natural and Urban Conservancy environments, and except that structural flood protection measures are conditionally permitted in other Aquatic environments.

(d) Debris deposited by flood events within the previous 12-month period may be removed from designated farmlands in the Resource environment. (Added by Amended Ord. 12-025, June 6, 2012, Eff date July 27, 2012).