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Article I. General
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A. The Legislature of the state of Washington has delegated the responsibility to local governmental units to adopt regulations designed to promote the public health, safety and general welfare of its citizenry. Therefore, the city does ordain as follows:

B. Findings of Fact. Areas of Auburn are subject to periodic inundation and channel migration which may result in loss of life and property, health and safety hazards, disruption of commerce and governmental services, extraordinary public expenditures for protection and relief from flooding and channel migration, and impairment of the tax base, all of which adversely affect the public health, safety and general welfare.

When floodplains and watersheds are developed without taking appropriate care and precautions, flood heights, frequencies, and velocities increase, which may cause a greater threat to humans, damage to property, destruction of natural floodplain functions, and adverse impacts to water quality and habitat.

Rivers, streams, lakes, estuarine and marine areas and their floodplains are major elements of healthy aquatic and riparian areas and conveyance of floodwaters. If watersheds, rivers, streams, lakes, estuaries, floodplains and other systems are not viewed holistically as biological and geomorphologic units, it may lead to serious degradation of habitat and increased flood hazards to people and human development.

Over the years, natural processes have evolved that manage floodwaters and channel flows in the most effective and efficient manner. Disruption of these processes through alterations to land cover, stream channels, wetlands and other water bodies may lead to increased flood hazards, loss of life and property, threats to public health, and loss of habitat. (Ord. 6761 § 1 (Exh. A), 2020.)