Selling Puget Sound cleanup to lawmakers

THE Puget Sound Partnership has a compelling sales pitch for the 2009 Legislature. Eighteen months of hard work have produced a document that catalogs the Sound's environmental problems, lays out a plan of attack and describes success.

A solid case to help the region's iconic Puget Sound must be put before legislators and the public alike.

The final blueprint for cleanup was adopted Monday at a meeting at the Seattle Aquarium. Hundreds of people turned out to celebrate a genuine achievement and organize for the next step in Olympia: adoption of the plan and money to make it happen.

In a season of record financial deficits, a primary objective ought to be ensuring the plan is understood by lawmakers in its breadth and detail. The role of a healthy, robust Sound in the region's environmental landscape, economy and Northwest soul is well understood.

The nature of the ailments and the remedies are less well known, and constituencies for long-term work and long-term commitments need be established. Expectations of lots of new money are unrealistic. Keeping the effort whole financially is not an unreasonable expectation. Snatching money back would only compound costs in future years.

The Seattle Times report of the Monday meeting quoted Rep. Doug Ericksen, R-Ferndale, who said he wants to see more evidence of what should be done and of reforms to better use existing resources before considering anything further. The Partnership has a very competitive and comprehensive explanation to share.

Attracting money in the name of green jobs and economic stimulus are popular themes, though hardly a contrivance or invention. Plenty of work is waiting. But the foundation must be laid.

The latest Elway Poll found a bit of drift in the public's willingness to pay for cleanup of Puget Sound. Pollster Stuart Elway offers an important qualifier. He found the public willing to parti-cipate if it believes its efforts will do some good.

Elway found the public less willing than two years ago to pay, but more willing to consider restrictions on water and land use.

Lawmakers and the public are essentially in the same place. Restoration and maintenance of a healthy Puget Sound are desirable. The next challenge for the Puget Sound Partnership is sharing how it will happen and what needs to be done.