Department of Ecology News Release July 31, 2001
OLYMPIA - Following is the Department of Ecology's (Ecology) weekly report about the status of drought conditions in Washington, assistance being provided by state agencies, and what citizens can do to conserve and share water.
Drought conditions continue to worsen, and are now causing problems for fish.
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) reported that thousands of sockeye salmon, summer chinook and endangered steelhead are stuck below the 17-foot Tumwater Dam on the Wenatchee River because they cannot make it up the fish ladder. Fish are jumping against the dam and injuring themselves.
"The low stream flows from the drought and the construction of the dam's spillway are making it impossible for the fish to reach the ladder," said Bob Steele, a fish habitat manager for WDFW. "It's a fish emergency. None of the fish will clear the dam - it's just too tall."
A team of WDFW biologists is working with representatives of the Chelan County PUD, which owns the dam, to correct the problem. By changing the spill pattern over the dam, they believe they can direct the fish to the fish ladder and make it possible for them to move up it.
"The problem isn't the fish ladder, which is a state-of-the-art facility," said Perry Harvester, a member of the WDFW drought team. "The problem is the combination of low water conditions and the spill pattern over the dam.
Crews are working to correct that problem as soon as possible."
Low water flows in the Columbia River have slowed efforts to clean contaminated underground water at the Hanford site near the Tri-Cities.
The underground water is contaminated with chromium and radioactive strontium. It is located in the 100 Area, which runs along the river on the northern part of the site where several old nuclear reactors are located.
For the past six years, contaminated ground water has been pumped and treated to remove the contamination and keep it from reaching the Columbia River.
"The drought means lower levels of water in the river and in the ground," said John Price, an Ecology project manager for Hanford. "Right now, the water in the wells is too low to pump."
Fortunately, said Price, the low level of ground water also has slowed the movement of the contamination toward the river.
Ecology has asked the U.S. Department of Energy, which is charged with cleaning up the former nuclear site, to provide weekly reports on the pumping and treatment systems. When ground-water levels are back to normal, the pumping will start again.
Since March 14, when Ecology declared a drought emergency, farmers and municipalities in Benton, Chelan, Douglas, Franklin, King, Kitsap, Kittitas, Klickitat, Okanogan, Stevens, Walla Walla and Yakima counties have applied for 59 temporary emergency water permits and 116 temporary emergency changes to existing water rights to help maintain their water supplies.
Ecology has approved 52 applications and denied four applications for emergency water permits since the drought emergency was declared. The department also has approved 104 applications and denied three applications to change existing water rights.
Turn off or limit use of decorative water fountains.
Weed planters and prune shrubs and trees regularly to ensure water is used efficiently and goes where it's needed.
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