Jamie Shepard and Jim Lewis, Boistfort 6th graders, check the pH of South Fork, Chehalis - photo: Kasia Booth
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By Brian Peck, Coordinator, Chehalis Fisheries Restoration Program
Through the Chehalis Fisheries Restoration Program, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) funds salmon restoration projects throughout the Grays Harbor and Chehalis River Basins.
Each year, a request for project proposals is sent out to potential project sponsors. Typical projects include: culvert replacements, riparian tree planting, riparian fencing, large wood placement in streams, habitat and fish passage barrier assessments, and education efforts in local schools. If you are interested in obtaining more information about a potential project on your property or in your area, please contact me at the phone number or email address below.
Five projects have been funded in 2005, for a total of $177,054 Service dollars. Project sponsors are contributing a total of $171,074 in cost share. In addition, the Service provides a total of $72,000 to the Quinault Indian Nation and the Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis for fisheries restoration efforts within the Chehalis Basin.
This project, proposed by the Lewis County Conservation District, is located on private agricultural land along the mainstem of Stearns Creek. This culvert has been identified as a fish barrier and will be replaced with a correctly sized used railcar bridge, opening 25 miles of stream, primarily benefitting coho salmon and cutthroat trout. A 40 foot riparian buffer will also be planted along 2,000 feet of the creek.
Education Service District 113 supports a partnership that fosters stewardship of the Chehalis Basin through environmental education by linking Washington's learning standards to community and environmental issues that are part of the watershed. Five counties, 14 school districts, and over 1000 schoolchildren participate in this effort that focuses on water quality monitoring and pollution prevention issues.
Jamie Shepard and Jim Lewis, Boistfort 6th graders, check the pH of South Fork, Chehalis - photo: Kasia Booth |
Proposed by the Lewis County Conservation District, these projects will open 24 miles of high quality stream and wetland habitat on Independence Creek. The existing culverts are barriers to the upstream migration of fish. By replacing these undersized culverts with prefabricated steel girder bridges, the upstream habitat will be made accessible to coho salmon and cutthroat trout.
One acre of invasive blackberry and reed canary grass will also be removed and replanted with native trees.
Thurston County Noxious Weed Control will use diver suction dredging to remove the entire plant and root structure from 12 miles of the Chehalis River. Brazilian elodea is a non-native invasive aquatic plant that has proliferated in sections of the mainstem Chehalis River. The plant degrades habitat and water quality for native fish and wildlife species. Plant material will be transported away from the river and disposed of in an approved upland location.
This bi-monthly newsletter is compiled by the Chehalis River Council and inserted in local newspapers for distribution to 45,000 households in the Chehalis Basin. Articles are about current environmental issues (water quality, salmon, aquatic habitat, watershed planning) throughout the Basin.
Brian Peck is the coordinator of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Chehalis Fisheries Restoration Program, 360-753-9560 or brian_peck@fws.gov
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By Margaret Rader, Chehalis River Council
Kathy Jacobson, coordinator of the Chehalis Basin Education Consortium, was named Chehalis Basin Watershed Citizen of the Year by the Chehalis River Council. The award was presented at the CRC's annual membership meeting, held on July 22nd at Boccata Deli & Market in Centralia.
Each year the CRC presents the Watershed Citizen of the Year award to an individual who has shown outstanding leadership in conserving and raising awareness of natural resources in the Chehalis River Basin. Last year's winner was Jay Sterling of Montesano.
Kathy has been an environmental educator for over 20 years, specializing in water quality issues. She has managed the CBEC program for four years and previously managed South Sound GREEN, another local watershed education program. Working with Janet Strong of the Chehalis River Basin Land Trust, she organized classroom presentations and field studies along the Chehalis River Interpretive Trail for thirteen classes of 4th - 8th graders. She also facilitated bringing more than 200 school children to help plant the trees and shrubs for the Interpretive Trail, a project of the City of Centralia Wastewater Treatment Plant.
Kathy's deep love of the natural world is expressed in her tireless work to open the eyes of students, teachers, parents, and all of us to the wonders to be found in our Chehalis watershed. She is a gifted nature photographer and has written many articles for Drops of Water.
Also at the CRC annual meeting, a certificate for CRC Volunteer of the Year was awarded to Sue Thorne for her work at the river access cleanup site and participation in the volunteer monitoring program.
The CRC annual meeting also featured a talk by Centralia Assistant Utilities Director Kahle Jennings. Jennings shared Centralia's planning for updating the stormwater system. Stormwater planning involves China Creek, an urban creek that actually flows in a tunnel under the Centralia city hall, emerges near Centralia College and enters the Chehalis River near Mellen Street. In addition to being a conveyer of storm water runoff, China Creek, as envisioned by Jennings, could become a restored urban stream that would add to the attractiveness of Centralia's neighborhoods
China Creek runs through an archaeology site, where native peoples of 3000 to 6000 years ago left traces of their presence. Jennings described some of what was found during recent building activities for the new Centralia Wastewater Treatment Plant. [See article this issue.]
The CRC members also heard from Rob Schanz, who made brief presentations on the volunteer monitoring program, the year's activities, and a recent canoe exploration on the Skookumchuck river. Treasurer Karen Knutsen presented the annual financial report.
In closing remarks, Margaret Rader announced that she was stepping down as CRC chair of the board of trustees. In their upcoming organizational meeting, the board will elect Rob Schanz has the new chairman. Margaret will take over Rob's job as secretary and will continue to edit the Drops of Water newspaper insert. Other continuing officers are Janet Strong, vice chairman, and Karen Knutsen, treasurer. Pete Holm is trustee at large.
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By Margaret Rader, Chehalis River Council
During the Spring of 2003, contractors for the City of Centralia were busily engaged in digging for a conveyance pipeline between the old wastewater treatment plant and the new plant off Harrison avenue. As the contractors excavated a trench to connect manholes inside the old wastewater treatment plant near the Mellen Street bridge, some people could be observed closely inspecting the sides of each trench before timber shoring was put in place and excavation continued to the next section. These were archeologists retained by the city from the firm of Cascadia Archaeology in Seattle.
At the end of the work day on May 14 2003, the archeologists were looking very closely at an exposed southern wall. In dark, loamy soil at about 8.5 to 15 feet beneath the surface, a "unifacially-modified flake, several small flakes, FMR [fire modified rock], and wood debris" were exposed. Careful work with a small trowel exposed a cluster of fire modified rock and other scattered FMR. According to the archeologists' report, "at this point, it became clear that a potentially intact prehistoric cultural deposit was present." It was time to call the principle investigator, Randall Schalk, and ask for construction to stop for more investigation.
You may be asking, what's so special about finding evidence of Indian fire circles and rock flakes? After all, we know the native people were all over this area, with many camps and villages, before the European people came. We are used to hearing about Indian settlements from reports beginning in the early part of the 19th century and from native people's oral history. But for the Mellen Street site archeologists are not studying the people living here hundreds of years ago. The current research concludes that there were "Multiple occupations ... [that] span an interval from about 7200 to 1100 B.P." (BP means Before Present and is a year numbering system, used for the far past times, relating dates to the year 1950. For example, 6,000 BP means 6,000 years before 1950.)
When the old wastewater treatment plant was built in 1978, it was known that an aboriginal site existed. The original researcher concluded that although he found "a buried, sparse accumulation of fire-broken rock, flakes, small amounts of burned bone, and very few tools, the site would likely not yield important information about Southwest Washington prehistory," and construction of the plant was approved. In contrast, the current researchers were able to find not only a hearth feature that yielded a 3870 year old date (by radiocarbon dating analysis) but also botanical remains. There were "plant food resources that have not been previously recovered in archaeological investigations in this region."
The archaeologists' report recommends that the site be included in the National Register of Historic Places. According to the report, "this record has the capacity to shed light on the human use of plant resources in a prairie setting through a substantial portion of the Holocene. The history of prairies in Western Washington is the focus of intensified research across several scientific disciplines...."
To this layperson, the botanical remains discovered suggest that the prairie near the Chehalis River and China Creek over 6000 years ago was not that different from today. Douglas fir and conifers, representing fuel wood, were identified as well as hardwoods, with White Oak being the most important. Plant foods identified include hazel nut, camas, elderberry, huckleberry, and berries of the raspberry family. "The camas remains had been processed – i.e., cooked and flattened."
The relative scarcity of lithic flakes suggests to the researchers that this site might have been a summer food gathering site rather than a permanent encampment.
There is likely more to be discovered in the area, called the Mellen Site by archaeologists. The impact on projects by the city, the Department of Transportation (for I-5 widening) and possibly Lewis County and the Corps of Engineers for the flood control project is not yet clear but may be dramatic. The Chehalis Tribe has expressed an interest in what is being discovered.
Meanwhile, we can take pleasure in thinking of humans living in a landscape not that different from ours not hundreds but thousands of years ago.
The report, "Archaeological Monitoring and Evaluation for the Centralia Wastewater System Improvements Project," can be read and borrowed at the Chehalis River Council office.
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By Kathleen Whalen, Thurston Conservation District
Soil, water, air, plants and animals can all be adversely affect by varied land uses. Poorly managed agricultural operations can be major contributors of non-point source pollution. Through the process of Conservation Planning and the implementation of Best Management Practices (BMP's); landowners can increase farm production and aesthetics while reducing the impacts of farm activities on natural resources. Landowners can learn useful information and obtain assistance implementing BMPs including; gutter and downspout installation, cross fencing, pasture renovation, stream fencing, streamside and wetland planting for wildlife habitat and erosion control, creating sacrifice areas, and manure management.
| What is a Conservation Plan?
An inventory of soils, water, plants and animals on your property; Exploration of production problems on your farm; A list of suggested alternatives to solve production and natural resource issues. |
A District Technician from the Thurston Conservation District assists landowners in developing these plans. Together, the landowner and technician will explore the problems with production and impacts on soils, surface and groundwater and other natural resources. For each of the problems, alternative management practices are suggested. The landowner's objectives are taken into consideration when developing these alternatives. The decision to implement these alternatives, more commonly known as Best Management Practices (BMPs), rests solely on the landowner. In certain cases, the District Technician can assist the landowner with exploring options for financial assistance for the implementation of BMP's.
Thurston Conservation District appreciates the diversity of the land in Thurston County and the diversity of ideas in its population. A Conservation Plan is custom made for you and your property. These plans are as dynamic as the individuals who create them and can be modified as management plans and/or circumstances change.
Want to learn more or have a Conservation Plan developed? Contact the Thurston Conservation District at (360) 754-3588. If you reside in Lewis County, please contact the Lewis Conservation District at (360) 748-0083.
Did You Know? Residents who develop a Conservation Plan and implement the BMPs as scheduled in the plan will be in accordance with the Non-Point Source Ordinance of Thurston County.
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By Kathy Jacobson, Chehalis Basin Education Consortium Coordinator
Recent articles in USA Today, local newspapers, and the new book, "Last Child in the Woods -- Saving Our Children from Natural Deficit Disorder" by Richard Louv, are bringing attention to the fact that "childhood pastimes are increasingly moving indoors."
Today's children are the first generation to be raised without meaningful contact with the natural world. Within the space of a few decades, the way children understand and experience nature has changed radically.
Today, kids are more aware of the global threats to the environment, but their physical contact, their intimacy with nature is fading.
 Three friends along the Chehalis River - photo Kathy Jacobsen |
By the 1990's, the radius around where children were allowed to roam on their own had shrunk to a ninth of what it had been in 1990. "Boundaries for kids used to be measured by blocks or miles. Now, the boundary for most kids is the front yard," says Richard Louv. Today, childhood is spent mostly indoors, watching television, playing video games and working the internet. The average child spends nearly six hours a day sitting in front of a television, computer or video game.
The percentage of 7 to 11-year-olds taking part in a traditional pastime such as bicycling has declined by 21% since 1995. A child is six times more likely to play a video game on a typical day than ride a bike, according to surveys by the Kaiser Family Foundation. Since 1995, the number of children ages 7 to 11 who swim, fish, or play touch football has declined by about a third. Canoeing and water skiing are down by similar amounts.
We also tend to devalue nature in our urban areas and to see the most significant forms of nature as occurring somewhere else -- often hundreds of miles away from where kids and their parents live -- in national parks, national seashores and wilderness areas.
Our society is teaching young people to avoid direct experience in nature. Richard Louv says that, "In the patent or perish environment of higher education, we see the death of natural history as the more hands-on disciplines such as zoology give way to more theoretical and remunerative microbiology and genetic engineering.
Nature-deficit is not a medical condition; it is a term that has been coined to describe the human costs of alienation from nature. Research now directly links the lack of nature in the lives of today's wired generation to some of the most disturbing childhood trends such as rises in obesity, Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and depression. Research now shows that direct exposure to nature is essential for healthy childhood development.
In Part II of this article [to appear in the November Drops of Water], I will share information from child advocacy expert Richard Louv on how our Chehalis Education Consortium program works to "restore the age-old relationship between people and the rest of the planet."
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Life
By Jayme Ahmann
Onalaska Middle School
As a little water bug in the huge world,
I have no direction,
Just wherever the water takes me,
Sometimes I float gently,
Other times rapidly,
Sometimes happily,
Other times sadly,
I come from the pond where I was raised,
From the creek to a small river where I matured,
From the small river to the big river where I fell in love,
Then from the big river to the ocean,
Which for me is heaven,
And that was my journey through life.
Untitled
By Megan Wrzesinki
Onalaska Middle School
The River
By Mandy Reynoldson
Onalaska Middle School
River
Water, rocks
Rushing, rippling, splashing
Water forces down river
Waterway
Which Path Would You Choose?
By Becca Rains
Onalaska Middle School
I walk on the river towards home,
Alone, by myself,
Thinking wishing watching,
The river runs so smooth
So soft so quiet,
It calms me when I'm stressed,
Just the sound though soft
Is pleasant and thoughtful,
As though telling me its deepest secrets,
It whispers to me,
I clear my head telling the river
My problems my lies my stories,
Then the river forks,
Two separate streams,
The good and the bad,
Like it's asking me to choose,
The smooth or the rough,
Which path would you choose?
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Department of Ecology news release
OLYMPIA - As Washington's boaters hit the waters this spring and summer, they should remember that basic boat maintenance can help prevent oil spills caused by cracking fuel lines, hull leaks and other mechanical failures. In the last several months, there have been several reports of boats taking on water and even sinking, causing oil spills in addition to threatening the lives of the passengers on board. Maintenance practices can be a contributing factor in some of these incidents.
"The number of small fuel spills increases as the number of boats and jet skis on the water increases," said Dale Jensen, spills manager for the state Department of Ecology. "Preventing these seemingly insignificant spills can help sustain a productive and rich environment."
Steps to take to prevent an oil spill include:
Tune up the boat motor, check for oil and fuel leaks, and fix them before launching the boat.
If the boat's engine uses coolant, drain the existing fluid, recycle it and replace it - taking care not to spill any in the water or on the ground in the process.
Carefully replace the engine's old gear oil with fresh oil. Use the oil recycling center to get rid of used oil and old boat batteries.
Inspect all cockpit drain plugs and make sure the holes are clear. If the boat is left in the water, cover it so rain or overspray from other boats can't flood into the bilge area and sink the boat.
Put a clean absorbent pad in the bilge-pump area, since many boats have a bilge pump that is activated by an automatic float switch to prevent them from sinking.
Check the weather forecast before heading out to make sure you and your boat can handle the anticipated conditions.
"We ask hikers in the woods to take nothing but pictures and leave nothing but tracks, and we ask boaters to leave nothing in their wake," Jensen said. "Let's have a safe and oil-spill-free boating season this year."
Report all spills immediately by calling 800-OILS-911 and the U.S. Coast Guard (800-424-8802). Act quickly to minimize the danger to the community and the environment.
Ecology's Spills Program: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/spills/spills.html
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Environmental Protection Agency news release
(Washington, D.C.-- 06/14/05) To continue to ensure safe drinking water, the nation's water utilities will need to make an estimated $277 billion in investments over the next 20 years, according to EPA's third Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey and Assessment. This large national need reflects the challenges confronting water utilities as they deal with aging infrastructures that were constructed 50 to 100 years ago in many cases.
"Water infrastructure is a lifeline for community health and prosperity," said Benjamin Grumbles, assistant administrator for the Office of Water. "As our communities grow, so too must the commitment of the government and citizens to sustainable financing, innovative management and technology, and efficient use of water."
Water utilities pay for infrastructure using revenue from rates charged to customers and may finance large projects using loans or bonds. State and federal funding programs, such as EPA's Drinking Water State Revolving Fund program, are also available to help companies address their water system infrastructure needs.
Results from the Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey and Assessment are used to develop a formula to distribute Drinking Water State Revolving Fund grants. Since the program began in 1997, EPA has made available nearly $8 billion in funding to states for infrastructure projects to help utilities provide safe drinking water. States supplement their EPA grants by matching funds and with bonds, repayments and interest earnings.
The Safe Drinking Water Act requires EPA to conduct the assessment every four years. This report to Congress, which reflects data collected in 2003, documents anticipated costs for repairs and replacement of transmission and distribution pipes, storage and treatment equipment, and projects that are necessary to deliver safe supplies of drinking water.
The report and related materials are available at: http://www.epa.gov/safewater/needssurvey/ .
Contact: Dale Kemery, 202-564-4355; kemery.dale@epa.gov
# R102 Release date:06/14/2005.
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1. What were the first water pipes made from in the US?
Fire charred bored logs
2. How much water must a person consume per day to maintain health?
2.5 quarts from all sources (i.e. water, food)
3. How much of the earth's water is suitable for drinking water?
one percent
4. How many community public water systems are there in the United States?
54,000
5. How much water do these utilities process daily?
38 billion gallons
6. What does it cost to operate the water systems throughout the country annually?
Over $3.5 billion
7. Over the next 20 years, how much may it cost to ensure the US has safe drinking water?
$277 billion.