Welcome to the Drops Of Water

Issue 8 May 1997

This newsletter appears monthly in 45,000 households throughout the watershed. Printing is done by The Chronicle, and distribution is by the Chronicle, the Olympia Daily Olympian, the Tenino Star and the Aberdeen World. This is an early edition available only to WWW users. Please send us your feedback. The first people to find errors in spelling or word structure receive a free map of the Chehalis watershed. Send us an e-mail note telling us about the error.

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Stories of interest in this issue:

One Person's View: Is Water Quality Important?
To The Editor
Keeping Clean With Fish
A Glossary of Stream and Habitat Terms
Youth Corner Quiz

This is an early electronic copy of Drops of Water. Drops of Water is distributed monthly to newspaper receiving households throughout the basin. It goes to print mid-March and will be distributed during the following week. Watch for it in the Tenino Star, The Olympian, The Chronicle and the The Daily World.

The newspaper insert is funded with a grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. This electronic edition is sponsored by the CRC.

Letters to the Editor, contributed articles and contributing partnerships are encouraged.
Comments via email to The Chehalis River Council
Back to CRC Home Page

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One Person's View: Is Water Quality Important?

Dave Palmer. Chehalis River Council

There's an interesting story in this issue, Keeping Clean With Fish that tells you why clean water is important for fish.

Forgetting about fish for a moment, and on a personal note, I'm gaining knowledge on the interaction of drinking water quality and cancer causes. Cancer struck our home a few years after a pesticide was detected in our well water. This particular cancer is thought to have its beginning in just such events.

April 4 an international group of cancer patients and caregivers were involved in an electronic debate about water quality. Having submitted my opinions I left to run errands and upon returning, retrieved the April 5 edition of the Olympian from the paper tube.

Front page headlines caught my eye and further reading revealed that traces of pesticides, some maybe 20 years old, were found in a test well. The contamination, discovered in January 1996, was not disclosed until recently. The test well is near an area where as many as 50 families drink water from wells.

Is there reason for concern? I think so. You can draw your own conclusions about the importance of water quality by reading the following summaries of news events which I have clipped and saved.

May, 1996 Woburn, MA is a community of approximately 35,000 people, located 13 miles NW of Boston. It has an extensive industrial history spanning over 130 years. Manufacturing resulted in the deposition of hazardous materials and waste products including arsenic compounds, tannery waste and heavy metals. Beginning in 1979, excavation of a site unearthed significant amounts of industrial waste. In June of 1979 it was learned that two municipal drinking water wells located near the site and in use since 1964 were contaminated with trichloroethylene (TCE), perchloro-ethylene, chloroform, and other organic compounds. The contaminated wells were immediately closed. Between Jan. 1969 and Dec. 1979, twelve (12) cases of childhood leukemia were diagnosed in Woburn. Six of these cases resided in a 6 block area served directly by the contaminated wells. By 1986 21 cases had been diagnosed. A relationship between exposure and leukemia was identified for exposure which occurred during the time the mother was pregnant.

Closer to home, last year:

In a test report sent to the CRC. "Five of the drinking water wells recently retested by the Washington State Department of Health (DOH) revealed high levels of perchloro-ethylene (PCE). PCE levels ranged from 5.75 to 3009 parts per billion (ppb). According to DOH this is the highest PCE level measured in a drinking water supply by the state. Ecology, DOH, and Lewis County Department of Public Services are working together to inform the public of the health risks. For those in the area who are affected and interested in alternate water sources, Ecology is temporarily supplying bottled drinking water and bulk water for household use.

June 25 the Olympian reported that the Thurston County commissioners approved new zoning for the Grand Mound area. This has the potential to move that area one step closer to gaining a water and sewer system. A conversion to a sewage system is a positive step and one which should protect the aquifer and the quality of water.

Ground water protection became an issue in a Thurston County Superior Court hearing. The Olympian reported that Judge Pomeroy revoked a permit to convert sludge to compost on a farm between Rochester and Tenino. One of the requirements is an onsite geological study to determine if the groundwater is adequately protected from pollution.

July 16th the Olympian Community Connections reported that the "Palmero Well Field Expanded Site Inspection Report" (available at Tumwater City Hall) documents an investigation and finding of 3 city wells taken off-line in 1993 when low levels of trichloroethylene was found.

The Chronicle, July 11, reported: "Sometimes the cause is human sewage. Sometimes it's waste-oil or lawn fertilizer. Whatever the cause, Washington waters are becoming less fit for drinking, fishing and swimming, state environmental officials said Wednesday." ""Ground water supplies, once plentiful in the state, are now being challenged as never before. Population growth and accompanying demands for water use, pesticides and nitrates in tested wells, and lower than average rainfall over the years are testing the state's ability to sustain high quality water supplies" the report said."

These are but a few of the many reasons I am interested in water quality. If you share some of the same interests and concerns you can help by taking care of your environment and by joining or working with one of the many organizations devoted to water quality and water resources. Let's work to help the salmon and help ourselves both at the same time.

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To The Editor

To The Editor:

I really enjoyed your "Drops of Water" publication for April 1997. The insert was very informative and educational and will hopefully generate some interest in protecting the streams and creeks of the Chehalis River Basin.

The Grays Harbor & Pacific County Farm Service Agency Committee is also very concerned about the degradation of our river and stream banks. Currently, FSA is offering the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) as an incentive program that encourages agricultural producers to plant sensitive stream and river banks to riparian buffer strips. FSA through Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) offers participants cost-share assistance to establish the buffer strips and annual rental payments on the enrolled acres for 10 to 15 year contracts.

Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) works with the landowner to develop a conservation plan and determine the needed width of the buffer strips, varying from 75 to 275 feet. Participants can choose to enter the enrolled acreage into 10 to 15 year CRP contracts and in turn must agree not to graze or harvest crops from the riparian buffers. These designated acres will be removed from agricultural production in order to improve the fish and wildlife habitat, reduce erosion, and NPS pollution.

Annual rental payments are paid for the life of the contract on a per acreage basis. Rental rates are based on the three predominant classified soil types on the acreage being offered for enrollment. In Grays Harbor and Pacific Counties rental rates range from a low of $44 per acre to a high of $116 per acre. An additional 20% incentive is available for enrolling riparian buffer strips, so if your rental rate per acre is $ 100 you would get an extra $20 per acre. Riparian buffers are also eligible to receive a $5 per acre maintenance rate along with the rental payment. Cost-sharing is available for establishing the buffer strips at up to 50% of the producers cost. The cost of site preparation, trees, grasses, shrubs, planting costs, and fencing are all eligible for cost share assistance.

The Conservation Reserve Program is an 11 year old program that is one of FSA's most popular program with farmers, ranchers, the public and politicians alike. With the passage of the 1996 Farm Bill last April, CRP priority was put on improvement of water quality issues. A continuous sign-up was established to allow farmers and ranchers to have the opportunity, to offer environmentally sensitive lands such stream banks for enrollment at anytime. Myself and the FSA County Committee hope that the new emphasis placed on water quality under CRP will provide agriculture another tool that can be used to address some of the serious problems facing us here in the Chehalis River Basin.

Improving water quality and fish and wildlife habitat within the Chehalis River Basin will take a real cooperative effort between government agencies and private and public interest groups. I am very impressed with the type of informational material that the Council produces and the educational effort that you are making. Enclosed is a fact sheet on the CRP program, if you know of any agricultural producers that may be interested in this option please send them our direction,

If you have any questions concerning CRP or if there is anything FSA can do to assist the Council please feel free to contact me.

Michael Mandere

County Executive Director

Grays Harbor and Pacific County FSA

Editor's note: The services are also available from FSA offices in Thurston and Lewis County.

To The Editor:

As I read the March issue of Drops of Water I was reminded of another phase of growing up on the Chehalis River and am concerned that the Chehalis Tribe does not have a column in your publication.

When the steelhead were running in the Chehalis River during the late 30's and early 40's the men of the Rochester area had a fishing hole near the Independence Store. Cold days required the little fires on the river bank to warm their hands. The smoke also signaled the Indians that the white guys were hungry for fresh fish.

Because I was a girl I was not allowed to go fishing with my brother because of the language I might hear, but I was at home when tribe members came to sell fish to my mother. At this point in my life I'm not sure if we were supposed to buy the fish because all I remember is we were not to mention where it came from. As you know fish smells when cooked so there would be no doubt when one had it for dinner.

As I see it unless the Chehalis Tribe is involved with any of the plans for the River it is a waste of time. Their nets were used on the Reservation way back when and can still be used if there are any fish.

Just more food for thought!

Jeanette Johnson Friis

Olympia

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Keeping Clean With Fish

Every year, some 200 million pounds of toxic and hazardous pollutants are discharged into America's waterways. The material comes from factories, farms, roadways--and some of it comes from the kitchen sinks and cleaning cabinets of ordinary homes.

Some fish populations are showing the effects of these poisons in their environment. In highly polluted areas of the Puget Sound, for example, many English sole, a bottom-feeding fish, show liver tumors and damaged reproductive organs. Studies of juvenile salmon in Puget Sound migrating though polluted urban estuaries as compared to clean estuaries on their way to the sea show damage to their immune and reproductive systems. Apparently pollutants are being concentrated in the small aquatic insects that are the food of the hungry and quickly growing salmon. It is not yet known exactly which chemicals or environmental factors are responsible. But in light of the current struggle to save dwindling populations of salmon in many West Coast rivers, fishery scientists are looking seriously at the role of water pollution in salmon decline.

Many of the hazardous chemicals in the water are exotic combinations that emerge from factory pipes. But some are closer to home--lye, boric acid, chorine, petroleum-based cleansers and polishes, fertilizers and pesticides, roach powder and other materials stored under the sink or in the garage of most homes.

While households play a comparatively minor role in adding pollutants to our waters, even small amounts can contribute to water quality problems and are highly toxic to fish and the aquatic insects on which they prey. Substances washing down the drain can affect water quality in other ways too. Material in the water can increase turbidity (cloudiness), limiting biological activity and in extreme cases even clogging fish gills. Ammonia and phosphates in everyday household cleansers can spur algae growth beyond normal levels (a process called "eutrophication"), possibly depleting oxygen levels in the water and threatening fish survival.

Everyone can contribute to the effort to protect salmon and other fish populations by taking great care about what goes down the drain. In most cases, there are gentler alternatives to conventional cleansers and detergents--often homemade concoctions are less toxic, work just as well and are far cheaper to boot. And everyone can make sure that household pesticides and other poisons are never flushed down the drain and eventually into the river.

Here are some of the steps that every household can take to make cleaning day compatible with salmon:

• Dispose of pesticides properly (rat, slug, and ant poison, no-pest strips, etc.); never allow them to reach waterways. Store wastes and empty containers in a covered repository. In most areas there are periodic household hazardous waste collection days--for information, contact local sanitation departments or extension agents. Try to avoid pesticide use in the first place by sealing all points of entry, removing sources of food and water for insects and rodents, treating pets for fleas with soapy water and a flea comb, attracting slugs with beer, and attacking ants with boiling water.
• Get acquainted with the virtues of vinegar, baking soda, lemon juice and borax. Most household cleaning projects can be tackled with combinations of these ingredients, plus water and liquid soap. Commercial drain cleaner, for instance, contains lye, which is extremely toxic--a cup of baking soda followed by a half-cup of vinegar, rinsed with hot water after the drain has been tightly covered for a minute, will usually work (or try to solve the problem with a plumber's helper, snake or drain auger).
• Take care with old paint (the average household has four gallons stored away). Try to give large quantities to organizations (such as theater groups) or individuals who can put it to use. Don't dump paint on the ground; it can pollute groundwater. Dispose of small quantities along with other household hazardous waste at collection sites. Thinner can be stored and re-used once paint has sunk to the bottom.
• Educate others, especially children, about the connection between the drain and the fish's home.

For information on how to create less-toxic cleaning products, contact your county extension office, Washington Department of Ecolgy, your local Conservation District or the Chehalis River Council.

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A Glossary of Stream and Habitat Terms

The U.S. Fish and WildlifeService's Chehalis Fisheries Restoration Program

Aggradation - The process by which a streambed is raised in elevation by deposition of sediment (opposite of "degradation").

Alluvial - Term used to describe material deposited by running water.

Basin - The total area of land that drains water to a certain stream, river or other water body.

Buffer strip- The vegetation along a stream left intact after logging.

Canopy - The branches and leaves that hang over the water.

Carrying capacity - The number or mass of organisms of a species that can live in a given area.

Cascade - A steep section of stream that drops in steps, usually with large exposed rocks, swift current and lots of turbulence.

Channel - A waterway with obvious banks that contains moving water at least part of the year.

Cover - Any object in the stream that provides protection to fish and other animals. Fish use cover to hide, rest, escape and feed.

Degradation - The process by which a streambed is lowered in elevation by removal or scouring of sediment (opposite of "aggradation"). This term is also used to refer to a damaged condition of habitat.

Deposition - The process of sediment falling out of the water onto the streambed in areas of lower flow and energy

Discharge - The volume of water that flows past a given place during a certain amount of time. Discharge is often referred to in cubic feet per second (cfs).

Eddy - A circular current of water usually formed at a bend or obstruction in the stream.

Estuary - The area where fresh and salt water mix at the mouth of a river. Estuaries are important areas that are used as rearing habitat by many fish species and other animals.

Flood plain - The low areas along a stream into which water spreads during a flood.

Freshet - A rapid rise in stream flow due to runoff from rain or snowmelt.

Glide - A slow, shallow section of stream with little surface turbulence.

Gradient - The amount that a stream drops in elevation over a distance; the stream's steepness.

Habitat - The place where something lives.

Intragravel flow - Water that moves between gravel or other particles in the stream bed; important for fish eggs and young fish in the gravel.

Large Woody Debris (LWD) - Pieces of wood in the stream that are at least 10 centimeters thick and 1 meter long. LWD forms pools, provides cover, and protects many important habitat areas for fish.

Macroinvertebrates - Animals without backbones that are big enough to see with the naked eye. Examples include most aquatic insects, snails and crayfish.

Mainstem - The principle stream or river of a particular basin.

Meander - A turn or winding of a stream.

Off-channel habitat - Ponds, channels or wetlands that are connected to the main channel of a stream. Juvenile coho salmon often spend at least part of their fresh water lives in off- channel habitat.

Pool - A part of the stream that is usually deeper than the surrounding water and has slower current. Pools are often formed by scouring under or around an obstacle, by plunging over logs or rocks, or by side channels.

Pool-riffle ratio - The total area of pools compared to the total area of riffles in a stream. In habitat restoration we often try to increase the number of pools by adding large woody debris. Most healthy streams in forested areas have a high pool-riffle ratio.

Rapid - Steep section of stream with swift current and lots of surface agitation and some waves.

Riffle - Shallow rapids with surface agitation, but no waves.

Rill - The first and smallest channels formed by surface runoff.

Riparian - Anything associated with the banks of a stream, river or other water body. Often used to describe the vegetation along a stream.

Rootwad - The mass of roots of a tree. Rootwads in the stream can form large pools and provide excellent cover.

Run - Swiftly flowing part of a stream with little surface agitation and no major obstructions.

Runoff - That part of rain and snowmelt that runs over the ground and into a stream or other water body.

Scour - Removal of sediment from the streambed by flowing water.

Sediment - The silt, sand, rocks, wood and other solid material that gets washed out from some places and deposited in others.

Streambed - The stream bottom.

Stream order - A number given to a stream segment that indicates its relative size. The smallest permanent streams in a basin are given a "1" (first order). When two first order streams meet they form a second order stream, and so on.

Stream Type - The state of Washington gives streams a designation of 1-5 in order to set regulations for logging, developing, etc. The type number is determined largely by stream size and fish use. In general, the smaller the number, the larger the stream.

Tailout - The shallow area where water flows out of a pool. Salmon often spawn in the tailout of a pool.

Thalweg - The deepest area running along the streambed. Usually where the fastest water runs.

Tributary - A stream that feeds into a larger stream. Also called a "feeder stream."

These definitions have been paraphrased or verified from:

Glossary of Stream Habitat Terms. By the Western Division of the American Fisheries Society Stream Habitat Committee

Influences of Forest and Rangeland Management on Salmonid Fishes and Their Habitat. Edited by William R. Mehan

If you have suggestions for future articles, additions to this list, or any questions call Mike Kelly

at 360-753-9460.

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Youth Corner Quiz

Put the letters in the right order to complete a Blue Thought!

All living things need __________(tawer) to live.

When water evaporates, it travels into the air and becomes part of a __________(dlocu).

Less than 1% of all the water on earth is __________(sefrh) water.

About 97% of all the water on earth is ___________ (aaeerswt).

About 2% of all the water on earth is in _________ (aceiglrs) and icecaps.

We __________(ikrdn) water in the liquid form.

Check for leaks and save hundreds of __________(glloans) of water a day.

You'll save water by taking a quick __________(howser).

Wash bikes and cars with a __________(kecbut) and a spounge instead of a running hose.

Ask your __________(mfaiyl) to look for ways to save water.

How much water do we use in a day? Match the entries on the left with the correct one on the right

A special thanks to David Yarbrough of Lockheed Martin and U.S. EPA Office of Groundwater

All living things need water to live.

When water evaporates, it travels into the air and becomes part of a cloud.

Less than 1% of all the water on earth is fresh water.

About 97% of all the water on earth is seawater..

About 2% of all the water on earth is in glaciers and icecaps.

We drink water in the liquid form.

Check for leaks and save hundreds of gallons of water a day.

You'll save water by taking a quick shower.

Wash bikes and cars with a bucket and a sponge instead of a running hose.

Ask your family to look for ways to save water.

How much water do we use in a day? How did you do??

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