Chehalis River Council <br> January 1996 Newsletter

Drops of Water

January - 1996

What a Year!

Opportunities and issues were all over the place during 1995. Virtually every issue of local newspapers had an article dealing with water issues.

Despite that, a number of people simply rolled up their sleeves, picked up their tools, and went to work to address some issues.

All the details are not available, but here is what is known:

11.6 miles of streambank fencing were installed.
17.3 miles of streams were revegetated.
3,950 feet of streambanks was stabilized.
52,850 sq. feet of off channel rearing habitat were created.
2.25 miles of streams were opened up
1600 feet were cleared of severe blackberry - canary grass infestation.

This list summarizes just the activities that took place with support of the US Fish and Wildlife 1995 Chehalis Fisheries Restoration Program.
The CRC would like to hear about efforts of other groups! Call, write, or e-mail your information!

December meeting

Who would expect 50+ attendees the night following the worst storm of the decade? Despite the residual wind, rain, and lack of power a roomful of people participated in a presentation delivered by Selden Hall.
Selden is Wastewater Management Specialist with the Washington Department of Health.
Selden's topic was "Alternative Septic Systems".

It is beyond the skills of this writer to accurately report all the information and data which Seldon presented. There are numerous choices in traditional and alternative septic systems and they each have advantages. Properly installed and maintained, they are an intelligent and logical choice for protecting the environment.

The CRC will obtain appropriate reference documents and make them available through the CRC resource library and they should be available early in January, 1996.

Keep some thing in mind as you plan a new septic installation, or when you are faced with a major repair or replacement of an existing system:

Over 81% of the land in the basin has soils that are classified as severely limited for traditional septic system use.
Your septic system is supposed to treat waste water so that it can safely reenter the ground water.
The old system you have may not meet the specifications in place today.

Individuals are now facing some of the same issues which industry, cities, and dairy farmers have had to face. Waste treatment plants must clean up their discharges. Dairy farmers are installing and managing huge waste lagoons. Businesses are upgrading their processing cycles. All of this is done to protect water.

Fortunately technology now offers the home owner some choices. In situations where a traditional septic system will not work, we now have alternative designs and methods of installing safe and long lasting solutions. Just like a waste treatment plant or dairy lagoon system, these new home systems require different installation techniques and more consistent inspections and testing.

If you want more information you can start with your local Department of Environmental Health. Other sources of information include:

Louis Hagler
Evergreen Multi-Flo
5636 Lenz Place, Langley WA
206-321-4030

Ronald Inman
Northwest Cascade
P.O. Box 73399, Puyallup, WA
800-562-4442

Michael Morris
Keystone Engineering
P.O. Box 360, Black Diamond, WA
206-886-1396

Ekofinn Ltd.
33639 Ninth Ave. S, Federal Way, WA
206-661-6128

Pemits?

Did you see this? From the Washington Department of Ecology :

The Department of Ecology wants to know about conflicts, duplications, and inconsistencies in Washington State's environmental permitting statutes, regulations, or procedures; any examples you might have about difficulties you encountered trying to get a permit; and your suggestions on how to fix the problems.

Washington State's Permit Assistance Center staff is preparing a report to the Legislature on conflicts, duplication, and perceived inconsistencies in state environmental permitting statutes, regulations, and procedures. The report will be sent to the Legislature in December 1996.

Center staff would like your help in identifying permitting problems. To be included in the report, your information should be received by the end of August 1996. All information will be reviewed, compiled, and edited prior to inclusion in the report. Please include your name and address or phone number with any information you send us in case we need to contact you for clarification or to ask additional questions.

You can provide information to the Permit Assistance Center as follows:
Phone: (360) 407-7037
Fax: (360) 407-6904
E-mail: ecypac@ecy.wa.gov
U.S. Mail: Permit Assistance Center
WA Dept of Ecology
PO Box 47600 Olympia, WA 98504-7600

Catalogs?

In the pursuit of water quality or other environmental objectives, there are providers of nonelectric devices. A catalog that reached the CRC comes from : Lehmans, PO Box 41, Kidron, Ohio (216) 857-5757. It has a cover price of $3 and contains new and old solutions you might find interesting.

JANUARY SEMINAR

Aberdeen is the location of the January CRC seminar. Trout Unlimited has offered the use of their facility in Aberdeen.

At this meeting we will focus on just what are water quality issues from the perspective of nonpoint sources. Much of the information will come from the Chehalis River Basin Action Plan, and it will be new to many of the potential attendees. Trout Unlimited is located at: 303 South "I" Street.

Update to Plan Information

The information presented in the Chehalis River Basin Action Plan was current for that time period. Recent news indicates we still need to keep focused and keep working.
In September of 1995 Washington Department of Ecology released the 1994 Washington State Water Quality Assessment 305(b) report. In this edition of the report, the following waterbodies were added as impaired:
Humptulips River from the mouth to the confluence of the East Fork and West Fork at RM 28.1

Black Creek from the mouth at the Wynoochee River to the headwaters.
Wildcat Creek from the mouth to the headwaters
Satsop River from the confluence with the Chehalis River to confluence of East Fork and West Fork.
Garrard Creek from mouth at the Chehalis River to the headwaters.
Black River from the mouth at the Chehalis River to the headwaters.
Independence Creek from the mouth at the Chehalis River to the headwaters.
Scatter Creek from the mouth at the Chehalis River to the headwaters.
Lincoln Creek from the mouth at the Chehalis River to the headwaters.
Coal Creek from the mouth at Salzer Creek to the headwaters.
Berwick Creek from the mouth at Dillenbaugh Creek to the headwaters.
Skookumchuck River from the confluence at the Chehalis River to Hanaford Creek.
Chehalis River from Newaukum River to Rock Creek.
Stearns Creek from the mouth at the Chehalis River to the headwaters.
Bunker Creek from the mouth at the Chehalis River to the headwaters.
South Fork of the Chehalis River from mouth to the headwaters.
Elk Creek from the mouth at the Chehalis River to the headwaters.
Chehalis River from Rock Creek to confluence of East Fork and West Fork
Mima Creek from mouth at Black River to headwaters.
Beaver Creek from mouth at Black River to headwaters.
Littlerock Ditch from mouth at Black River to headwaters

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This newsletter produced with the support of grants from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Washington Department of Ecology .