It is now 24 months since the CRC was incorporated as a nonprofit. As we start our third year in September it seems timely to summarize some of the events and accomplishments that have take place over those two years.
Since September of 1994:
We have a number of tasks in front of us to meet the requirements of our grants. By year end we must:
Earlier this year the CRC won a grant from the US Fish and Wildlife Service. In that grant we stated that we would put together a basin wide newsletter that brings together information concerning water quality, water resources, fisheries and streambank restoration. Once the grant was awarded, the CRC requested bids from basin newspapers. As a result The Chronicle, in Centralia, in competition with others, won the bid and will be the paper responsible for printing and distributing the newsletter.
A survey shows there are 45,000 households, in the basin, that receive a regular newspaper. If you live in the Chehalis basin, and if you receive a newspaper, you should get the newsletter.
Since the newsletter focuses on the Chehalis basin, there will be no distribution, by newspaper, to Olympia, Tumwater, Lacey or other communities outside of the basin.
This basin is huge. The news, good and bad, seldom reaches everyone. The restoration efforts on the head waters are never heard about downstream. The oyster farming issues are a surprise to folks in Tenino and Chehalis.
State, county and local agencies and organizations are invited to submit their material to the Chehalis River Council for reporting in the newsletter.
The CRC will be contacting agencies and groups to invite them to take advantage of this opportunity to get their message in the newsletter.
Earlier this year the Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR) implemented a new process. This process made it possible for interested organizations to receive copies of Forest Practice Applications (FPA).
A FPA is submitted by a land owner, to DNR, for operations involving forest or timber activities. Generally these involve plans to harvest timber. The landowner specifies the amount of road to be built, the acres to be harvested and indicates if herbicides are to be applied.
These FPAs generally represent activities scheduled to take place in the future.
The CRC receives copies of the FPAs for the basin. Data from the FPA are recorded and we track activity by section, range and township. We are interested in learning where events take place and, over time, seeing if there is a relationship between this activity and water quality. It will take a long time for this information and possibility of a relationship to take develop.
Meanwhile some interesting statistics have surfaced. Just since the first of the year:
Total FPAs 262
Feet of new road 645,341
Acres to be logged 14,065
Acres to be sprayed 4,302
If all these potential FPA events take place, this could mean that in this basin potentially 122 miles of road will be built, or looked at another way 178 acres will be cleared for roads, and 22 square miles will be logged.
A number of water related stories have made the newspapers recently. Some are repeated here.
The Chronicle, June 18, reported on developments and activities of the Flood Action Council in Lewis County. This group is doing a lot of good work and involving residents in meetings devoted to issues related to the 1996 flood.
Later, July 11, the Chronicle reported on flood repair activities taking place down stream. A related story appeared in the Olympian on July 9th. Both focused on a U.S. Department of Agriculture supported effort to stabilize an undercut streambank on the Chehalis. They reported that 15,000 to 20,000 tons of rip rap were being placed on the Chehalis River.
20,000 tons (40,000,000 pounds) of rip rap might appear to have an impact on residents both upstream and downstream of that site and perhaps events like this point out the need for and importance of coordination and cooperation throughout the basin.
On 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.
If the property owners approve a local improvement district to pay for the project a system could begin operation by April of 1998.
Grand Mound residents and businesses currently depend upon septic systems. A conversion to a sewage system is a positive step and one which should protect the aquifer and the quality of water.
Septic systems were a major topic in the Olympian June 28. A community north of Lacey was involved in testing of septic tanks. While the community is not part of our basin, the results of the tests are important. In that test of 28 systems, 17 failed. This is a very high failure rate - but it does point out that septic tank owners simply can't flush and forget. Ground water must be protected and while a septic system is a good, economical way to deal with waste, they must be maintained and cared for. Your local Department of Health can provide you information on the care and maintenance needed to keep a septic system in good shape.
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.
The battle for water quality continues on the coast. 130 coastal cranberry growers have joined in a voluntary pollution prevention program. Drainage ditches in their area have been shown to be contaminated with common pesticides and by-products of DDT. DDT hasn't been used by growers for more than 20 years and recently excavated soils are thought to be the source.
Growers are changing their application practices and have already reduced the use of pesticides by 25% since 1988.
Last month Drops of Water carried a follow-up story on a water quality issue in Woburn Mass. Newspapers have recently reported on another water quality issue that impacts pregnant women. Three Indiana women who miscarried a total of six times within two years may have been sickened by polluted well water. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the women were drinking well water that contained high levels of nitrate, which is found naturally in trace amounts in many vegetables but can be harmful at the high levels present in animal and human feces. The three women, who miscarried between 1991 and 1993, all lived within a few miles of each other in LaGrange County, a farming community in northeastern Indiana. County health officials checked area wells after a resident alerted them to high nitrate levels in her water. Nineteen families were interviewed, including five women who had given birth without trouble. All four women have changed their drinking water and have since given birth, the Centers for Disease Control said.
Another water quality related story that has made the headlines deals with beach closures. Those reports cite over 3,500 closures largely because of sewage overflows and stormwater pollution. The surprising element in all this is only five states -- Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana and New Jersey -- comprehensively monitor beach water for swimmer safety.
Woburn Mass was mentioned earlier and reported in the July issue. You might recall "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."
We may be a continent away but similar events happen here too. 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."
The CRC is committed to working to improve water quality. Water quality is a real issue. Resolving this issue will take the cooperation of everyone.
Each day that we defer making decisions which support clean water puts us further and further from the solution.
Land use, water use or conservation, pesticide use, fertilizers, building practices, sewage and septic issues, logging practices, stormwater, all these and more have a direct impact on the present and future quality of your water.
The CRC is a voluntary membership based organization. We are working today to do what we can to help educate people, to help agencies and stakeholders work together to provide an environment which supports are water quality and water resource. Working together we can make this a desirable, productive and safe watershed. We need your help. Won't you join with us?
August is Fair Month and Vacation Time. Take a break and watch your mailbox! Right after Labor Day you will receive an announcement about the September CRC seminar.
No meeting in
August
Enjoy the
County Fairs
See you in September!