Public Comments Invited on Water Cleanup List: The
Washington Department of Ecology (ecology) wants your comments
on a list of priority water bodies we have tentatively chosen
for water cleanup planning this year. Ecology organizes water
cleanup efforts through geographic areas called water quality
management areas (WQMA) and chooses water resource inventory
areas (WRIAs) or watersheds in each of our four regions
yearly. To help us select which waters to cleanup, we met
with groups in communities within these WQMAs in these regions
last fall.
The criteria for making these selections included the severity of the pollution, potential harm to human and aquatic health, impaired beneficial uses, such as agriculture, drinking water and fish habitat, and the potential for local support for water cleanup activities. In addition, the presence of threatened and endangered fish species significantly influenced our choices.
Ecology reviews and responds to your comments in August 2003, and then the cleanup list will be finalized.
Please address your comments on the above priority list by July 25, 2003, to Ron McBride, Ecology, P.O. Box 47600, Olympia, WA 98504-7600, rmcb461@ecy.wa.gov, phone (360) 407-6469, or fax (360) 407-6426.
The entire list of water bodies we chose from can be viewed on our website: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/wq/303d/.
The following pages contain the proposed list of water bodies we plan to begin work on in 2003. The list shows each water body and the parameters of concern. The last page lists definitions of pollution problems.
*The projects shown below are the best estimate of our capacity at this time. Ecology's budget has yet to be set for the next biennium. Actual fiscal and staffing levels may result in fewer projects. In addition, as we are working in a geographic region (WRIA), projects may be expanded into additional waterbodies if we find they need work.
| Regional Office | WRIA | Primary Location | Water body(s) Name | Pollution Problems |
| CRO | 37 - 38 | Yakima County | Yakima urban area creeks in the Moxee and Wide Hollow Creek watershed | Fecal Coliform (bacteria) |
| CRO | 38 | Yakima County | Naches River and Tributaries | Temperature |
| ERO | 34 | Whitman County | NF Palouse River | Fecal Coliform |
| ERO | 45 | Spokane County | Little Spokane River | Dissolved Oxygen, pH; Fecal Coliform, Temperature |
| ERO | 55 | Spokane County | Hangman (Latah) Creek | Dissolved Oxygen, pH, Fecal Coliform, Suspended Sediment, Temperature |
| ERO | 58 - 62 | Stevens County | Colville National Forest water bodies | Temperature, Fecal Coliform |
| ERO | 62 | Pend Oreille | Pend Oreille River | Total Dissolved Gas, Temperature |
| NWRO | 1 | Whatcom County | Whatcom Creek | Temperature |
| NWRO | 5 | Snohomish County | Old Stillaguamish Channel in Stillaguamish River watershed | Dissolved Oxygen, pH, Fecal Coliform |
| NWRO | 8 | King County | Sammamish Washington Assessment and Modeling Project (SWAMP). Partnership with KCDNR (see*** below) | Multiple |
| NWRO | 8 | King County | Issaquah, Tibbetts Creeks, south end of Lake Sammamish | Fecal Coliform |
| NWRO | 9 | King County | Green and Duwamish Rivers; Big Soos, Newaukam, Springbrook, and Mill Creeks | Fecal Coliform, Temperature, Dissolved Oxygen, pH, and others (see* below) |
| NWRO | 9 | King County | Longfellow and Des Moines Creeks | Fecal Coliform |
| SWRO | 14 | Mason County | Oakland Bay, Little Skookum/Totten | Fecal Coliform (see** below) |
| WRIAs - Water Resource Inventory Areas or watersheds. *Partnership with King County DNR's Water Quality Assessment (WQA) project. ** Scope could be expanded to cover additional parameters such as dissolved oxygen if data assessment warrants. |
| *** Lake Washington, Lake Sammamish, Lake Union; Bear, Bear-Evans, Little Bear, Eden, North, Swamp, McAleer, Lyons, Thornton, Kelsey, Juanita, Fairweather Bay, Forbes, Coal, May, Yarrow Bay, Issaquah, Tibbetts, Lewis, Pine Lake Creeks; Cedar River, Sammamish River |
A certain minimum amount of dissolved oxygen must be present in water for aquatic life to survive.
Temperature is important because it governs the kinds of aquatic life that can live in a stream.
pH is a term used to indicate the alkalinity or acidity of a substance as ranked on a scale from 1.0 to 14.0. Neutral pH is 7.0. Acidity increases as the pH gets lower.
High levels of Total Dissolved Gas (TDG), air bubbles entrained in water, can harm fish.
Sediment can smother fish eggs, change the aquatic organisms and habitat, and interfere with fish migration, feeding, and spawning.