You and a Thirsty River
Published on October 16, 2009
In a three part video tutorial, Riverkeeper Rick Eichstaedt talks about the need to reverse the decades-long trend of low water flows in the Spokane River, and what all of us can do to help.
The reappearance this fall of toxic blue-green algae on Lake Spokane near Suncrest is a vivid reminder of how vulnerable the Spokane River is to poor water quality conditions. Obviously, this problem is particularly acute late in summer and early fall when water flows are at there lowest and water temperatures their highest.
Aside from the poisonous microcystin that blue-green algae can produce, even the non-toxic algae consumes large quantities of
dissolved oxygen when it dies and decomposes in the river and the lake. That, in turn, depletes the river of the dissolved oxygen that trout and other fish need to survive. As we’ve reported on, at some length, state and federal regulators are now on their third try to come up with a dissolved oxygen remediation plan for the river that will primarily take aim at phosphorous and other nutrients entering the river, primarily from waste water treatment plants.
But there’s more to the story, and one large chapter concerns water quantity because the more water is in the river, generally, the cooler and more oxygen rich the river is.
The primary source of cold, oxygen rich water for the river, especially during the crucial months, is the Spokane aquifer. Unfortunately, the river has to compete for aquifer, and it has to compete against us. When our municipal water provides tap the aquifer to provide us with domestic water, those withdrawals cut into the amount of aquifer water that would otherwise flow into the Spokane River.
Of course the equation of river flows is also influenced by Avista’s Post Falls dam which governs both the amount of water stored in Lake Coeur d’Alene and that which gets released, downstream, to the river.
In this three-part video tutorial, Riverkeeper Rick Eichstaedt walks us through the low water flow problem at three locations. The
first is the Harvard Road recreation area in the Spokane valley where you can see just how dramatically low flows affect how the river looks in late summer. The second is Post Falls dam. And the third is what used to be the backyard of Steve and Mary Llewellyn in south Spokane. To conserve water and reduce lawnwork, the Llewllyns have replaced their back lawn with an attractive plot of native, drought resistant plants, including lavender, switchgrass, and yarrow. (One minor correction to the Post Falls video, our friend Stan Miller informs us that the river flow at Post Falls that day was actually just under 500 cubic feet per second, so we were off by a couple hundred cfs.)
As Steve mentions in the third video, Spokane residents who want to replace their lawn with drought resistant plants and shrubs may be eligible for a $100 refund on their water bills for each 1,000 square feet of lawn replaced. To lean more, go here.
When you’re ready to make the switch from turf to plants, here is a sampling of the drought-resistant plants you may consider using:
-agave
-lavender
-juniper
-sedum
-thyme
Eastern WA’s native plants/shrubs
-Gray rabbit-brush (Chrysothamnus nauseosus)
-Green rabbit-brush (Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus)
-most common
-bitterbrush (Purshia tridentata)
-most attractive
-Purple sage (Salvia dorii)
--Serviceberry, Amelanchier, also known as shadbush, serviceberry, sarvisberry, juneberry, Saskatoon, shadblow, shadwood, sugarplum, and wild-plum.
Click here to see a more comprehensive native plant list for Spokane County.
Here are some of the stores locally and around the region that specialize in native and drought resistant plants:
-Blue Moon Nursery
1732 S Inland Empire Way
Spokane, WA 99224
(509) 747-4255;
http://www.bluemoonplants.com/index.html
Hours: 9-6 daily.
-Desert Jewels Nursery
9809 East Upriver Drive
Spokane, WA 99206
(509) 893-3771
info@desertjewelsnursery.com
http://www.desertjewelsnursery.com/
-BFI Native Seeds, LLC
1145 S Jefferson Ave.
Moses Lake, WA 98837
Tel: 509.765.6348
Fax: 509.764.9978
jbenson@bfinativeseeds.com
http://www.bfinativeseeds.com/
-Grassland West
908 Port Drive ?Clarkston, WA 99403
800.582.2070
Tel: 509.758.9100
Fax: 509.758.6601
styner@grasslandwest.com
www.grasslandwest.com
-Landmark Seed Co.
PO Box 3417
N. 120 Wall St., Suite 400
Spokane, WA 99201
Tel: 800.268.1080
Fax: 509.835.4969
orlin@landmarkseed.com
www.landmarkseed.com
-Plants of the Wild
123 State Line Rd
Tekoa, WA. 99033
http://www.plantsofthewild.com
-Rainier Seeds, Inc.
1404 Fourth St.
Davenport, WA 99122
Tel: 800.828.8873 or 509.725.1235
Fax: 509.725.7015
rainierseeds@rainierseeds.com
www.rainierseeds.com
-Rimrock Nursery
Jim Blake
5511 S. Dorset
Spokane, WA 99224
Tel: 509.688.3426
rimrock@q.com
www.rimrocknursery.com
-Spring Creek Nursery
3226 W. Montgomery Rd.
Deer Park, WA 99006
Tel: 509.276.8278
Fax: 509.838.1957
-Thorn Creek Native Seed Farm
461 Thorn Creek Road
Genesee, Idaho 83832;
208.596.9122
http://www.nativeseedfarm.com/about.php
Hours: Order online or call for appointment.
For additional information on native and drought resistant plants and where to get them, go here.
CFJ intern Shantrice Anderson assisted with the research for this article.