In case you live under a rock or are not friends with Mariah on Facebook, Sustainable September is here.  This month-long series of events that raises awareness about all of the great efforts in the Inland Northwest includes discussions, activities, presentations, and tours, “designed to build community and increase awareness so that Spokane can become more environmentally and economically resilient.”

For a Spokane Riverkeeper offering, we are proud to take part in a special weekly forum organized by Stan Miller.  The Spokane River Speaker Series: non-point source and stormwater impacts on the Spokane River and possible solutions, will be held weekly on Thursday evenings from 5:30 to 7 in the Community Building Lobby at 35 West Main Avenue in downtown Spokane.

“The Spokane River is one of our city’s most beautiful, important features. Join local experts in stormwater issues from the non-profit, engineering, and legal realms to learn more about Spokane’s unique storm water and non-point source issues and the solutions being implemented.”  Stan Miller

Here’s how the month will play out:

September 2: Kat Hall of the Lands Council will talk about shoreline work being done on the Spokane River
September 9: Stan Miller will talk about  a non-point study and  rainwater collection

September 16: I’ll be joined by Mike Chappell, the director of Gonzaga’s environmental law clinic to discuss the Spokane Riverkeeper’s view of stormwater and non-point dischargers, while Mike will talk about the legal aspects of stormwater control

September 23: Len Zickler, a recognized expert in the field of sustainable site design and low impact development (LID) with over 30 years’ experience as a planner and landscape architect will present LID 101

September 30: Marcia Davis will talk about the City of Spokane’s SURGE project and what the city is doing to clean up stormwater

And don’t forget to see all of the other great events going on this month on the Sustainable September Calendar.

This is the second part of my two-part dialogue chronicling my journey north last week with the SHAWL Society and the Spokane Tribe.  Yesterday’s post about my river trip can be found HERE.

For a guy from Butte, Montana, the site of open pit mining isn’t nearly as shocking as I’d imagine it would be to someone with no preconceived understanding or experience.  Which isn’t to say the site of giant gashes in mountainsides, glowing waste water pits, tailing piles of unnaturally colored rocks and sand, and even more unnaturally tree-less plots of forest land isn’t shocking.

That’s where I found myself last week on a guided tour of the Midnite Mine - an inactive open-pit uranium mine located on the Spokane Indian Reservation about eight miles from Wellpinit in Stevens County.  And shockingly close to the Spokane River.

Having not been in operation since the 80′s, and with clean up efforts yet underway despite the EPA’s Record of Decision (ROD) being signed in 2006, the Midnite Mine Superfund Site is very much a barren, quiet shell of its former self.  Which isn’t to say that I’m not likely to have nightmares of the threat this site poses to the Spokane River and the surrounding communities.

Randy Connolly, who is with the Spokane Tribe’s Department of Natural Resources, and is the tribe’s designated Superfund coordinator/director the for the cleanup drove myself, Tim Connor, and Deb Abrahamson, the director of the SHAWL Society around the site last Thursday.

We met at the site’s main entrance which features a blunt sign proclaiming, “Radioactive Area”.   Despite not being able to come up with one good Simpson’s joke we entered.  Randy drove us up and around washed out roads with views of waste rock piles out both sides.  Bright orange and reddish and black rocks gave the feeling of being on another planet, while reclaimed piles with dead grass toupees returned some sense of a familiar Earth-like view.

Randy drove us to one pit, Pit #4, where animal tracks led right to the water’s edge.

Blue Creek empting in to the Spokane River

Pumped water, as well as some contaminated run-off water is treated at on on-site treatment facility with a drainage in to Blue Creek.  That same Blue Creek runs directly in to the Spokane River, often carrying surface water from the mine’s drainage basin that flows to three drainages that empty in to the creek.

Understanding that is one thing, coming to terms with the fact that even if the mine site’s clean up plan is implemented correctly, it will forever rely on pump and treat  to protect Blue Creek.  So the threat to the Spokane River will be forever.  Which is already not ideal given that according to Randy, sulfate levels are currently a concern and are damaging the creek.

Pit 3

After seeing Pit #4, Randy took us higher up the mountain where he stopped and told us a view of Pit #3 was just over the edge.  He said to be careful with footing and not get too close.  How many times have you heard that and felt it  exaggerated?  My point exactly.  However, Randy couldn’t have been any more accurate.  Straight down, some several hundred feet from where my tip toes rested, was a glowing blueish green pit of waste water.  Looking at that, with view of Lake Roosevelt and the Spokane River in the backdrop gave me the impression that this wouldn’t be the last time I venture up north.

I look forward to working more closely with Deb Abrahamson and SHAWL, and the Spokane Tribe to diligently monitor the clean up process and progress, and to address other concerns that might pop up.  And I’ll be sure to keep you all updated here on The Living River.

In the book, The Riverkeepers by John Cronin and Robert F. Kennedy Jr, Cronin tells a story about his once constant connection to the Hudson River and how it faded over time; and how upon being back to visit it later his coming to terms that it just felt different.  He said, “At that time, the Hudson was not a destination but another point in the circle of our lives.  It was of our neighborhood and family.”

I couldn’t get that quote out of my head last Thursday on the drive back to Spokane after having spent the entire day up north on the lower section of the Spokane River as well as surrounding areas of concern.

Called the Spokane Arm of Lake Roosevelt, the last 29 miles of the Spokane River is a vast, 2,400-square mile river basin that empties in to Franklin Delano Roosevelt Lake, the massive reservoir created by the Grand Coulee Dam on the Columbia River.  Flat and vast, and resembling a river very little, this stretch, like many others on the 111-mile Spokane River look nothing like they did before the dams went in.  A thought that held different meanings prior to my trip on Thursday

Keith Keiffer is a Ranger with the Spokane Tribal Police.  Last Thursday he graciously transported a group of us up the Spokane River from the Two Rivers Marina.  Included on the Tribal Police’s sleek looking speed boat were myself, the Center’s communication guru and trip photographer Tim Connor, Terri Anderson, a volunteer with the SHAWL Society which is a Spokane Indian Reservation advocacy group focusing on mining issues in the area, and Clyde Lynn, a wise local tribal resident with decades of knowledge of this stretch of the river.

Keith had us out on the water for just a few hours, which ended up being more than ideal as Thursday’s strong winds started picking up when we returned to the marina.  In that time I was struck by a thought that had never crossed my mind.  For all of the problems that Keith and/or Clyde could have gave about the river’s dams or ecological destruction, it was the cultural decomposition that we talked most about.   And never was it more powerful than the moment that Keith guided our boat over an otherwise unassuming section of river recalling that the spot now covered with river water, the spot many a wake board spill and engine throttle increase occurred, was once a tribal village location.

Yes, before Little Falls Dam and Grand Coulee Dam, the last 29 miles of the Spokane River was a river in the traditional sense of the word – with visible river rock and currents.  And salmon, food for the tribe that lived along the banks.

No more though.  The dams choked off the salmon runs, and flooded land that was rich with history, rich with culture.  Keith and Clyde told us of stories about burials becoming uncovered when the river is drawn down in the winter months, and artifacts washing up year after year.  It’s true that the dams changed the physical landscape more than we could probably ever imagine, but it changed the cultural make up of this area FAR more than we could ever dream.

Hearing from Clyde and Keith, and experiencing the Spokane River through their vantage point gave me a far deeper appreciation and understanding of a river that touches all of us.  And it definitely reaffirms what I learned earlier this month about the Spokane River truly being something different for all of us.  For as this stretch is very much a destination for many in the northwest, it is certainly an integral point in the lives and history of Keith, Clyde and all of the Spokane Tribe.

Tomorrow I’ll write more on the second leg of the roadtrip, our visit to the Midnite Mine; an old uranium mine and the problems it poses for the Spokane River.

Undoubtedly upping the stakes in a growing controversy, another dock has been added to a stretch of the Spokane River, east of Millwood, which is thought to be ecologically important for the river’s struggling native Redband trout

The Spokane River at Coyote Rocks

population. The second dock was apparently added within the past week. It is near milepost 13 on the Centennial Trail, a quarter mile west of the first dock that was built last winter.

Earlier this month, fisheries expert Wayne Daley and recently retired Washington Department of Ecology biologist Doug Pineo visited the Coyote Rocks area of the river at the invitation of Spokane Riverkeeper attorney Rick Eichstaedt. CFJ Communication Director Tim Connor shot the embedded video which includes underwater photography of the river bed and the first Coyote Rocks dock.

The Department of Ecology has joined with the Riverkeeper and other organizations, including the Spokane Chapter of Trout Unlimited, to oppose the proliferation of docks in the area. In a petition filed by Ecology in May, it alleges that the docks planned for this stretch of the river “will result in complete degradation of the shoreline” in violation of the state’s Shoreline Management Act.

The second dock at Coyote Rocks development.

In the video Daley explains the significance of the Redband trout and why this stretch of the river may be important to the ability of the fish to spawn and mature. Pineo takes a somewhat broader perspective, not only talking about the Redband but the diversity of other fish, birds, and riparian wildlife that are threatened by the encroachment of development in this area.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eb9O3d9-WR0

SPOKANE - Some 150 junior water-right holders and other residents along the Little Spokane River are being asked to curtail their irrigation or other use of river water until the fall rains.

The Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) determined through its stream gauge network that the river’s flow has decreased to a point where it’s necessary to ensure water is available for fish and senior water-right holders.

This is the ninth time in 10 years that late summer flows have diminished enough to restrict junior water-right holders and other users from taking water from the river.

Junior water-right holders can check the Ecology Stream Condition Hotline every day until Oct. 1 before irrigating – to see if the river’s flow is below protective flows set by state rule. The toll-free number is 1-866-645-7358. Those without access to a touch-tone phone may call Ecology’s Spokane office at 509-329-3400 to request this information.

Under Washington state law, those who have older, “senior” water rights are protected from having their water supply cut off by those with newer or “junior” water rights.

On Aug. 23, 2010, the flow in the Little Spokane River at one measuring gauge was 109 cubic feet per second (cfs). The minimum flow adopted by regulation for that day was 115 cfs.  One cubic foot equals
7.48 gallons.

Ecology established an in-stream flow regulation for the Little Spokane River basin in 1976. Depending on the time of year, the base
(minimum) stream flow ranges from 115 to 250 cfs. It is lowest in the heat of summer.

This year, residents holding junior water rights on the river, and other users, are asked to curtail their use because flows have dropped below the limits set by the state rule.

Keeping the stream flow at healthy levels is essential to protect fish and wildlife habitat so that the Little Spokane River can remain a healthy, robust ecosystem.

Join the Forum

Anyone interested in being part of the statewide discussion on water management can join Ecology’s Water Smart Washington Online Forum on Monday, Aug. 30, 2010.

Ecology’s ongoing mission is to work with Washington communities in support of managing sustainable water resources for the benefit of people and the natural environment. Efforts to fulfill that mission, however, have been handicapped in recent years by inconsistent funding.

Your comments and suggestions will be posted online in the Forum and your questions will be answered. Your participation in the Forum will help shape the policy initiatives Ecology is considering and the proposed legislation that Ecology will be requesting to reform water resource management in Washington state.

Please check Ecology’s homepage on Monday, Aug. 30 and join in the discussion.   In the meantime, view the introductory video for the Online Forum.

# # #

Media Contacts:

Jani Gilbert, Communications, 509-329-3495; cell, 509-990-9177;
e-mail: jani.gilbert@ecy.wa.gov
Cathy Cochrane, Communications, 509-329-3433; cell, 509-290-0685; e-mail: ccoc461@ecy.wa.gov

To see the regulation: (WAC Chapter 173-555):
http://www.ecy.wa.gov/pubs/wac173555.pdf

The term “the devil is in the details” is one of the most used cliches you’ll hear in a meeting.  That’s my opinion stated as fact, but it has to be up there.  Monday was no exception as political, legal, business and conservation representatives from across the Inland Northwest gathered in Liberty Lake at a big meeting organized by Washington DOE,  Idaho DEQ,  and the EPA.

In attendance was Ted Sturdevant, Director of Washington Department of Ecology, Toni Hardesty, Director of Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, and Dennis McLerran, Regional Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency Region 10.

Discussed was issuing permits for all dischargers in both Washington and Idaho to meet the Spokane River TMDL (total maximum daily load) , also called a Water Quality Improvement Plan.  A plan that the EPA approved in May after 12 years of negotiation.  Also discussed was a proposed nutrient trading program (think carbon trading) to help some dischargers meet the TMDL, while incentivizing those who will meet it.

Sound confusing?  It is.  And that was the theme of the meeting.  How will a trading program work bi-state?  What ratios of discharge and where at on the river or triburatry will be modeled?  Where have agricultural representatives been at during this discussion as they’re the ones that will be trading with larger dischargers?  And maybe biggest of all, what does this all mean in light of Idaho discharger’s lawsuit against the EPA to declare the TMDL void.  In response, those convening the meeting urged for patience and optimism.

If you’re interested in what you missed, and next steps in this process, the Spokane River Forum is hosting Monday’s agenda, PowerPoint presentations and other hand-outs used and provided by agency staff at the meeting.

For more information on water quality trading, have a look at the EPA’s Water Quality Trading website.

Additionally, the Kootenai Environmental Alliance posted a very in depth piece on the Spokane River TMDL back in May – it provides great background on the 12-year TMDL process.

And for more analysis on the TMDL, the Spokane River Forum issued a piece in July called “Numbers, science and fairness behind Idaho discharger challenge to DO TMDL.”

Last year more than 800 volunteers collected eight tons of debris from along the banks of the Spokane River in the Spokane River Gorge area and the University District.

I’ve volunteered for this event many times and have been a team leader on a few occasions.  I’ve found it to be one of the most rewarding volunteer endeavors I’ve ever engaged in.  Now is your opportunity to volunteer.  Maybe you’ve participated in the past and would like a bigger role, maybe you’ve  been leading teams for yours, or maybe you’d like to jump right in on your first time and assume a leadership role.  Whatever the case, we could use your help.

To get excited, here is an S-R article about last year’s event and a photo slideshow as well.

Spokane River Clean-Up

The Spokane River Clean Up needs volunteers for key positions that make the event possible. To volunteer for any of the roles described below, please call Stephen Barbieri at (509) 953-6437 or Shawna Sampson at (509) 951-0608. If you simply want to participate in the clean up, please preregister (starting August 30) at www.friendsofthefalls.org.

Team Leaders (70): On September 25, from 8:30 – 12:30: supervise a team of about 30 people within their assigned area, helping to make sure volunteers follow guidelines for handling recyclables, flag and call–in trash that needs special handling, and make sure trash is left only in the designated pick up areas. Familiarity with the outdoors is a plus. Basic first-aid knowledge is helpful, but not required. We need about 70 team leaders this year!

Team leaders must attend an orientation meeting a few days before the clean up (Sept 22, 6 p.m., location to be determined), where we review the overall plan and discuss guidelines for handling trash and recyclables, and dealing with hazards. Then we work together to assemble the gear bags that are distributed to volunteers on the morning of September 25. This meeting will last about 2 hours.

Parking Attendants (3): On September 25, from 8:15 to 9:15 a.m., greet clean-up participants as they park in the west lot at Spokane Falls Community College and provide each participant with a free bus pass for the STA shuttle. Participate in the clean up from 10 – noon if desired. Attendance at the September 22 orientation meeting is optional.

Take Down Crew (4): On September 25, from about 2 – 3 p.m., help clean up after the clean up! Working in either High Bridge Park or the U District, take down chairs and tables, load unused supplies, etc. Attendance at the September 22 orientation meeting is optional.

That’s what a group of us found out on Saturday as  I put another notch in my belt of previously unexplored Spokane River sections that I now lay claim to.  My wife Sara and I joined the Spokane River Forum for a kayak trip from the Lake Spokane boat lunch site, which is just downriver from Nine Mile Falls Dam, to Tum Tum – all part of this year’ s Meet Me at the River Raft and Kayak Passport Series.

It was a beautiful day to be on the water with temperatures staying in the comfortably warm to comfortably hot range throughout the nearly six hours we were paddling.

Being that I’m a stickler for details, the thing to note here is that though it’s still called the Spokane River, this particular stretch is very much flat and lake-like, or reservoir-like to be more accurate.

Often called Long Lake, Lake Spokane is a 25-mile reservoir between Nine Mile Falls Dam and Long Lake Dam.  It’s a community of lavish lakefront homes and two-stroke recreation.  Artificial beaches and manucured lawns that stretch right to the shoreline are common, as are massive patches of lily pads that are the result of low dissolved oxygen.   Being that this year has been cooler than usual the algae blooms didn’t appear to be as prevalent as year’s past.   But low dissolved oxygen, excessive algae blooms and the degradation of down river water quality remains  a problem

I digress.

Kayaking this stretch of “river” certainly reaffirmed by understanding of the diversity of the Spokane River.  Wide and flat, it is an understatement to say that this stretch is different than the Spokane River you see in downtown Spokane.  That’s what’s great about this river though.  It’s big and diverse and offers something for everyone.

The trip with the Spokane River Forum and the 15 or so paddlers that signed up was a great way to spend a Saturday.  I was feeling it Sunday with tight abs, sore elbows and strange burn spots on my knees where the sun found a way to creep in to the kayak bottom, but it was so worth it.

Many paddlers on the trip had great questions about shoreline protections, water rights and the role of the Spokane Riverkeeper, so I walked away both confident that there are plenty of people that care deeply for the river, and excited to get to work on developing some education pieces for the public.

While it isn’t officially a Riverkeeper initiation ritual, I think taking a swim in one’s body of water ought to be.  That’s what I did today, and though the calendar says summer, my core temperature reads anything but.

It wasn’t a particularly beautiful day to begin with, a point the Center’s communications maestro Tim Connor tried making when bringing up the possibility of delaying the field trip until Friday.  But it’s still August, and truth be told, I was more concerned with my own weak swimming ability and slight fear of water depth then I was about a little chill.

So we headed out of the office in the afternoon for a field trip.  Tim, myself and Rick Eichstaedt, bound for the “Big Eddy”, a favorite swimming hole of Tim’s and a location I’ve been dozens of times previously, but further up above looking down from the Downriver Disc Golf Course.  Tim swims there nearly every day and recently he’s encountered large schools of trout – possibly of the Brown or Rainbow variety.

Tim was anxious to show Rick and I the fish, though I was more excited to get more swimming and snorkeling experience since my Montana upbringing didn’t have too many people saying the phrase, “he’s like a fish in that water  isn’t he.”

With the sun playing hide-and-seek in the clouds and the temperature somewhere in the mid 80′s, we put on fins and masks (Rick and I did at least), and made the always difficult initial plunge.  Getting sucker punched in the stomach – that’s about what it felt like.  After about five minutes of acclimating we headed out to the hole where Tim had seen the schools of trout before.

Apparently I was unaware that swimming 100+ yards would take so much out of me.  I reached the opposite bank and caught my breath while Rick and Tim dove around looking for trout.  The sporadic sunshine made seeing them difficult, and the fish were pretty deep anyways, so they only got a few glances.  But Rick did see some and remarked how surprised he was at how big they were.

Lung capacity and muscle willing, I would have liked to have made an attempt to dive down and see the trout.  There’s always next time I suppose.  The best thing about this experience is the realization that who needs pools when something like the “Big Eddy” exists with such easy access.

As I sit typing this my hands are still shivering a bit and I think I’m breathing cold air still, but I wouldn’t trade that experience for anything.  I just might take Tim’s advice next time and wait until the temps are in the 90′s.

Here is your chance to speak up for equal state-wide standards to ensure polluted stormwater is being dealt with in the most effective way.
The Washington Department of Ecology will be in Spokane Wednesday inviting feedback about the upcoming update to municipal stormwater permits.  You are encouraged to attend and speak up for low impact development (LID) requirements that would go a long way in decreasing polluted stormwater, which is the number one threat to clean water in Spokane and all of Washington state.

Wednesday’s public workshop or “listening session” will be held at the Shadle Library (W. 2111 Wellesley Ave) from 1:00 to 4:00.  The public is welcome to attend and listen to Ecology’s presentation, as well as submit comments about why it’s important for the city of Spokane to adopt LID stormwater management requirements for new development.

Simply put, LID stormwater management is modeled after nature by using design techniques that infiltrate, filter, store, evaporate, and detain runoff close to its source.  Stormwater management should not be seen as stormwater disposal.  Instead of conveying and managing / treating stormwater in large, costly end-of-pipe facilities located at the bottom of drainage areas, LID addresses stormwater through small, cost-effective landscape features located at the lot level.

LID development not only protects clean water, but it is cheaper to build than traditional stormwater technology.  It makes our neighborhoods more livable, creates jobs, reduces flooding, cleans up the Spokane River and increase property values.  It’s a win-win for our communities.

As it stands now, the permits ignore fast-growing smaller cities and also our own city, the second largest city in the state.  Covering all areas with a single protective standard avoids patchwork and confusing regulation.  Consider attending this session and urging Ecology to adopt LID standards for Spokane.