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Department of Ecology News Release - October 8, 2004
04-188
SPOKANE - The public is invited to a workshop to learn more about a newly developed draft plan for protecting dissolved oxygen in the Spokane River and Lake Spokane.
The workshop will be hosted by the state Department of Ecology at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 19, at Spokane Falls Community College, Student Union Building, 3410 W. Fort George Wright Drive.
The purpose of the draft water-quality cleanup plan (also known as a total maximum daily load, or TMDL) is to help the lake and river meet state and federal water-quality standards for oxygen.
Currently, portions of the river and lake do not contain enough dissolved oxygen to support a healthy fish population. The river and lake contain too much phosphorus pollution and other organic materials that act like fertilizer, causing algae and other aquatic plants to thrive. As the plants decompose, they use up the oxygen in the water.
The sources of the pollutants that deplete oxygen include industries and cities along the Spokane River in Washington and Idaho as well as polluted runoff from fertilizers, animal waste and failing septic systems. They also include industries, towns and polluted runoff from along the tributaries to the Spokane River, such as Hangman Creek.
"The plan will mean some major changes in requirements for the sources of phosphorus, in particular," said Jim Bellatty, who manages the water quality program in Spokane. "We have been working with industries and cities for years to find a workable solution. As we learn more, the cleanup plan may change to consider new information."
To solve the problem, the current human-caused loading of pollutants that affect dissolved oxygen would need to be almost entirely eliminated during the months of April though October.
The proposed plan is the culmination of more than five years of work to develop and use a state-of-the-science computer model. The model, developed by the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers in conjunction with Portland State University, predicts the status of water quality under different scenarios.
At the workshop, Ecology scientists will present a brief explanation of the problem and the draft cleanup plan, and the public will have an opportunity to ask questions. The workshop will mark the beginning of formal 30-day period when written comments can be sent to Ecology on the proposed plan.
Several earlier public meetings and workshops were held in Spokane during the model's development to explain the process and receive public comments.
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Contact: Jani Gilbert, public information manager, 509-329-3495; pager, 509-622-3073
Frequently asked questions: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/biblio/0410073.html
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