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Department of Ecology Press Release - November 23, 2005
05-288
SPOKANE - Stevens County residents are invited to a meeting on Dec. 5 to review progress toward reducing fecal-coliform bacteria in the Colville River.
The meeting will be held from 6 to 8 p.m., Tuesday, Dec. 5, at the Community Colleges of Spokane's Colville Campus, 985 S. Elm St. in Colville.
Water-quality specialists from the state Department of Ecology (Ecology) worked with members of the local community to develop an implementation plan that includes specific strategies to reduce bacteria. That plan was completed in July.
Approximately 20 different local, state and federal agencies and organizations are taking steps now to reduce bacteria in the watershed. Bacteria levels need to be reduced as much as 98 percent to meeting state water-quality criteria.
At the meeting, the Stevens County Conservation District will review the results of this year's water monitoring and others will update the group on what cleanup activities have taken place over the year.
Sources of fecal-coliform pollution in the Colville River watershed include humans (leaking septic systems), domestic animals (cattle, horses, and pets), birds and wild animals. Stormwater runoff from towns also may contain high amounts of fecal-coliform bacteria.
The implementation plan calls for increased public education on how to minimize pollution plus monitoring the river and tributaries to collect more data for informed decision making. The plan also calls for landowners to voluntarily use "best management practices," such as providing water for livestock away from the river and other streams and planting native plant species along the stream to provide filtration.
Fecal-coliform bacteria are microscopic organisms that live in the intestines and waste material of warm-blooded animals. Although not necessarily agents of disease, fecal-coliform bacteria can be an indicator of disease-carrying organisms.
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Contact: Jani Gilbert, public information manager, 509-329-3495; pager, 509-622-3073
Copyright © Washington State Department of Ecology. See http://www.ecy.wa.gov/copyright.html.
