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Department of Ecology News Release - January 24, 2008
08-020
OLYMPIA – The Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) will hold four public workshops across the state in February about the state’s 2008 Water Quality Assessment, which is the most current picture of water quality in Washington.
Ecology’s assessment, which is required by the federal Clean Water Act, is a combination of the state’s updated list of polluted waters plus a status of all state waters. It is based on data about waters that Ecology received or collected as of December 2006.
Ecology uses the assessment to identify pollution problems and set priorities for improving water quality so water can be safe for swimming, fish habitat and drinking.
In the workshops, Ecology will present the assessment as a package of internet tools. The tools include interactive maps and lists that allow people to customize and sort areas by geographic location, pollutant type, degree of concern and other factors. Ecology’s workshops seek to train participants how they can access the information using an interactive mapping tool and simple query tool.
The schedule and locations for the workshops are as follows:
Ecology plans to announce a public comment period about the assessment and some of the key findings on Feb. 5.
People may ask questions about the workshops or request a special presentation of the workshop material by contacting Ecology’s Becca Conklin at 360-407-6413 or by sending an email 303d@ecy.wa.gov.
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Media Contact: Sandy Howard, 360-407-6408; 360-791-3177 (cell); srud461@ecy.wa.gov
Water Quality Assessment Web site: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/wq/links/wq_assessments.html
Copyright © Washington State Department of Ecology. See http://www.ecy.wa.gov/copyright.html.
