Changes are in the wind for the powerful Clean Water Act, as officials with the Environmental Protection Agency prepare to step up enforcement to protect the nation’s water supplies.
Regulatory and even legislative changes are in the works, and the law could become a tool in dealing with greenhouse gases related to climate change.
Coming Together
The latest signal that something is afoot is the launch of a new blog this week by the EPA. It is called “Coming Together for Clean Water.”
The EPA is “seeking public input on how the agency can better protect and improve the health of our waters…” according to a news release. “The feedback received on the online forum will help shape the discussion at EPA’s upcoming conference in April, ‘Coming Together for Clean Water,’ where we will engage approximately 100 executive and local level water leads on the agency’s clean water agenda.”
Three topics are mentioned: “The Watershed Approach,” “Managing Pollutants from Nutrients,” and “Stormwater Pollution.”
It is interesting to see how people in various parts of the country are responding to these topics and how local issues play into the national overview. Some folks seem fairly alarmed and are demanding that the EPA take firm actions. Others have responded by spelling out technical solutions or offering case studies about how the EPA has failed in the past.
Enforcement plan
In October, the EPA released what is now called the Clean Water Act Action Plan. It calls for greater and more consistent enforcement nationwide of the clean water law under three strategies: (more…)
Last week, I wrote about a meeting between water officials on the Kitsap Peninsula and hydrologists from the U.S. Geological Survey. The USGS folks were floating the idea of studying the geology and available water supplies across the entire Kitsap Peninsula. (See story in Thursday’s Kitsap Sun.)
Surface waters of Kitsap.
I’ve covered water resources for years, and one of the big questions in the context of growth and development has always been: “Will the area have enough water to support growth.”
It’s a question I’ve asked local water managers since I arrived here in 1977. Their answer is generally something like this: “We should have enough water far into the future if we manage it carefully.” My latest story, published in the Kitsap Sun Oct. 3, described a relatively low-water year ending in October.
Most of Kitsap County’s water comes from wells. Consequently, managing water carefully means conserving what we’ve got, allowing our rains to soak into the ground and, in some contexts, being able to move water from areas of lesser supply to areas of greater supply. The map of surface waters at right can be found on the Kitsap County Web site.
Water is one of the big environmental issues of our time, and it will grow more important as long as the population continues to grow. Most people in the water business would like to know more about underground water supplies, so a study of the peninsula’s water resources would be valuable. Experts also realize that studies of this kind are only as good as the data that go in. That involves using measurements from hundreds of wells and well logs (soil layers) across the peninsula. You may want to check out similar studies conducted by USGS.
This topic also appears to be interesting to Kitsap Sun readers, because the story I wrote last week was rated the most popular on the Web site for two days running.
As with many environmental stories, the first comments to be posted seemed skeptical of the whole idea that caused me to write the story:
Crownvic (the first comment): “This is another one of these greeny try-to-scare-the-hell-out-of-you articles. First of all, almost all water wells pump from an aquifer 100 feet plus deep and have absolutely no effect on surface waters due to the impervious layers top and bottom…” (more…)
All the pieces are nearly in place for Kitsap County residents and planners to begin examining the ecosystem at the edge of the waters encircling the Kitsap Peninsula.
Beyond beauty, shoreline environments contain vital ecosystems. (Click to enlarge) Kitsap Sun photo
Oh, yes, lakes and a few streams are part of the picture.
Kitsap County commissioners last night appointed a 20-member citizen task force to take a central role in the planning effort. For the first time in county history, regulations will be based on ecosystem values. See the story I wrote for today’s Kitsap Sun listing the members.
Similar planning efforts are under way in Kitsap’s cities as well as various communities throughout the Puget Sound region. I wrote a story for the Kitsap Sun Feb. 27 regarding the effort for our cities.
In the past, shoreline regulations were based on existing land uses. Buffers — including the current 100-foot buffer for rural areas — were uniform throughout the entire county. Previous rules never took into consideration the particular types of shoreline or their ecological values. For example, an estuary with a highly productive marsh and a stream running through it was treated exactly the same as a rocky outcropping pounded by waves. (more…)
Art Castle, executive director of the Home Builders Association of Kitsap County, has completed and released the “Kitsap Low Impact Development Standards Final Report,” which describes a three-to-four-year project to make LID practical for developers. Download the report’s narrative (PDF 2.5 mb) and check out other resource information offered by the Home Builders.
In an e-mail to participants and supporters of the project, Castle again declared that Kitsap County is the “low-impact development capital of Washington,” as he did last April. See my Kitsap Sun story from April 7, 2009.
The following is a final assessment of the project, as listed in the summary, along with a map of low-impact development projects throughout Kitsap County. (Click on the pins for descriptions.)
“This project has met and/or exceeded all its goals. Every jurisdiction in Kitsap County has adopted the same LID Standards, The Kitsap County Low Impact Development Guidance Manual is well thought of for both how comprehensive it is and how current the information on low impact development — it’s modeling and use — is.
“The challenges that remain are transitional. While much progress has been made in Kitsap County with the engineering community, there are still some in both the public and private sector who have yet to acquire the technical knowledge to become comfortable in designing and/or reviewing projects that include low impact development.
“The PSP/WSU Technical Training Workshops are the most comprehensive and contain the most current technical information in the country. However, the quantity and quality of technical training opportunities needs to be expanded and supported for some time.
“The Kitsap Spreadsheet Modeling Tool (LID Calculator) will provide an “ease of use” element to meeting the sizing and use of LID features in new and retrofit projects… In our ‘Kitsap County Low Impact Development Guidance Manual’ workshops and Webinar, it should be noted that all the presenters are from Kitsap County…. These private and public sector individuals were selected to recognize the low impact development knowledge that Kitsap pubic officials and industry professionals have achieved and to show that Kitsap County has the knowledge, leadership, and technical expertise to successfully implement low impact development.
“As more and more new development, and commercial and homeowner retrofit projects are completed the increased aquifer recharge and the water quality benefit of natural treatment will result in significantly less pollutants in runoff reaching streams and water bodies. In addition, low impact development practices will result in less peak runoff caused erosion in stream channels.”
It seems like only yesterday that the Kitsap County Health District started a major Pollution Identification and Correction (PIC) project all around Dyes Inlet.
Now, after five years, the health district has released a report showing major improvements in water quality in all the major streams. See my story in today’s Kitsap Sun or check out the report (PDF 1.7 mb).
During the project, area residents were assisted in finding and repairing their aging septic systems in various parts of the watershed. Businesses were shown how to maintain nearby storm sewers and were encouraged to flush washwater down the sanitary sewers, not the storm drain. Even old sewer lines were inspected and repaired in some cases.
Here are some specific water-quality data on Dyes Inlet streams: (more…)
I am live-blogging today from Kitsap County Superior Court, where I’ll be describing a hearing to determine if property that the state owns on Lake Tahuyeh gives it the right to allow public access.
This is a summary judgment hearing, meaning that the judge can rule if there are no substantial disagreements on critical facts in the case.
The key players in the case are Dennis Reynolds, representing the Tahuyeh Lake Community Club (TLCC); Matt Kernutt, representing the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife; and Superior Court Judge Jeanette Dalton
This live-blog software, called Cover It Live, allows for questions and comments. I will approve the comments and answer the question as time allows during the hearing if there are pauses in the action.
The battle over public access to Lake Tahuyeh is finally headed to court. Sport fishers would like to carry their boats down to the lake and launch them from a state-owned parcel of property. Lake residents wish to keep their “private” lake private.
You may wish to return to this blog tomorrow, when I will give “live blogging” a try for the first time. At that time, you will be able to watch as I write from the courtroom, providing blow-by-blow arguments as they unfold before the judge.
Here’s the key question: If you buy a piece of property on a lake, do you have the right to open it up for public access?
When this issue first came up, I thought the outcome could set a precedent for other lakes where anglers would like to build a boat launch. But there are many aspects of this issue that are relatively unique. Here are a few:
— The question of whether Lake Tahuyeh was a natural lake or a bog.
— The point that Lake Tahuyeh was not a navigable waterway, which means the state does not own the lake bottom.
— The idea that the lake was changed substantially when it was dammed up.
— The fact that the state has never contributed to the cost of maintaining the dam or other operations on the lake.
Of course, attorneys for the state will argue that the public gained access to the lake in 1939 before most homes were built and that public rights to use the lake cannot be extinguished by any of these issues.
It will be interesting to see how these various points are argued in court.
Kitsap and Mason counties were well represented in recent high-tide photos that area residents e-mailed to the Washington Department of Ecology.
Twanoh State Park on Hood Canal near Belfair. Photo by John Stokes.
Another opportunity to photograph high tides begins today, according to Ecology officials. For information about submitting photos to Ecology, go to the agency’s EcoNet blog.
UPDATE, Jan. 29, 2010
Big Beef Creek continues to threaten several houses built close to the stream. The house most at risk at the moment is one belonging to Jon and Kimberly DeYoung. Read about their story and see pictures in a piece I wrote for today’s Kitsap Sun.
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It is the best of streams. It is the worst of streams.
There’s been talk lately about Big Beef Creek in Central Kitsap, where a much-traveled bridge has been closed to heavy traffic because of a washed-out bridge abutment. It appears the bridge will be closed for a couple of weeks, beginning next week. See my story in today’s Kitsap Sun.
There’s reason to believe we’ll be hearing a lot more about this stream in the future.
In my mind, Big Beef Creek is a beautiful salmon stream that has been much abused through the years. Despite a large population of people in the watershed, the creek has managed to hold onto its populations of salmon. Somehow, pollution has been mostly avoided. (more…)
It was the first idea that came to me when I learned about the goal of providing Kitsap County with 7,000 acres of publicly owned open space in North Kitsap in exchange for allowing Pope Resources to increase development in the Port Gamble area.
“The devil is in the details.”
Pope Resources lands
It has been the most common reaction from people who have talked to me about the plan, which has the potential of being the largest habitat conservation project in the history of Kitsap County.
It appears that everyone involved recognizes that the values acquired by the Kitsap County and by Pope Resources must be carefully balanced. Pope would get increased density, enough to justify public services. Other values might come from conservation grants, which would give Pope cash for some of the land. The county could seek public works grants and loans to help pay for public services.
The values must be carefully balanced, but another unquantifiable factor is in play. Steve Bauer, the county commissioner from Hansville, and Jon Rose, property manager for Pope Resources, acknowledge that their desire is to create an enduring legacy that will serve the people of Kitsap County.
Bauer and Rose have taken the first step, but we must watch closely as the details begin to emerge and the effort starts through a public process that will determine if the project can succeed.
Please read the stories that Brynn Grimley and I have written so far this week. Brynn is working on one today, and I will post that link here later.
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