09 Apr
Water Quality Meeting Materials
Mike Kaputa sent over copies of the presentation and an issues list from the Lake Wenatchee Water Quality meeting on March 29th. If you attended the meeting please add comments.
3 Responses to “Water Quality Meeting Materials”
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I’ve been waiting for Mike Kaputa’s notes on the meeting on the 29th to be posted before I added any comment.
The meeting was well attended with about 80 people present. The meeeting was well run and very open to comment or questions at any time. County Commissioners Goehner and Walter were present as were PUD Commissioners Congdon and Bolz. My own take on the meeting:
The PUD, Department of Ecology, Washington Fish & Wildlife and the Chelan County Department of Natural Resources all participated and there was a real feeling that these agencies are coming together to form a comprehensive plan to evaluate the lake and identify problem areas, specifically if the lake really is deteriorating in clarity and quality and if so what is doing it. Many participants voiced opinions that the lake definitely is changing and cited the increase in lake-bottom growth, milfoil and a general declination in water clarity. There was historical data and some more recent information on the fish pens issue presented that, if accurate, would indicate that the fish pens, while certainly adding some nutrients to the lake, are not the major source of changing water quality or clarity in the lake. Other possible contributing factors in this change were identified as natural causes, fertilizer runoff into the lake or old septic systems leeching into the lake.
The one disappointment to me in this meeting is that the Chelan- Douglas Health District was not present. With the high number of homes that draw drinking water from the lake I think it imperative that they be involved inasmuch as it is that agency’s duty to identify and correct any threats to health from drinking water. They also have the expertise and authority to inspect and regulate septic systems near the lake. They alone also have the authority to mandate the upgrade of old systems possibly leaching into the lake or to mandate connection to the PUD wastewater treatment system. County Commissioner Keith Goehner has since the meeting assured me that the Health District will be a part of this process as it moves forward. At the request of Commissioner Goehner the Health District has also provided a synopsis of the rules governing the licensing, maintenance and documentation required of septic systems and I will post that separately. Owners that have septic systems should review that information to be familiar with the documentation that can be required from you.
There will be a coordinated program of water quality and clarity testing as this effort moves forward. In the past much of the data that has been collected by various agencies has been done using different testing criteria and protocols. That will be changed. Hopefully one inclusion in the testing program will be to determine if there is actually a significant presence of dangerous coliforms in the water or if the perceived deterioration is a result of a general increase in nutrients in the lake.
One part of the effort will be collection of some data by volunteers under the training and direction of the Department of Ecology. If you would like to volunteer to be part of this please contact me by email at gwwilson@nwi.net or phone me at 763-3445. I will add your name to the list of volunteers. Lake residents with boats available are particularly encouraged to participate.
If you have comments on this issue you are encouraged to voice them and please do so by posting them on the website here rather than sending them to me personally by email. This website is meant to provide a means of discussion- let’s use it!!
George Wilson
April 13th, 2008 at 8:43 amI know there are fish pens in the lake now that probably weren’t there 30 years ago. I wonder if the fish food and associated waste added to the water is significant enough to cause more plant growth?
April 16th, 2008 at 7:37 pmLeavenworth Echo article on Lake Wenatchee water quality:
Residents worried about lake
Sebastian Moraga
Staff Writer
The advice of residents is simple: Don’t take a swim or a drink without first taking a look at the water in Lake Wenatchee.
It’s green. Perhaps not as green as the famed Green Lake in Seattle, but green-hued, and according to some longtime monitors of the area, it has been turning the color of grass for quite some time now.
“It didn’t seem to be quite what it is now when I first came to the lake in 1977,” said George Wilson, one of the people who worry about the causes and effects of the water’s green tone.
On March 29 Wilson and about 80 other residents, met with representatives of the state’s Department of Ecology, the Public Utility District and other county and regional agencies to find reasons and solutions to the problem.
“I have been here 30 years, and the rocks along the beach used to be all clear and nice,” Wilson said. “Now they’re covered in algae and slime. There appears to be deterioration in the lake and we would like to know what’s causing it.”
To the DOE spokesperson that attended the meeting, the issue is not so cut and dried.
“The studies in the past haven’t found a problem,” said Mark Peterschmidt, the environmental specialist on water quality for the state agency. “What we can’t say is whether the water quality has changed; we don’t have that continued set of data. We need more to compare so we can tell if there’s a change. Changes can be very subtle.”
Peterschmidt said the plant growth might be the result of additional nutrients going into the lake.
“If there’s a problem developing, they want to head it off now,” Peterschmidt said.
Wilson is ready to see experts work on the lake. People swim in it, people drink out of it; and if the greenness of the lake is a symptom of a problem, consequences could be serious.
“We should find out,” he said. “We don’t know what the problems are but the lake appears to be deteriorating and we want the answers.”
Answers are scarce, but rumors abound. Alleged culprits include septic systems on the lake, fish pens and beavers.
“There is some speculation. We heard there’s some colony of beavers that have some coliform in their waste,” Wilson said. “That could be a problem.”
Presence of fecal coliforms in the water is a good indicator of the existence of waterborne diseases, according to the Environmental Protection Agency’s Web site.
At least a third of the residents of the lake get their drinking water out of it, Wilson said. Some do treat the water with filters, but others do not. When people’s drinking water is in play, he opined, there is adequate reason for concern.
Neighbors have taken this issue online. A blog specifically for this issue opened at www.lakewenatcheeinfo.com. Last Friday, but no comments had been posted.
“Having the residents interested is a good thing,” Peterschmidt said. “We need help understanding what is going on out there.
Sebastian Moraga can be reached at (509) 782-3781 or by e-mail at moraga@cashmerevalleyrecord.com
April 21st, 2008 at 6:22 am