“Of what significance is one’s own existence, one is basically unaware. What does a fish know about the water in which he swims all his life? The bitter and the sweet come from outside, the hard from within, from one’s own efforts. For the most part I do what my own nature drives me to do. It is embarrassing to earn such respect and love for it.” ~ Albert Einstein

This month marked the 30th anniversary of the federal Clean Water Act and we might ask, what do we know about the waters we have lived with all our lives?

All across the nation people jumped in, got wet, and participated in a water quality monitoring event taking samples of thousands and thousands of water bodies to determine the security of our nation’s precious water resources. As data is entered in the national database at the web-site www.yearofcleanwater.org, we’ll get a real snapshot of water quality nationwide.

There were 17 groups monitoring sites in Kitsap County, more than 6 public schools, the Liberty Bay Foundation, Northwest College of Arts, Olympic Outdoor Center, Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group and many others from Gorst to Liberty Bay in Poulsbo. Val Koehler, stream team specialist for Kitsap County, registered many of the streams so that they’ll be ready to go once the data are collected through the second week of November.

“You can really see what’s going on through there”, said Sherry Appleton, as the aquascope was demonstrated. She then stretched out her sample wand, dipping into the murk of Liberty Bay to retrieve a water sample for fecal coliform analysis by the Kitsap County Health District. “You’ll have to get wet for this test, there’s no other way around it,” affirmed Emily Barrantes, as she led her out into the deeper, less stirred zone for a water turbidity tube sample.

State and local agencies, Indian tribes, non-profit and volunteer stewardship programs conduct water quality and environmental monitoring programs, shellfish surveys, and benthic invertebrate assays throughout the Puget Sound. These programs assess the health of our bays and streams, determine natural and human-caused changes over time, document geographic patterns in the condition of our resources, identify existing environmental problems, provide a measure to determine the success of environmental programs, provide scientifically valid data to support research activities and guide recovery efforts.

Section 303(d) of the federal Clean Water Act requires Washington State periodically to prepare a list of all surface waters in the state where pollutants have impaired the beneficial uses of the water, such as for drinking, recreation, aquatic habitat and industrial use. Types of pollutants commonly found in Washington include fecal coliform, high temperatures, excess nutrients, low levels of dissolved oxygen and toxic substances.

Waters placed on the 303(d) list require the preparation of water cleanup plans - known as Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) - a key tool in the work to clean up polluted waters. TMDLs describe the type, amount, and sources of water pollution in a particular water body, analyze how much the pollution needs to be reduced or eliminated to achieve clean water, and provide strategies to control pollution. In addition, even before a TMDL is completed, the inclusion of water on the 303(d) list can lead to Ecology requiring stricter pollution limits when issuing permits for that water body. A TMDL study plan is nearing completion for fecal coliforms in Sinclair and Dyes Inlet through the assistance of the U.S. Navy and ENVVEST program, Kitsap County Health District, Washington Department of Ecology and the U.S. EPA.

As Dr. Bob Johnston, Marine Environmental Support Office - NW Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center, explained, “It’s taken a hundred years to get to this, evaluating which stressors threaten our waterways will help us determine what’s feasible in our time. If we spend a large amount of time and money removing sediment, for example, then the whole bay goes anoxic (low dissolved oxygen levels) and the fish die... what have we done?” This work will set a roadmap based on risk-benefit-funding strategies and begin the long road to clean up.

Ecology’s assessment of which waters to place on the 303(d) list is guided by federal laws, state water quality standards and the state’s 303(d) policy. This policy was recently updated, and describes how the standards are applied, requirements for the data used and how to prioritize TMDLs, among other issues. The goal is to ensure that all impaired waters are identified and that no waters are mistakenly identified as impaired. The updated policy is found at www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/wq/303d/index.html.

Ecology is preparing the 2002 list and will be seeking new data right now, during a 60-day “call for data” period. This will provide an opportunity to use this data for future water quality and environmental protection efforts. To submit water quality data, please e-mail it to: 303d@ecy.wa.gov.

Monitoring and research are vital to understanding the status of Puget Sound’s health. This month, the Puget Sound Action Team released the Guide for Reading Puget Sound’s Health. The guide is a teacher’s companion document to Puget Sound’s Health 2002. Teachers may get copies of the Reading Guide by contacting the Action Team at 800-54-SOUND or from the Internet at www.wa.gov/puget_sound/publications/pshealth2002/pshealth_index.html.

Clean and healthy watersheds are a key focus of the Year of Clean Water, which celebrates the 30th anniversary of the Clean Water Act. As part of a new Watershed Initiative, the President has requested that Congress appropriate $21 million for grants to encourage community-based approaches and techniques to protect water resources throughout the country. Administrator Whitman said this new initiative “recognizes the important role that states and local communities have in helping to achieve our common goals, by giving them the power to do what works.”.