Ecology recently completed the newest list of polluted waters that purports to tell a more complete story about the condition of Washington’s waters than earlier lists, last updated in 1998.

A “call for data” period was held in the Fall of 2002 (reported in our November 2002 issue entitled 30 years for clean water… are we there yet?), asking the public to submit data to be considered for listing. Ecology received close to 40,000 data sets to assess, compared to 4,500 in the 1998 listing process. The addition of the new categories plus more monitoring across the state increased the amount of data that needs to be assessed.

Assessed waters include all the rivers, lakes and marine waters in the state where data were available. To develop the list, Ecology compiles its own water quality data and accepts assistance from other groups to collect and submit water quality data using appropriate scientific methods.

The assessed waters are listed in categories that describe the status of water quality. For those waters that are in the polluted water category, beneficial uses– such as drinking, recreation, aquatic habitat, and industrial use – are impaired by pollution. The 303(d) list is the traditional list of impaired water bodies.

The public has a chance to review and give comments, then the final list is formally submitted to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which approves or disapproves it. A water cleanup plan, also known as a “total maximum daily load” or TMDL, must be developed for each of the water bodies on the 303(d) list. The cleanup plan identifies just how much pollution needs to be reduced or eliminated to achieve clean water.

As part of this list Ecology is required to submit a schedule and prioritization of TMDLS for waters in Category 5, those in which water quality standards have been violated for one or more pollutants, and there is no TMDL or pollution control plan.

In Kitsap County, nearly 40 new category 5 waters were added that were not on the 1998 303 (d) List for water quality violations - specifically Fecal Coliform, Dissolved Oxygen, and Temperature. This included marine waters of Liberty Bay for those three parameters, Hood Canal, Dyes Inlet, Port Orchard Bay, Rich Passage, Sinclair Inlet and other areas of Puget Sound for temperature and Dissolved Oxygen. Area streams included those of Bjorgen, Big Beef, Johnson, Chico, Illahee, Carpenter, Grovers, Minter, Salmonberry, Steele, and other unnamed creeks mostly for fecal coliform and new listings for temperature and dissolved oxygen.

The EPA compiles the information from the state reports and prepares a summary for Congress on the status of the nation’s waters – the 305(b) report. The difference between this and the 303(d) list is that the 305(b) report is a state-wide assessment where the 303(d) list reports just on the impaired waters of the state. The purpose of the Section 305(b) report is to present to the U.S. Congress and the public the current conditions of the state’s waters as required by the federal Clean Water Act. The EPA compiles the information from the state reports and prepares a summary for Congress on the status of the nation’s waters.

The preliminary draft of Washington State’s Water Quality Assessment is available for public review and comment until March 15, 2004. For information go to: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/wq/303d/2002/2002_list.html

To see graphic representations of the Water Quality Assessment go to Ecology’s website at: http://apps.ecy.wa.gov/wqawa/viewer.htm. The DOE developed this GIS (Geographic Information System) application as an interactive tool that provides associated information for segments of waters.

The list is important in allocating state resources more efficiently by focusing limited time on water bodies that need the most work. This reflects local government, community and citizen recognition of water quality problems in Washington, demonstrating citizen interest in, and commitment to clean water. Citizens involved in the process of assessing water quality are more proactive in actions to improve water quality.

Just after the catastrophic oil spill into Puget Sound waters near Edmonds, winds and water processes carried the sludge into wetlands now soaked by oil in the Suquamish tribes estuary near Jefferson Point. The Doe-Keg-Wats reserve is a private tribal area used by members for fishing and ceremonial purposes and was the most affected area by the spill.

“I was curious about the extent of oil penetration into the wetland, and walked the perimeter, at high tide, with the GPS on December 30. I got about a quarter of the way around when it became clear that the logfield was very hazardous due to slippery and moving logs. However, I used the GPS data I did collect, and overlaid it atop a layer created using LiDAR points to generate 6” topography,” explained Tom Curley, GIS manager for the Suquamish tribe.

“From that GPS data and using various GIS tools, including MapInfo and VerticalMapper, I was able to create a complex polygon of probable oil penetration into the wetland. There are likely ways to fly over and detect oil sheen or other details, but given the data we had initially, this is the estimation – a total of 18.8 acres as depicted in this map.”

Efforts continue to assess and correct the damage. Factors such as extreme cold weather continued to expand the impacted areas, other factors such as warmer weather, heavy rains and flooding could compound the damage over the winter. Oil slick leaching back into the estuaries surface may continue to cause extended damage to the entire ecosystem.

The Tribe intends to testify on the spill’s impact at a state legislative hearing during the session expected to take place during January in Olympia. If we don’t use this experience to ensure that the highest and best standards be used by all agencies so that this type of extreme human error does not happen again, we will be remiss in our efforts to protect our most precious natural resources.

As part of a public campaign to reduce sources of nutrients and other human-caused fecal coliform pollution, a “Septic Systems for the Nearshore Environment” workshop was held on January 20. It was attended by approximately 30 individuals from Bainbridge Island, Kitsap peninsula, Olympia and representatives from Ecology and Indian Health Services. The presentation was given by Kitsap County Health District’s Mindy Fohn in collaboration with the Liberty Bay Foundation and Lemolo Citizens Club project, funded in part by the DOE-EPA 319 Nonpoint pollution program grant.