Making Water Second Nature: The City of Spokane’s Sustainability Vision
“The greenest drop of water,” said Cadie Olsen, the City of Spokane’s Director of Sustainability, “is the one not used.” Why? “Our goal is to achieve a triple bottom line…
Water Quality
Join the Our Gem Speaker Series
The Our Gem Collaborative online Speaker Series was so popular they’re doing it again. Pull up a chair and enjoy a lunch time snack as you participate in one or…
National Academy of Sciences Revisiting Lake Coeur d’Alene Water Quality
The Idaho Department of Environmental Quality (IDEQ) and Kootenai County are cosponsoring an $800 thousand, 18-month study examining water quality conditions in Coeur d’Alene Lake. The National Academy of Sciences,…
City of Spokane final, and largest, CSO Tank Goes On-line
Check out this video to learn about the 3.2 million gallon Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) tank that lies beneath the popular public plaza along Spokane Falls Boulevard and just north…
Ecology seeks feedback on preliminary rulemaking to reduce PCBs in the Spokane River
Ecology is seeking informal comments to a preliminary draft polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) variance rule for the Spokane River. The preliminary draft rule would support five individual discharger variances to meet…
EPA rollback of water quality standards leaves Spokane River PCB standards in limbo
The Issue Federal and state authorities that regulate water quality are getting crosswise with each other. Nationally, its headline making stuff. For the Spokane River, it means the path forward…
Public Comment Sought for Coeur d’Alene Basin Cleanup Review
Last November, the Forum helped convene the Our Gem Symposium in Coeur d’Alene. With more than 200 people attending, county and city leaders joined with the Coeur d’Alene Tribe to…
Conservation funding producing both environmental and sustainable agriculture benefits
Thanks to investments in conservation tillage practices by farmers that began in 2017, 417, 481 tons of soil (the equivalent of about 30,000 fully loaded dump trucks) is no longer…
Coeur d’Alene Lake Water Quality Symposium Draws Big Interest
Over 190 people spent last Wednesday at the Our Gem Symposium listening, learning and dialoging about Coeur d’Alene Lake water quality protection needs resulting from upstream historic mine waste contamination….
Hangman Creek project shows the way for water quality and streambank restoration best practices
As we stand by Hangman Creek in the still summer air, the heat is high and the water barely moving. The stream’s vertical banks offer an innocuous natural charm, adding…