The following summary was developed in response to a question posed at the December 11 stakeholder meeting asking Ecology to provide information in support of the designated aquatic life uses on Lake Spokane.
Millions of Washingtonians have a new tool kit to help them keep Puget Sound, the Spokane River, the Columbia River, and other Washington waters healthy and clean. Washington Waters – Ours to Protect” is a web site packed with downloadable posters, tips and advice. The site offers tangible actions that every Washington resident can take to protect the state’s waters.
The Washington Dept. of Ecology, Idaho Dept. of Environmental Quality, the Spokane Tribe and the Environmental Protection Agency invite you to join us on December 11th for a Spokane River Stakeholder meeting, which will be held at the Spokane Fire Training Center in Spokane from 1:00 – 4:00 pm. See attached agenda and directions.
A memorandum of understanding allows Washinton, Idaho and the Coeur d’Alene Tribe to participate in a monitoring study of Post Falls Dam. The study will be used to determine final conditions that Idaho Department of Environmental Quality will place on summer discharges of water at Post Falls Dam. These conditions are part of Avista’s proposed 50 year license to continue operating Post Falls Dam. The Spokane River Forum reports.
The City of Spokane has won Washington Department of Ecology praise for draft shoreline regulations being proposed within the city limits. Draft plans being developed by Spokane County, however, remain the subject of controversy. The Spokesman Review reports.
The attached Ecology memo describes issues of consideration for pursuing a Use Attainability Analysis (UAA) and Site Specific Criteria changes in Lake Spokane.
Correspondence between EPA, Washington Department of Ecology and Idaho Department of Environmental Quality and stakeholders were released.
The attached work plan and schedule describes the objectives, structure, responsibilities, personnel, and decision-making process that will be used by four agencies to develop the inter-state Spokane River water quality model. A letter describing Ecology’s interpretation of the Washington water quality standard for dissolved oxygen in Lake Spokane is also attached.
Changes by EPA mean plans to limit phosphorus discharges into the Spokane River will take at least another year, state and federal officials announced today. The Spokesman Review reports.
The Harvard Road recreation and access point to the Spokane River re-opened Monday, September 15th. The Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) cleaned up over 1,000 tons of contaminated sediment and made other improvements in the last month. Ecology reports.