HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016 Water QualityJefferson County Water Quality Performance Measures
2016 Year-end Report
1 of 5
PROGRAMS: Clean Water District (DOH Shellfish Protection), Clean Water Projects (Ecology Centennial, EPA National Estuary Program, Puget
Sound Partnership), Lakes Cyanobacteria (Ecology Freshwater Algae), Shellfish Biotoxin Monitoring (DOH), BEACH (EPA/Ecology/DOH)
MISSION: The mission of the Water Quality Department is to protect public health by monitoring and responding to threats to water quality for
protection of human health and wildlife habitat by using available local, state, and federal funding effectively and efficiently.
Goal Objective Task Performance
Measure
2011
Actual
2012
Actual
2013
Actual
2014
Actual
2015
Actual
2016
Planned
2016
Actual
Goal 1:
Recreationalists at
popular lakes such as
Anderson Lake, Gibbs
Lake and Lake Leland
will be increasingly
aware of toxic algae
threats to human and
animal health.
Monitor all lakes with public
access from April through
September for toxins.
Maintain and improve JCPH
water quality webpage and
other outreach activities.
Sample public access
lakes for presence/
absence of algae blooms
and biotoxins.
Update website with
pertinent information
when found.
# of lakes monitored for
cyanobacteria
# of website updates
6
6
36
3
14
3
18
3
14
3
12
3
13
Goal 2:
Better understand water
quality trends for
parameters such as fecal
coliform, dissolved
oxygen and temperature.
Use funds awarded by the
state Centennial Clean Water
Fund to carry out Clean
Water projects.
Monitor stream flow data
from high priority streams.
Sample existing water
quality stations for fecal
coliform, dissolved
oxygen and temperature
and conduct trend
analysis.
Sample freshwater
discharges to beaches in
wet season and dry
season.
Review data collected by
other agencies.
# of marine water quality
stations monitored
# of water quality
stations monitored:
Chimacum & Ludlow
# of water quality
stations monitored:
Salmon & Snow Creeks
# of water quality
stations monitored: Hood
Canal watershed
Miles of shoreline
surveyed for pollution
# of stream gauges
maintained
17
0
19
0
89
7
9
28
0
18
45
0
0
0
19
19
60
0
0
0
0
20
94
0
0
31
0
44
94
0
16
40
0
19
68
0
0
52
0
19
37
0
Goal 3:
High priority sites for
pollution identification
Condition, status and use of
approximately 300 more
Conduct educational
outreach to septic system
owners in the form of
# of sanitary surveys
completed
418
414
506
390
349
500
348
Jefferson County Water Quality Performance Measures
2016 Year-end Report
2 of 5
Goal Objective Task Performance
Measure
2011
Actual
2012
Actual
2013
Actual
2014
Actual
2015
Actual
2016
Planned
2016
Actual
and correction will be
identified and corrected.
Goal 3.5:
Land use and its effects
on water quality in
project areas will be
better understood.
septic systems will have been
surveyed in project areas.
Investigate public complaints
about water quality or septic
systems within 72 hours.
Incorporate agricultural
survey data from JCCD into
sanitary survey process.
sanitary surveys of septic
systems.
Update PIC protocol and
sanitary survey form.
Pass/Fail
--
--
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Pass
Goal 4:
Improve Leland Creek
habitat and water quality.
Initiate Leland Creek
restoration actions.
Choose a site on Leland
Creek to conduct
restoration activities.
Pass / Fail -- -- Pass Pass Pass -- --
Goal 5:
Residents in eastern
Jefferson County will be
more aware of project
activities and actions
they can take to protect
water quality in their
neighborhood.
Prepare reports on the status
and trends of water quality in
Jefferson County.
Maintain and improve JCPH
water quality webpage and
other outreach activities.
Send newsletters to
project area residents.
Distribute literature in
person during fieldwork.
Post informational
materials, water quality
results and reports on
website.
# of newsletters mailed
# water quality brochures
distributed
# of water quality reports
posted on JCPH webpage
6,000
1
12,250
6
1,300
0
500
500
1
2,200
575
2
200
300
1
318
500
2
Goal 6:
Recreationalists at
Jefferson County marine
beaches will be notified
of the status of water
quality in a timely and
efficient manner.
Monitor water quality at
public swimming beaches on
a weekly basis during the
swimming season to protect
public health.
Continue public education on
the importance of clean
water in Jefferson County
focusing on actions citizens
Take water samples of
marine beaches and test
for water quality
Interact with the public
and partners in order to
efficiently deliver
information
Issue press releases when
relevant information
# of swimming beaches
monitored
6 3 3 3 4 3 3
Jefferson County Water Quality Performance Measures
2016 Year-end Report
3 of 5
Goal Objective Task Performance
Measure
2011
Actual
2012
Actual
2013
Actual
2014
Actual
2015
Actual
2016
Planned
2016
Actual
can take to keep our water
clean and productive.
needs to quickly
disseminated.
Goal 7:
The public will stay
informed about the
safety of recreational
shellfish beaches relative
to biotoxin threats and
will be educated on
emerging threats such as
Diarrhetic Shellfish
Poisoning.
Organize a volunteer
network of shellfish samplers
to monitor for shellfish
biotoxins in a timely and cost
effective manner. Coordinate
with Washington Department
of Health to communicate
risks from the recreational
harvest of shellfish to the
public.
Maintain and improve JCPH
water quality webpage and
other outreach activities.
Take shellfish samples
from marine beaches and
test for biotoxins.
Interact with the public
and partners in order to
efficiently deliver
information.
Issue press releases and
post signs when relevant
information needs to
quickly disseminated.
Update website with
pertinent information
when found.
# of beaches monitored
for shellfish safety
7 7 7 7 7 7 7
Goal 8:
Stormwater inputs into
Port Townsend Bay will
be better known.
Monitor stormwater
discharges to Port Townsend
Bay for pathogens.
Conduct Pollution
Identification and Control
activities in program
areas.
# of shoreline stormwater
outfalls screened for
pollution
0 0 6 43 0 6 0
Goal 9:
Clean Water District
activities will be
evaluated for
effectiveness and
recommendations for
future work will be
made.
Clean Water District
Advisory Council meetings
will be held and evaluation
and recommendations
submitted to the Board of
County Commissioners.
Use funds awarded by the
state Centennial Clean Water
Fund to carry out Clean
Water projects.
Facilitate Clean Water
District Advisory Council
Meetings.
# of Clean Water District
Advisory Council
meetings held
0 4 1 3 4 4 4
STUDY/ANALYSIS
Jefferson County Water Quality Performance Measures
2016 Year-end Report
4 of 5
Clean Water Projects, funded using Clean Water District funds as match to Ecology Centennial Clean Water grant funds, were the primary focus of
water quality work in 2016 and included the Hood Canal Clean Streams Initiative, Hood Canal Priority Basins Project, and Quilcene-Dabob PIC
project. This strategy allows Clean Water District funds to be leveraged at a 1 to 3 ratio with state funds, allowing projects a much greater scope of
work. A broad area of the Clean Water District was monitored in 2016 including the Chimacum and Port Hadlock area, Oak Bay, Port Ludlow,
Quilcene, Brinnon and Duckabush. Contract negotiations with Ecology began on the Central Hood Canal PIC Project and the Strait Priority Areas
Project, with work anticipated to begin in late 2016, however delays in the contracting process with Ecology pushed the dates of these projects into
2017. This affected the planned performance measures for the number of marine water quality stations and stormwater outfalls monitored in 2016;
these will be carried over into 2017.
The Hood Canal Clean Streams Initiative was completed at the end of 2016. Project findings were summarized in a final report and posted on the
Jefferson County Public Health website.
Stream monitoring in the Chimacum Creek basin through the Hood Canal Priority Basins project was completed in September 2016, and the focus
shifted to monitoring in the Ludlow Creek watershed starting in October. This represents the first comprehensive upstream/downstream and shoreline
monitoring effort in the Ludlow basin. The Water Quality team has partnered with the Jefferson County Conservation District to share the monitoring
task so that the entire basin can be sampled during the course of one day each month. This coverage over a greater area allows a clearer picture of
water quality at the time of monitoring and avoids some of the variability from changing environmental conditions over multiple days. In addition,
the Conservation District produced a comprehensive water quality monitoring report on the Chimacum basin results from this and past projects. This
report was posted on the Jefferson County Public Health website.
Anderson, Gibbs and Leland lakes were monitored for toxic bluegreen algae from April through September using county funds. Closures were posted
on the website and issued as press releases with signs posted on site.
The Hood Canal Regional Pollution Identification and Correction Phase 2 project was performed under contract to the Hood Canal Coordinating
Council. Shoreline monitoring and targeted sanitary surveys were done in Irondale/Port Hadlock, Oak Bay, Paradise Bay/Hood Head, Brinnon,
Pleasant Harbor and Duckabush.
The Recreational Shellfish Biotoxin Monitoring project organized volunteers and conducted monitoring and outreach from May through October.
Press releases were issued and signs posted within 24 hours of receiving closure notifications at all sites.
The BEACH monitoring project was conducted at Fort Worden state park, Irondale Beach county park and Oak Bay county park. Water quality
remained acceptable during the summer swimming season.
The Clean Water District Advisory Council met and completed a Prioritized Work Plan in 2016. Water Quality assisted Central Services in
contracting with consultants to upgrade the county’s GIS capabilities to allow Water Quality field staff to collect data on iPads and synchronize it
with the GIS database, increasing efficiency and accuracy of data collected.
New Water Quality staff were hired in 2016 and additional Environmental Health staff were trained to perform sanitary surveys for the Water Quality
team. This will help Water Quality achieve its sampling and survey goals for 2017.
Jefferson County Water Quality Performance Measures
2016 Year-end Report
5 of 5
48%
38%
7%
7%
Sanitary Survey Status, 2016
Completed
Attempted/No
Response
Attempted/Denied
Other
53%
43%
1%2%1%
Sanitary Survey Rating, 2016
No problems
Suspect (low-med)
Suspect-High
Failure
Safety violation