Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutWater Quality Program (PDF) 1 of 4 Jefferson County Public Health Performance Measures 2011 Year-End Report WATER QUALITY DEPARTMENT MISSION: The mission of the Water Quality Department is to protect public health by monitoring and responding to threats to water quality in order to protect human health and wildlife habitat by using available local, state, and federal funding effectively and efficiently. GOALS FOR FY 2011 1. Maintain a lake monitoring program to protect the public from the threats of toxic blue green algae. 2. Ensure healthy beach water quality at heavily used public saltwater beaches. 3. Institute actions under a Clean Water District that monitor, protect and enhance water quality. 4. In cooperation with Environmental Health and the Conservation District use awarded state funds to improve water quality in Chimacum Creek, Discovery Bay, Mats Mats Bay and Hood Canal. 5. Use funds awarded by the Centennial Clean Water Fund to initiate pollution identification and correction actions in the Hood Canal watershed. 6. Continue to support a volunteer network of shellfish samplers to monitor for shellfish biotoxins in a timely and cost effective manner. JCWQ will work with Washington Department of Health to communicate risks from the recreational harvest of shellfish to the public. 7. Continue to insure that the stream gauging network is maintained to accurately measure streamflow and water quality in critical streams such as Chimacum Creek, Salmon Creek and Snow Creek. 8. Continue public education on the importance of clean water in Jefferson County focusing on actions citizens can take to keep our water clean and productive. 9. Report to the Commissioners and public through a written report on the state of water quality in Jefferson County. OBJECTIVES FOR FY 2011 1. Continue to implement a lake monitoring program and use state funding to determine the causative factors involved in local blue-green algae blooms. Secure state funding for remedial actions to stop toxic blue green algae blooms as appropriate. 2. Monitor water quality at public swimming beaches on a weekly basis during the swimming season to protect public health. 3. In partnership with the Jefferson County Conservation District complete the tasks outlined in the scopes of work of the Chimacum Creek, Discovery Bay, Mats Mats Bay and Hood Canal Centennial Clean Water Fund funded programs. PERFORMANCE INDICATORS: 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 Planned 2011 Actual Lakes monitored for cyanobacteria 9* 9* 3 3 3 3 6 Water quality stations monitored: Chimacum Creek 0 40 40 28 28 0 0 Water quality stations monitored: Salmon & Snow Creeks 0 17 0 19 19 19 19 Water quality stations monitored: Hood Canal watershed 0 0 0 0 0 50 0 Miles of shoreline surveyed for pollution N/A 5 49 76 77 71 89 Marine water quality stations monitored N/A 7 7 7 17 17 17 Sanitary surveys completed N/A N/A N/A 259 241 450 418 Beaches monitored for shellfish safety 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 Swimming beaches monitored 0 2 3 4 3 3 6 Stream gauges maintained 8 8 9 8 8 8 7 *Monitored but not sampled for toxins 2 of 4 STUDY/ANALYSIS Performance measures were re-evaluated in 2011 to more accurately reflect new water quality goals and objectives. The original measures are included here for comparison to previous goals and objectives but will be edited for 2012 planning. Lakes Cyanobacteria Bluegreen algae blooms in 2011 were more extensive than in 2010. Two new lakes needed monitoring: Silent Lake and Crocker Lake. In addition, a private pond was sampled due to water quality concerns. The department will try to extend the amount of monitoring in the future to accommodate additional lakes but may have to limit the extent to which any one lake is studied in depth. The main goal of the lake monitoring program will be on public notification of health risks. A lack of available grant funding for 2012 has caused the department to scale back winter monitoring and stretch remaining grant funds to a second year. If funding is not available for 2013 the program may have to be drastically reduced. Water Quality Monitoring Chimacum Creek and Discovery Bay (Salmon and Snow Creeks) stream stations will continue to be monitored by the Conservation District every other year on a rotating basis through funding available through 2014. Funding source changed from Ecology to EPA. The CD began a Microbial Source Tracking project in Chimacum Creek to help delineate human versus ruminant sources of fecal coliform bacteria. In addition, the CD will begin monitoring Hood Canal Watershed streams and rivers at regular stations. Hood Canal Watershed sampling has been delayed by the lengthy Quality Assurance approval process. It is hoped that monitoring at the end of the project may be extended a few months to compensate. Water Quality facilitated the Community Services contract for the Conservation District and will continue to do so in 2012. A spreadsheet reporting form for Best Management Practices Implementation and water quality sampling was created for the Conservation District. Marine monitoring was accomplished according to schedule in Discovery Bay and Mats Mats Bay in 2011. For 2012, only Mats Mats is scheduled for monitoring, and that schedule will be more closely coordinated with the monitoring done by the State Department of Health to maximize efficiency in data gathering. Marine monitoring and some shoreline monitoring require a reliable boat to access the sites. The current inflatable owned by the county has limitations in its rough water abilities and reliability issues due to an oversized motor for the tasks required. The department is exploring options for using grant funding to obtain a more suitable boat for the typical sampling conditions we encounter. BEACH sampling was completed at an expanded number of saltwater swimming beaches due to extra funding from the state. New state cuts will necessitate cutting that number down in 2012. Pollution Identification and Correction Shoreline sampling along Hood Canal will be ending in May; Discovery Bay shoreline monitoring ended in 2011. All sampling goals for these projects were met. Mats Mats Bay shoreline monitoring in 2011 turned up higher bacteria counts than anticipated and required additional time and effort to trace potential sources; monitoring and investigation will continue in 2012. New shoreline sampling for the Northeast Jefferson project will be beginning in 2012 after a Quality Assurance plan is created. Increased efforts to complete sanitary surveys at the end of 2011 resulted in more completed surveys than were projected. Sustaining a high rate of completed surveys will be possible only if adequate staffing is available. Many EH staff have been trained to do surveys but few have been available to perform them on a regular basis. Approximately 200 per year will need to be completed in the next two years to stay on track with grant deliverables. 3 of 4 Water Quality was tasked with investigating all septic and water quality public complaints starting in 2010. In 2011, 57 cases were investigated, a slight increase over 2010. Enforcement measures were taken when septic failures were identified and cases were turned over to the Onsite team for permitting of repairs. A complaint about lack of sanitary facilities on the Big Quilcene River during fishing season resulted in a temporary shellfish closure and a clean-up effort by the county. Water Quality has been communicating with DOH, Federal and State Fish and Wildlife, Ecology and others to try to prevent this from reoccurring in future fishing seasons. The capacity of project partner the Conservation District to handle the implementation of agricultural best management practices and restoration projects was reduced in 2011 by cuts to the State budget. This impacts several of Water Quality’s grant projects. Further reductions are likely in 2012 and contingency planning may be needed to achieve project goals. Outreach and Education Improvements were made to the Jefferson County Public Health website to increase the effectiveness of Lakes Status page; one of the most frequently visited Water Quality Department pages. Increased face-to- face communication with lake recreationalists in 2011 seemed effective and will continue. Related project newsletter efforts were consolidated to be more efficient. The department needs to find a solution to creating and maintaining a mailing list for all east county residents for project communication – the current tax assessor database does not work for this volume and style of communication. The East Jefferson Watershed Council website was redesigned in January and a new domain was purchased: www.ejwc.org A Clean Water Projects PowerPoint presentation was created and shown at public meetings and educational sessions. Shellfish Biotoxins Shellfish sampling for biotoxins was completed according to plan in 2011. It was not a year of extensive blooms in Jefferson County. No changes are planned for this program. The County has been communicating with DOH about Diarrhetic Shellfish Poisoning which emerged in Clallam County in 2011. Stream Gages Jefferson County assisted the Department of Ecology in maintaining a network of 7 stream gages in 2011 until Ecology’s funding was cut and our participation was eliminated in September. Ecology also planned to eliminate two gages, one at Tarboo Creek and one at Salmon Creek. The County advocated through the East Jefferson Watershed Council to find a solution for keeping the Tarboo gage working. No future maintenance of stream gages is planned. Watershed Planning The County maintained its role in watershed planning through the regular meetings of the East Jefferson Watershed Council (WRIA 17) in 2011. Due to a lack of state funding, EJWC meetings are not planned past June 2012. The County also facilitated a work group in 2011 for the USGS who are preparing a groundwater computer model of Chimacum Creek. The USGS was not able to meet their target of the end of 2011 for completing the model and is now hoping to finish by Spring 2012. The County plans to facilitate the public meetings needed for roll-out of the completed model in 2012, and will be holding a copy of the model for future use by specialists. Clean Water District The department worked with the BoCC to pass a resolution on the Clean Water District Advisory Council. 9 representatives were chosen in 2011. The department plans to hold four meetings of the Council in 2012, create an overall water quality monitoring plan for the County and evaluate current programs. 4 of 4 Regional Partners The Water Quality department attended meetings of the Strait ERN, and read meetings materials of the Hood Canal Coordinating Council to participate in the Puget Sound Partnership Action Area agendas for our region and stay abreast of funding opportunities. The department applied for grant funds through the State Department of Health. Updated: March 1st, 2012