HomeMy WebLinkAboutWater Quality Program (PDF)Jefferson County Water Quality Performance Measures
2015 Year-end Report
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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.
This department implements the following strategic objectives for the 2014 Budget:
Addressing locally identified public environmental health issues.
Protecting and ensuring adequate clean water supplies for citizens, the shellfish industry and wildlife.
Protecting and enhancing natural resources.
Operating within a business plan based on sustainable resources, measured performance, and outstanding customer service.
Goal Objective Task Performance
Measure
2011
Actual
2012
Actual
2013
Actual
2014
Actual
2015
Planned
2015
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
Pass/Fail
6
Pass
6
Pass
3
Pass
3
Pass
3
Pass
3
Pass
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 Creek
# 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
30
0
36
68
0
0
31
0
44
94
0
Jefferson County Water Quality Performance Measures
2015 Year-end Report
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Goal Objective Task Performance
Measure
2011
Actual
2012
Actual
2013
Actual
2014
Actual
2015
Planned
2015
Actual
Goal 3:
High priority sites for
pollution identification
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.
Condition, status and use of
approximately 300 more
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.
Conduct educational
outreach to septic system
owners in the form of
sanitary surveys of septic
systems.
Update PIC protocol and
sanitary survey form.
# of sanitary surveys
completed
Pass/Fail
418
--
414
--
506
Pass
390
Pass
300
Pass
349
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 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
1,000
500
2
2,200
575
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
Take water samples of
marine beaches and test
for water quality
Interact with the public
and partners in order to
efficiently deliver
information
# of swimming beaches
monitored
6 3 3 3 3 4
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Goal Objective Task Performance
Measure
2011
Actual
2012
Actual
2013
Actual
2014
Actual
2015
Planned
2015
Actual
focusing on actions citizens
can take to keep our water
clean and productive.
Issue press releases when
relevant information
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
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 28 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
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STUDY/ANALYSIS
Water Quality work was primarily focused on Clean Water Projects in 2015. Clean Water Projects are funded using Clean Water District funds as
match to Ecology Centennial Clean Water grant funds. This 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. Contract negotiations with Ecology began on the Quilcene – Dabob Clean Water Project, with work
anticipated to begin in 2016.
The Northeast Jefferson Clean Water Project was completed at the end of 2015. All grant deliverables were met or surpassed, although more work in
the project area remains to be done. For example, although the goal of sanitary surveys was 400, and 489 were completed, several thousand systems
remain unsurveyed. In particular, it became evident during the surveys that many more septic systems than are currently documented exist in the City
of Port Townsend. A future project will be needed to complete documenting them.
Stream monitoring in the Chimacum Creek basin began in October through the Hood Canal Priority Basins project and will continue through 2016.
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.
The Hood Canal Clean Streams project continued monitoring Quilcene area streams for fecal coliform and temperature. 2015 was a challenging year
for stream flows and temperature due to the smallest winter snowpack on record, drought conditions and high summer temperatures. Several
monitoring stations failed to meet state standards for fecal coliform, temperature, dissolved oxygen and pH. Still, Quilcene streams fared slightly
better than some Puget Sound region streams, perhaps due to proximity to extensive forested areas in Olympic National Forest.
Restoration of Leland Creek riparian areas continued in 2015, with last year’s plantings maturing well.
The Jefferson County Lakes Toxic Cyanobacteria project was completed in June, 2015. This project was funded primarily by the Ecology Freshwater
Algae Control Program, with additional support from Jefferson County. Anderson Lake closed for most of the season due to high toxin levels. No
illnesses were reported and the public seems to have become more aware of the potential risks. Very little state funding for fiscal year 2016 was
offered for lake monitoring and Water Quality’s grant application was denied. From July onwards Water Quality maintained a minimal monitoring
effort with county funding, but a long-range solution needs to be found for not only monitoring but further research into causes and control of toxic
cyanobacteria.
The Implementation Phase of the Hood Canal Regional Pollution Identification and Correction project was begun in 2015. This is a joint effort of the
Hood Canal Coordinating Council, and the Kitsap County, Jefferson County and Mason County health departments to create a regional framework
for similar pollution control projects. 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 found early and extensive marine harmful algae blooms, impacting recreational shellfish
harvesting in areas that hadn’t previously experienced closures during prime harvesting season, such as Hood Canal. A large outreach and education
effort was made by Jefferson County Public Health, and no biotoxin-related illnesses were reported from Jefferson County. In spite of the outreach
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effort, staff still encountered members of the public with misunderstandings about toxin health risks, indicating a need for much more education and
outreach. Unfortunately state funding for Shellfish Biotoxin work has stayed steady despite increasing frequency and severity of harmful algae
blooms. Funding levels from the state only allow a very limited effort from the Water Quality team with a heavy reliance on volunteers.
The BEACH monitoring project has been funded by the state at a minimal level in the last few years, however Jefferson County Public Health was
able to obtain additional funding to add North Beach to the other monitoring sites – Fort Worden, Irondale Beach and Mystery Bay. Water quality
remained acceptable during the summer swimming season.
The Clean Water District Advisory Council met and completed a Water Quality Monitoring Plan for the county as well as draft a Prioritized Work
Plan, to be adopted in 2016. Water Quality assisted Central Services in contracting with consultants to upgrade the county’s GIS capabilities to
enable better data collection, analysis, mapping and distribution of results. This work will be continued in 2016.
New Water Quality staff were hired in 2015 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 2016.
Conservation Futures
In 2015, the Conservation Futures Citizen Oversight Committee recommended four projects for funding by the BoCC. The 2015 QWC Addition
project received $14,626 towards the acquisition of five parcels within the Quimper Wildlife Corridor totaling 1.11 acres of vacant land near Winona
Wetland. The Bishop Dairy Preservation project received $56,225 towards the acquisition of a conservation easement on 264 acres that comprise a
historic farm and dairy. The Lower Big Quilcene River Riparian Protection project received $31,440 towards the purchase of 14.16 acres of vacant
land along the lower Big Quilcene River to benefit Hood Canal Summer Chum and other fish and wildlife species. This project also closed in
September of 2015. The Midori Farm project received $94,626 towards the acquisition of a conservation easement on 29 acres of prime soils for
agriculture with pockets of mature forest. Jefferson Land Trust is sponsoring each of these project. The Irvin Property, part of the Snow Creek
Watershed Acquisitions Project approved in 2014, closed in August.
Floodplain Acquisitions
Himalayan blackberry and solid waste were removed from the Powerlines Reaches of the Duckabush and Dosewallips Rivers and replanted with
native plant seedlings by the Washington Conservation Corps as part of a WA State Recreation and Conservation Office (RCO) grant initiated by EH
in 2012. In a separate RCO effort, also initiated in 2012, the Henderson property was acquired on Rodgers St. in Quilcene. The mobile home on the
property will be removed and the site returned to native vegetation. A successful grant application to the RCO in 2015 will fund at least three
additional acquisitions north of the Big Quilcene River that have been impacted by flooding. Staff participated in a series of stakeholder/trustee
meetings, in partnership with The Nature Conservancy and the Hood Canal Salmon Enhancement Group, that are leading towards a “master plan” for
restoration of the lower mile of the river.
North Pacific Coast Marine Resources Committee (NPC MRC)
In 2015, EH continued to facilitate and coordinate the NPC MRC and holds the pass-through grant agreement with WDFW. The MRC represents a
partnership with Clallam County (through an interlocal agreement) and meets monthly in Forks to promote citizen engagement in marine and coastal
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issues and projects. This year’s projects included marine education for coast schools through Feiro Marine Life Center, high school mentorships
through the Natural Resources Program at the North Olympic Peninsula Skills Center, publication of the West End Natural Resources News, a film
festival and trashion show during the River & Ocean Days of Forks’ RainFest celebration, and support for the Washington Coast (beach) Cleanup.
Northeast Jefferson Septic System Sanitary Survey Results
Figure 1, Survey Status; Number and Percent Completed Figure 2, Survey Results
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PROGRAM STATISTICS
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Lakes monitored for cyanobacteria 9 9 9 4 3 5 4 3 3 3
Water quality stations monitored: Chimacum Creek 0 40 40 28 28 0 28 0 0 31
Water quality stations monitored: Salmon & Snow Creeks 0 17 0 19 19 19 17 19 0 0
Water quality stations monitored: Hood Canal watershed 0 0 0 0 0 17 17 19 20 44
Miles of shoreline surveyed for pollution N/A 5 49 76 77 89 11 60 94 94
Marine water quality stations monitored N/A 7 7 7 17 17 9 0 0 0
Sanitary surveys completed N/A N/A N/A 259 241 350 553 506 390 349
Beaches monitored for shellfish safety 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7
Swimming beaches monitored 0 2 3 4 3 6 3 3 3 4
Stream gauges maintained 8 8 9 8 8 7 0 0 0 0
Clean Water District Advisory Council meetings held 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 1 3 4