Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout20180927_CWDACminutesAlways working for a safer and healthier community 615 Sheridan Street Port Townsend, WA 98368 www.JeffersonCountyPublicHealth.org Community Health Environmental Health Developmental Disabilities Water Quality 360-385-9400 360-385-9444 360-385-9401 (f) (f) 360-379-4487 Jefferson County Clean Water District Advisory Council Pacific Room, Jefferson County Public Health 615 Sheridan Street, Port Townsend, WA 98368 Thursday, September 27, 2018, 3:00 to 4:30 pm Attending: Michael Dawson, David Steele, David Sullivan, Richard Hull, Trevor Swanson, Wendy Clark- Getzin, Al Latham Absent: Al Cairns, Amy Leitman, Deborah Stinson, Richard Wojt Staff: Jacquelyn Stenman The meeting was called to order at 3:05 pm by Mike Dawson. AGENDA AND MINUTES APPROVAL David Steele moved to approve the meeting agenda. David Sullivan seconded the motion. No further discussion. The motion was unanimously approved. David Sullivan moved to approve the meeting minutes for May 10, 2018. David Steele seconded the motion. No further discussion. The motion was unanimously approved. ANNUAL REPORT – 3:10 PM The Jefferson County Clean Water District Annual Report was submitted to the state in August. The Washington State Department of Health requires the submittal of this report when shellfish areas get downgraded and a Clean Water District is created. It does not include all of the data from Jefferson County Conservation District this year due to a decrease in staff hours, though this excluded data was outside of Clean Water District funded projects. Due to a typo, a clarifying comment was made by Mike Dawson to explain that the Strait Priority Areas wet season shoreline monitoring began at the end of 2017 and that season has been completed as well as a dry season of monitoring. Shoreline monitoring did find some hot spots, including one large hot spot on the west shore of Discovery Bay last winter caused by the failure of a large onsite system pump failure. This failure was corrected and no other hot spots of that magnitude have been identified in that area since. Mike Dawson clarified details about water quality complaints in the report. On sanitary surveys, Dawson explained the discrepancy between sites contacted and evaluations done was largely due to lack of response, due to a high proportion of infrequently used vacation homes in some areas. David Sullivan expressed an interest in a press release for the public regarding the annual report. STRAIT PRIORITY AREAS PROGRESS REPORT & JCCD CONTRACT AMENDMENT – 3:20 PM This Centennial Grant Project covers the Discovery Bay area including the city of Port Townsend with Brad Stone as the lead. JCPH partners with Jefferson County Conservation District to complete sampling. A table was presented showing the results of the dry season stream monitoring, excluding September and October data. While higher levels are normal during the summer as the concentration of bacteria gets diluted during the wintertime, this year resulted in bacteria levels worse than in previous years with a pass:fail ratio of 8:11. This ratio could improve with the addition of September and October data as some stations have only had two failing results. This project also includes microbial source tracking (MST) through the EPA for stream monitoring, and results will be available next year. Page 2 of 3 An amendment to the grant is being processed in order to provide more funds for JCCD staff time involved with the MST. JCPH was able to save money by borrowing rather than purchasing sampling equipment and plans to pass those savings on to JCCD. CENTRAL HOOD CANAL PIC PROJECT HOT SPOTS AND BOARD OF HEALTH POLICY REVIEW – 3:35 PM This Centennial Grant Project covers the Dosewallips and Duckabush areas with Anna Bachmann as the lead. New hot spots have been identified during this past dry season of stream sampling. One hotspot is in a creek that has been identified by locals as Petitjean Creek. After investigation of nearby properties, a bootleg septic system was found near the creek. This is currently being addressed with some temporary measures, and any further remediation by the homeowner will require the assistance from either a Craft3 loan or USDA loan. At Pierce Creek, dye tests have been done to determine sources of pollution. A river float on the Duckabush was performed to identify any potential sources of pollution but no flowing sources were identified. While much of the land upstream is forested, the land downstream is surrounded by small lots that were subdivided for recreational use in the 60s and 70s which are now being used as permanent residences. This brings up the issue of having enough room for septic systems due to well setback requirements. This issue was brought to the Board of Health at their last meeting, with the hope that septic permitting and meeting minimum land area requirements can be flexible. The community is considering a community wastewater and community on-site system as a solution. Al Cairns has a proposal regarding the implementation of alternative systems with the help of Public Health funding that was presented to Stuart Whitford last year, but that could be revised per Stuart’s request that external funding be found in order to avoid a conflict of interest with Public Health. Trevor Swanson provided a recent data update. Since last year at this time, water quality has improved in the Dosewallips and the Duckabush. Sampling is now occurring every month instead of every other month, and that will continue after October so the results are not weighted towards the high results from the summer. Both the Dosewallips and the Duckabush show similar seasonal fluctuations of elevated fecal coliform during the summer and lower geometric means and 90th percentiles during the winter. Trevor clarified that on the shellfish map, unclassified means that there have not been requests for commercial harvesting in that area. The classifications only apply to commercial shellfishing, not recreational shellfishing. QUIL-DABOB PIC PROJECT HOT SPOTS, FISHING SEASON, AND GRANT AMENDMENT – 4:10 PM This Centennial Grant Project covers the Quilcene Bay and Dabob Bay areas with Tim Weissman as the lead. Herb Beck Marina Beach on Linger Longer Road closed in mid-July due to high bacteria counts. Septic systems in the area were investigated, as well as a stream that runs into the area. One abandoned but not decommissioned septic tank was discovered near the stream. This belongs to the Port of Port Townsend, and JCPH is working with them to have this tank decommissioned. No other major issues were discovered in the area. Unprecedented flooding of the Little Quilcene River around the same time caused suspicion, but the two events were not linked as these locations are in different parts of Quilcene Bay. The cause of the flooding event was not determined, but could have been due to a beaver dam break. No high counts of bacteria were found due to this event. The annual fishing season at Big Quilcene River began recently. There have been some issues with sanitation at the Riverside Park in Quilcene. Sanicans and a dumpster have been provided for the season, but they often get misused and human waste is still found along the river. This issue occurs every fishing season, so it was suggested that Fish and Wildlife be more involved in the coming years. Page 3 of 3 An amendment to the project grant has been proposed, which would reallocate funds from one task to another and extend the project three months. This amendment was proposed to allow for the completion of pollution identification and correction work in the project area. The proposal has been finalized with the Department of Ecology and will be presented to the County Commissioners soon. ANDERSON LAKE MANAGEMENT PLAN – 4:20 PM The Anderson Lake Management Plan is a grant through the Department of Ecology to address the ongoing environmental issues at Anderson Lake, mainly the extremely toxic algae blooms that occur every summer. These blooms are a threat to humans and animals through contact and ingestion, as this is a popular park and fishing location. It could become even more popular, as Anderson Lake State Park is along the preferred route of the Olympic Discovery Trail. Mike Dawson gave an update that Herrera Consultants has been subcontracted to do the nutrient budget and final management plan. They have extensive experience with the most toxic lakes in western Washington, and employ the lead blue-green algae specialist, Rob Zisette. Mike explained that Jefferson County Public Health is orchestrating this project, but the decisions involving management options will ultimately be the responsibility of Washington State Parks. FOUNDATIONAL MONITORING PLAN APPLICATION – 4:30 PM The Foundational Monitoring Plan is the idea that water quality monitoring in Jefferson County could be shifted from an individual, project-by-project basis to a program basis. Mike Dawson explained that it would use local assessment money to cover basic monitoring throughout the Clean Water District, so Centennial grants could then be used to cover most of the pollution identification and correction in specific areas, which takes many hours of staff time. This plan is being modeled after a successful implementation by Kitsap County of a similar program. The basic monitoring would include monthly E.coli sampling at the mouths of 14 high priority streams that drain to shellfish beds, and seasonal E. coli sampling in 5 high priority shoreline areas. Overall, this plan would cut down on lab costs, reduce staff time spent on grant management, and focus long-term attention on high priority areas. ANNOUNCEMENTS There were no announcements made. PUBLIC COMMENT There was no public comment. ADJOURN The meeting was adjourned at 4:40 pm by Mike Dawson.