Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout20190808_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 Jefferson County Public Health, Pacific Room 615 Sheridan St, Port Townsend, WA 98368 Thursday, August 8, 2019, 3:00 to 4:30 pm Attending: Michael Dawson, Wendy Clark-Getzin, David Steele, Greg Lanning (Director of Public Works), Trevor Swanson (DOH Shellfish) Absent: David Sullivan, Deborah Stinson, Richard Wojt, Al Cairns, Kara Cardinal, Richard Hull Staff: Jacquelyn Stenman The meeting was called to order at 3:10 pm by Mike Dawson. AGENDA AND MINUTES APPROVAL Mike Dawson stated that they could not approve the agenda or minutes due to not having a quorum. Planned to continue with the agenda as is and seek approval of the minutes at the next meeting. DRAFT ANNUAL REPORT Mike Dawson gave an overview of the annual report. Funding is through the per-parcel fee used as match for Clean Water Project grant funds from Ecology. In 2018 the projects that were active were the Quilcene-Dabob PIC, Central Hood Canal PIC, and Strait Priority Areas projects. Contracts for the Northern Hood Canal and Oak Bay-Mats Mats were signed in 2018, but work began in 2019. The Quilcene-Dabob project was extended into 2019 because of staffing changes which took extra time. In the Donovan Creek area the Conservation District installed livestock exclusion fencing on a property but the buffer planting was not yet completed. Central Hood Canal PIC program was the largest project in 2018, and due to the Duckabush shellfish downgrade a Closure Response Plan that was finalized in March 2018. Details of the project status and accomplishments in 2018 were summarized. Trevor Swanson asked what percentage of homeowners were contacted. Mike Dawson was not sure exactly, but the majority of the homeowners in the floodplain and mouth of the Duckabush were contacted. Discussion ensued about how it was difficult to contact homeowners in the area. One of the highlights of the Strait Priority Areas project in 2018 was that the EPA offered to do some microbial source tracking analysis. Additional samples were collected during regular stream monitoring and sent to EPA but results were not available yet. The Conservation District completed an agricultural survey. The Marine Resources Committee deployed a Mussel Watch cage in Discovery Bay through a program by NOAA and WDFW. WDFW has released the data but a final report has not been written yet. David Steele asked where the mussel cage was deployed, Mike Dawson replied that it was near the WorldMark condominiums dock. David Steele asked why that site was chosen. Mike Dawson replied that it was chosen for easy access as well as being near the head of the bay, but in an area that was not too exposed during low tide. Discussion ensued on location and the fact that additional testing for aluminum was done due to the concern of a local shellfish grower. Program Successes were discussed. The overall focus being trying to maintain approved shellfish growing areas acreage. In 2018 there was some small acreage gains due to the reclassification of zones around marinas by DOH of some areas due to the new Puget Sound No Discharge Zone. The threatened Page 2 of 4 area in Discovery Bay didn’t get worse in 2018. David Steele asked about the reclassification of growing areas being based on DOH’s classification of growing areas. Challenges and Barriers in 2018 were summarized. Dawson talked about the fact that Jefferson County made the decision on what product to use to replace the ageing permit database, with plans to convert in late 2019. Great improvements are anticipated both for internal ease of research and as a more accessible portal for the public. Long range planning identified potential gains in efficiency by seeking grant support for a Foundational Monitoring program to consolidate most monitoring under one project umbrella, establish a programmatic QAPP and reduce staff time and overhead spent on redundant reporting and administrative requirements associated with multiple simultaneous grants. Mention was made of the last table of the report which included numbers of streams monitored, miles of shoreline, etc. Some metrics were still being collected. David Steele asked if the backlog of required O&M inspections and letters has been worked through. Mike Dawson replied that it is ongoing and the Septic Team has determined how many batch letters they can send out and not overwhelm the O&M providers. He stated a bigger problems is that when repairs are needed, there are not enough available designers resulting in long wait times. There is a general effort across building and septic departments to streamline regulation to help process permits faster. Urgent repairs are handled quickly by the septic permit team. Wendy Clark-Getzin asked about the Dabob Natural Area where homes are being removed and septic systems decommissioned and wondering if there are water quality improvements from upland area improvements. Mike Dawson replied that there are potential water quality improvements but no directly measured ones. David Steele mentioned decommissioning of three places on Tarboo Bay, which resulted in shoreline restorations. Trevor Swanson mentioned that if DOH has a marine water quality station near there they could check if the decommissioning showed up on the water quality trends. David Steele mentioned that he didn’t think that there was a change as the area was passing before and after. Mike Dawson said that there were some stream sites in the area that have not been passing state standards due to bacteria. Discussion ensued on how to connect monitoring data with purchase and decommissioning projects. SUMMARY OF ANDERSON LAKE STAKEHOLDERS MEETING Mike Dawson summarized what happened at the Anderson Lake Stakeholders meeting July 1st. The goal of the meeting was to pull together multiple agencies working on Anderson Lake including State Parks, Fish and Wildlife, State Health, Ecology, local Health and Herrera Consultants, who have been contracted to study Anderson Lake’s toxic algae. The unfortunate death of a visitor’s dog that got in the lake in May, and the subsequent public interest in the project, spurred the group to convene earlier than planned. USGS and EPA are also interested and have been doing some parallel studies of the lake. Rob Zisette at Herrera gave a presentation on what is known so far about Anderson Lake and what will be studied. The most important factor is phosphorus loading, and it is believed that it is primarily internal loading at Anderson. Anderson is characterized by heavy stratification in summer with low inflow and outflow, with possible natural sources of phosphorus in the sediments. Ecology also has some interesting data on blue green algae pigments found in sediment cores that were dated back to 1750. There were some blue green algae pigments pre-settlement and a spike just before the area became a park in 1970. Not all blue green algae produce toxins, however. There are management implications for the State Parks and Fish and Wildlife where there is recreational demand, a program of fish stocking for recreational fishing, and a public health risk. Long term goal is for blue green algae to be recognized as a serious public health risk and for there to be tight coordination between agencies. The meeting also Page 3 of 4 discussed possible remediation, most likely as an alum treatment, which is expensive but has worked on other lakes. Other management options may be solar powered de-stratifiers, no longer stocking the lake with fish, or further restricting public access. Discussion ensued about the difference between microcystin and anatoxin and how the DOH is sampling to see if toxins travel to shellfish areas. Wendy Clark-Getzin asked if animals could spread or introduce the toxins to other areas. Mike Dawson replied that waterfowl can, and that Anderson doesn’t have much of an outflow, but the small outflow present is of interest to investigate. Wendy Clark-Getzin asked if there might be a downstream public health risk. Mike Dawson said that the outlet goes through a culvert under the county road, it then goes down Putaansuu Creek, crosses West Valley Road and then enters Chimacum Creek. There is potential exposure but didn’t think the risk was high due to very restricted, slow flow and large distance. David Steele asked if the algae would survive going downstream. Mike Dawson replied that it wasn’t known but that it has happened in large river systems such as in California. David Steele wondered if toxins from the algae might end up where livestock is drinking, or wildlife. Mike Dawson mentioned that wildlife effects is a common question and a few dead animals have been found but some species are effected more than others. There is some indication that dogs are particularly sensitive. Anatoxin does degrade fairly quickly in ultraviolet light from the sun. BEACH PROGRAM Dawson gave an overview of the BEACH program for 2018 with a link to an Ecology blog about the results so far. Summer health advisories were discussed for Quilcene Marina Beach, Oak Bay County Park and Fort Worden. 2019 has been high in terms of bacteria, there have been five health advisories issued statewide and 11 closures to water contact with beaches effected by sewage spills. The biggest was in Seattle and there were none in Jefferson County. David Steele asked about the sampling methods and tide levels. Mike Dawson described them. Beach wrack may account for some of the bacteria load, especially at Oak Bay County Park when strong winds suspend decaying macroalgae and sediment in the water. David Steele asked if there were closures, Mike Dawson said that there were no closures as we had no sewage spills reported. There were recreational advisories from bacteria being over the advisory limit. Fort Worden high bacteria was of great concern because it is a very high use beach, and the Marine Science Center was concerned because their touch tanks draw water from close to the area that was high. They closed their touch tanks for a while, and there have been additional samples to see if the intake is close enough to draw the bacteria laden water. It was not determined exactly what is going on at Fort Worden, although river otters are thought to be a factor. Quilcene Marina Beach had met the criteria for the marine water but the small stream entering beach had high E. coli, resulting in Stream Polluted signs being posted. There is ongoing investigation upstream and of the nearby septic systems. Trevor Swanson mentioned a call from Reed Gunstone Clams in Discovery Bay, who has been noticing dog poop on the beaches. Port of Port Townsend boat ramp at Gardiner, Cape George may be places to make sure they have dog bag dispensers. Follow up is planned including public education at the Wooden Boat Festival. FOREST AERIAL SPRAYING Greg Lanning mentioned that concerned citizens have approached both the city and county about plans to aerially apply herbicides on forest lands near City Lake drinking reservoir. Mike Dawson asked how close the sites are to City Lake. Greg Lanning said that there was a significant difference in the drainage areas, and there would have to be a large drift or mis-spray to reach the water supply. The license for spraying is from Washington State Dept. of Agriculture and they are the agency that investigates complaints about forest spraying. Jefferson County Conservation District does not have a role in communicating about spraying, though they were directing people to a Pope Resources webpage that lists when and where spraying is happening. Page 4 of 4 DOH SHELLFISH PROGRAM Trevor Swanson shared reports on local shellfishing areas in the last year. QUESTIONS: There were no questions ANNOUNCEMENTS: The next meeting will be on November 14th 2019 at Public Health in the regular location at the regular time. PUBLIC COMMENT: There was no public comment. ADJOURN: The meeting was adjourned at 4:30 p.m. by Mike Dawson.