Dirty water is gross! And it’s also pollution. The sediment laden water from Hangman Creek pollutes the Spokane River, contributing to issues downstream such as the low dissolved oxygen in Lake Spokane. Levels of pollution that we see in Hangman Creek and the Spokane River can also cause issues with salmonid growth and reproduction. This is important because we still have wild, native redband trout in our river and an effort by the Coeur d’Alene and Spokane Tribes to return salmon to our watershed. Check out the photo gallery below! If you’d like to participate starting this December, make sure to sign up for our Community Science email list, or our general email list!
Read more about our study by clicking the file below. Or read the summary below. Thank you to Charlotte O’Donoghue for helping to write this report.
From December of 2022-June 2023, 28 citizen scientists went on 119 sampling runs, collecting 458 samples, and uploaded 102 photos to our timelapse. In addition, we trained approximately 50 community scientists during training events. We show that 19 samples (16%) at the downstream location (TJ Meenach) exceeded the state standard of 5 NTU (about 60 cm transparency), while 78% samples from the source location (Hangman Creek at 11th street) exceeded state standards. These data support a state 303(d) listing on the Spokane River for turbidity.
In 2024, 29 volunteers took 584 samples, during 146 sample runs and we trained 40 volunteers. In 2024, 13% of samples at TJ Meenach exceeded state standards while 50% of samples at Riverside Cemetery exceeded state standards.
