Under the Clean Water Act, all of the waters of the United States have Water Quality Standards (WQS) to protect them from pollution. These are standards that are designed as the amount of pollutant allowed in a water body. The Water Quality Standard guarantees the health, the safety, and usability by people and wildlife. These standards ensure that all of our waters are fishable and swimmable. In some cases this also includes drinkable. These WQS are the bedrock of river and water protection in our society.
Our guest opinion from the Spokesman-Review from Sun., Dec. 2, 2018 discusses efforts to dismantle protections ensured in the Clean Water Act from toxics, such as poly chlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).
Check out the Spokane Riverkeeper 2018 Fall eNews. Our newsletter contains all the information you need to know to keep up to date about our work protecting the Spokane River.
Anthropogenic microplastic pollution is a growing threat in freshwater ecosystems around the world. This has been a long-known threat in the Spokane river watershed with numerous responses undertaken to combat the problems of pollutants. One of the targets has been wastewater effluent, a known point source for pollutants. There is a new emerging anthropogenic pollutant, microplastic, which is being discovered to be pervasive throughout the globe. This study aimed to find if the Spokane Wastewater Treatment plant (WWTP) was a point source for microplastic pollution.
The Spokane Riverkeeper monitored water temperature in the Spokane River in summer of 2018. Water temperature in the Spokane River showed the usual pattern of high temperatures approaching a daily maxima of 80 degrees or more in the losing reach at Barker Road and Harvard Road. The gaining reach continued to show lower water temperatures, under that state standard for interior redband trout of 64.4 F. Water temperature in the gaining reach continued to show decreased water temperature with decreasing flows in the Spokane River. Water temperatures in the Spokane River’s losing reach appear to be rising when compared to 2001 and 2002 data.
The Spokane Riverkeeper partnered with Spokane Falls Trout Unlimited and other citizen scientists to monitor the effect of sediment discharging from Hangman Creek on the water clarity in the Spokane River. Monitoring throughout the winter and spring showed reduced water clarity in the Spokane River due to Hangman Creek 30-80% of the time.
Visit LR Montgomery’s show Rivers, Streams, and Wetlands - Tributary Waters of Spokane. These amazing paintings are currently showing through October 14 at the MAC’s Helen South Alexander gallery. See you there!
Spokanites should be educated and aware of the issues facing Coeur d’Alene Lake because the Lake and the Spokane River are connected. I was recently invited along on a boat tour with several board members of the Kootenai Environmental Alliance, and this is what I learned.
The results are in for 2017 and once again we find that Hangman Creek harbors conditions that fail to support our native redband trout, much less the salmon that once swam in it's waters.
We partnered with EWU to look at phosphorous loads in Hangman Creek during the spring of 2017. The amount of phosphorous in our waters is extremely important to primary production in our surface waters, causing algal blooms and (indirectly) low dissolved oxygen in Lake Spokane. Phosphorous is locally regulated in surface water discharges due to it's effect on Lake Spokane,
The Spokane Riverkeeper attended the canoe landing and Salmon Ceremony on the Columbia River at Kettle Falls. Before the construction of the Grand Coulee Dam, Kettle Falls served as a sacred gathering spot for tribes and First Nations peoples during salmon runs. The Ceremony of Tears in 1940 was the last Salmon Ceremony held before Kettle Falls was permanently inundated with water and the salmon runs blocked - until 2016 when these canoes were built by tribes of the Upper Columbia River Basin and the journey to Kettle Falls and tradition of the Salmon Ceremony revived.
The Spokane Riverkeeper, along with staff from the EPA and the Idaho Panhandle Health Department will lead a free tour of the Bunker Hill Superfund Site on June 8th. Although downtown Spokane is many miles away from the Bunker Hill Mine, mining operations that began in the 1880s continue to impact the health of downstream waterways from the South Fork Coeur d’Alene River all the way to the Spokane River.
Paul Lindholdt's newest book, The Spokane River pulls together a diverse array of experts and enthusiasts to expound about the River, including past and present Spokane Riverkeepers, Rick Eichstaedt, Bart Mihailovich, and Jerry White, Jr.
Canoes are tippy. After a brief safety talk and paddle demo (provided by yours truly), Uncle Jerry White (your Riverkeeper) treated us to a devotional sermon, and we were off.
What does polluted stormwater have to do with fish hearing? Until today, I’d say absolutely nothing. But in the last weeks, new science points to polluted stormwater runoff as the culprit for damaging the ability for salmon and other fish to hear.
Spokane Riverkeeper Settles Law Suit with the Environmental Protection Agency and the Washington Department of Ecology to Protect Water Quality in Hangman Creek
The Spokane Riverkeeper has settled a federal lawsuit challenging the Environmental Protection Agency’s (“EPA”) approval of Washington Department of Ecology’s plan to clean up pollution in Hangman Creek.
From Colorado River tributaries to Humboldt Bay, and from Prince William Sound to the Snake River – over 30 Waterkeepers from the west just gathered near Hood River, Oregon for three days of networking,
The Spokane Riverkeeper conducted a water temperature study in the Hangman Creek watershed in summer of 2017. Our results show that mainstem water temperatures are much too high to support redband trout. However, results were more promising in the tributaries.
A short video comparing turbidity in Hangman Creek and the Spokane River on 2/7/2018
While it may not be apparent, the river that we love, the river that’s vital to our health and economy – needs your help. As your Riverkeepers, it is our job and our privilege to protect and defend your river so that it’s clean and safe for all to enjoy. Here’s a little background on why the river is polluted, why this pollution matters, and some easy steps that we want you to take to keep toxic pollution out of the Spokane River.
