Protecting the environment and our property rights.
WSU Extension and Washington Sea Grant Beach Watcher Program: Module 1 – Fridays 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. – Oct 23 to Nov 20; Module 2 & 3 will be in 2010
The Kitsap Beach Watcher Program modeled after the 20 year old program begun on Whidby Island begins on October 23. The course is $40 to cover the cost of materials.
by Becca Hanson, Studio Hanson/Roberts, Landscape Architects
My firm was responsible for designing the “Salmon-Friendly Garden” for the Arboretum Foundation at the Flower & Garden Show a number of years ago: it consisted of a “stream” that visitors could walk through to view a deck and a garden planted along the edge. As you can imagine, we had many long discussions with the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife biologists, as well as everyone else interested in regulating the riparian edge. The results?
Continue reading ‘Salmon friendly gardens with non-native plants.’
We’ve all seen it in the rainy season here in the Northwest — water pooling in parking lots, coming off of roofs, running down the street and into the storm drain. Most of this water goes directly into our waterways without any treatment to filter out the contaminants it picks up along the way.
Stormwater is the leading contributor to water quality pollution of urban waterways in Washington. Polluted stormwater can contain contaminants that are toxic to salmon and other stream and marine inhabitants and been a factor in the closure of some Puget Sound shellfish beds and beaches.
Pollution from factories or sewage treatment plants, while still a problem, is easier to manage because the pollutants come from a single location. Stormwater runoff on the other hand, picks up small amounts of pollution until it is a veritable chemical cocktail by the time it reaches our waterways.
The rain runoff from your roof, driveway or patio has to go somewhere. Why not use it to water a beautifully functional low-maintenance landscape feature? Colorful, lush rain gardens reduce flooding, recharge our drinking water supply, treat pollution, and provide habitat for backyard wildlife.
Join Washington Sea Grant, Kitsap County Surface and Stormwater Program, WSU Kitsap County Extension and local nurseries at a FREE workshop on rain garden installation.
Please register early as space is limited. Click here to sign up!
Now that the City has repaired the leak in it’s Eagle Harbor sewer pipe, a lot of people are pointing fingers and suggesting that those City folks should do a better job of maintaining the system. OK, but how about the rest of us?
The state Department of Health estimates there are about 500,000 on-site septic systems throughout the 12-county Puget Sound region. About 5 percent of these systems are estimated to be failing and causing pollution problems. Many local health agencies have been surveying and targeting inadequate systems for upgrade, repair or replacement.
From a 2002 article in the Seattle PI, “Homeowners think their septic systems work “because the water goes away,” but Terry Hull, who works on sewage problems for the state’s Puget Sound Water Quality Action Team, said a long list of conditions can cause them to malfunction and no one would know it. “Some people have a 55-gallon drum buried in the sand in the 1940s,” he said.
Dear Friends of Cannery Cove, (aka Strawberry Plant Park)
ALL HANDS ON DECK! For the love of humanity! …history, nature and children!
APPEAL is still set for 9:30 AM, Friday, JUNE 12 at City Hall Council Chambers.
Please attend and or submit written comments’. You all have special expertise and interests. Now’s the time to share them.
APPEAL PLANNING MEETING: Tentatively Sunday, JUNE 7, 3 PM at Elfendahl’s, 7823 Westerly Lane. If anyone has special interest in appealing the proposed shoreline permit, you have until JUNE 10.
CITY COUNCIL: Meets JUNE 10. Talk to them. Write them. Petition them.
According to the Kitsap Sun, City public works crews stopped the three-day flow of raw sewage into Eagle Harbor early Tuesday morning. A June 3rd update says,
Initial water quality testing conducted after the sewer leak in Eagle Harbor show very low levels of contamination. Three water samples taken on Monday from Waterfront Park on Eagle Harbor show bacteria levels that are at or slightly below the typical level for marine waters.
This is great news, but county health officials stress that their no-contact advisory for all of the harbor and the seven miles of shoreline between Yeomalt Point and Rockaway Beach will remain in effect for 10 days. Kitsap County Health District water quality specialist John Kiess said,
Bacteria doesn’t survive well. Natural conditions tend to destroy it. That’s the beauty of it.
According to the City’s home page…
An orange-brown algal bloom, which has been reported near island shorelines, is a natural occurrence which is impacting Puget Sound as a whole, and is unrelated to the spill, according to the Kitsap County Health Department.
Maybe now we can rest a bit easier, call off the consultants, and encourage our Public Works Department to engage in an orderly program of inspecting, repairing and replacing Winslow’s aging sewer pipes.
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