2009 Water Quality Monitoring report

From late April through early November, our water monitoring technician is spending the majority of her time in the field, collecting data from streams located throughout central and eastern Klickitat County.  Both Central and Eastern Klickitat Conservation Districts receive grant funding through the Washington State Department of Ecology’s Clean Water Act 319 Nonpoint Source Fund to carry out the water monitoring program.  There are currently 37 active stream temperature monitoring sites, all of which are accessed monthly with landowner permission.

The main focus of the water monitoring program to date has been to collect baseline stream temperature data, representative of conditions in each watershed.  During the first site visit of the season a temperature data logger is secured in the stream, which records the water temperature every 30 minutes.  This data is retrieved during subsequent site visits, and is ultimately used to calculate the average daily temperature of the stream.  Stream temperature data is compared to state standards.  This information helps the Conservation Districts determine where to direct our stream restoration efforts.

At four monitoring sites on the Little Klickitat River and Bloodgood Creek, water samples are collected monthly to be analyzed for fecal coliform bacteria.  This is an indicator organism showing that biological waste is entering the stream.  Such waste could be from livestock, wildlife, or humans (perhaps due to faulty septic systems).  The District’s goal is to reduce elevated levels of fecal coliform in the streams from nonpoint source pollution by promoting the implementation of Best Management Practices in areas upstream of where high counts are found.  As with everything we do, this District program is completely voluntary and non-regulatory.

Water quantity is another concern.  Low stream flow is one of the main factors contributing to elevated stream temperatures.  At each monitoring site, we collect water velocity profile measurements using a portable flow meter.  These readings are used to calculate stream discharge, which will help compliment the long-term data collected at permanent stream gaging stations that are installed in the watersheds.

On behalf of the WRIA 30 (Watershed Resource Inventory Area for Central Klickitat CD), the Conservation District and Klickitat County Department of Natural Resources received grant funding to install and monitor five new stream gage stations, as called for the WRIA 30 Detailed Implementation Plan.    Installation was completed in November 2008.  Three of the sites are located on Swale Creek, and two on the Little Klickitat River.  Two stream gage stations were already installed on the Little Klickitat River, one operated by the Department of Ecology and one operated by the City of Goldendale.

The District is serving as the technical field lead for the long-term operation and data management for the five new stream gaging stations.  A stream gaging station obtains a continuous record of stage and discharge.  It is equipped with a continuous stage recorder that will measure and record stage every 15 minutes.  A vertical staff gage for the manual measurement of stage is also present at each station.  Discharge measurements have been collected to date over a broad range of flow conditions, and are being used to develop a rating table.  The rating table is used to calculate a continuous record of stream flow from the stage record.

Our water monitoring program is funded by the Department of Ecology through October 2012.  During this time frame, we will continue to collect data from the 37 current stream temperature monitoring sites, including collection of fecal coliform samples from selected sites.  Our goal for stream temperature monitoring has been to document baseline conditions of the streams.  As we move forward we plan to take a look at temperature trends over time.

Water quality data collected with Department of Ecology funding is submitted to Ecology’s Environmental Information Management System, where it is available on-line to the public at www.ecy.wa.gov/eim.  The data is submitted on an annual basis, meaning that 2009 data will be available to view in early 2010.

If you are interested in stream temperature or stream flow conditions in your watershed, we encourage you to check online or contact our water monitoring technician, Martha Blair, at 773-5823 ext. 5.

CCPI Update

In the last issue of Klickitat Quarterly, we reported that Central Klickitat CD had secured $326,000.00 from NRCS to fund irrigation efficiency upgrades in the Little Klickitat and Swale Creek watersheds.  We are pleased to announce that the funding was increased to $371,735.00.   Six contracts were developed, covering 1154 acres.  Projects range from mainline replacement to conversion from wheel lines to a center pivot system.   This program, basically a locally-competitive version of EQIP,  will be available for at least four more years.

Other 2009 EQIP totals for Klickitat County are 38 contracts on 1445 acres, obligating $561,838.00.

Preparations for Annual Plant Sale Begin

It’s that time of year again, when your friendly conservation district staff begin making preparations for the annual “Tree Sale.”  Of course, we offer more than just trees!  As in years past, we will also be offering a variety of shrubs, groundcovers, flowers, and even some ornamental grass.

A few changes are in store, however.  This year you will notice an increased emphasis on “native” plants, and most plants will be offered only in “bundles.”  A few will still be available singly, but bundles will improve efficiency and accuracy when it comes time for us to fill your orders.  If you feel like the bundles have more plants than you’ll need, perhaps you and your neighbors could plan to split them.

Also, look for  changes in the catalog itself , which will be designed to assist you in choosing plants that best suit your needs.  If there is a particular plant that you want us to include, please feel free to call Mindy at   773-5823 ext. 5.   We’re always happy to try to accommodate your needs, and the earlier we start looking, the better our chance of finding it.  The catalog will be the next newsletter; we start taking orders in January.

Here’s a sneak peek at some of the plants we’ll be offering, some old favorites, and some new……….           Ponderosa Pine, Mountain Mahogany, Beaked Hazelnut, Douglas Iris, Kinnikinnick, Vine Maple, Green’s Mountainash, Oregon White Oak, Penstemon, Osoberry, Bald Hip Rose, Giant Sequoia, Blue Spruce, Doug Fir, Redstem Ceanothus, Oregon Grape, Witch Hazel, Lilac, Rocky Mtn. Juniper, Redosier Dogwood……

When You’re So Old

My  friends quite often ask of me,

Why does an old man plant a tree?

It grows so slow it will not pay

A profit for you anyway.

Then why in storm and winter cold,

Do you plant when you’re so old?

The answer seems hard to define,

When muscles ache and they are mine.

But I just cannot stand to see

A space where there should be a tree.

So that, in part, as years unfold,

Is why I plant when I’m so old.

I know that animals, bugs and things

Love trees, and so do such as go on wings.

So creatures wild that benefit

Is one more reason I can’t quit

From planting trees while I can hold

My planting hoe, though I’m so old.

They say that those retired from labor

Should fish and play and talk to neighbor.

They say also that folks in leisure

Should do the things which give them  pleasure.

And so the thought on which I’m sold,

I’ll plant some trees though I’m so old.

As time goes on my trees will grow.

So tall and clean and row on row.

The furry folk will have a home,

The birds can nest, and kids can roam.

And all of this as I have told,

I planted trees though I’m so old.

And then there is my family,

Young folks who will follow me.

I’d like to leave them with some land

Stocked with trees and looking grand.

These gifts I value more than gold,

So I plant trees though I’m so old.

And taxes, too, for schools and roads,

With jobs and lumber for abodes.

I won’t see these things, I won’t be here.

But to my mind it’s very clear.

The words of some who could be polled

Might thank a man who is so old.

Man should be proud of what’s his own,

And how he’s managed what he’s grown.

But management must be begun

By planting seedlings one by one.

And so my pride I shall uphold,

I’ll plant some trees though I’m so old.

So when my friends ask of me,

Why does an old man plant a tree?

Perhaps the lines above explain

How aching back and limbs in pain

May by commitment be controlled,

To plant my trees though I’m so old.

By Robert H. Mealey

Oregon State College, School of Forestry       Class of 1936

Used with permission