San Juan County Community Development and Planning
Show us the problem. That's the refrain from many of the critics of the state-mandated update to the county's critical areas ordinance. So without further ado...
In the past two years, 23 more species in the Salish Sea were added to the list of species of concern; defined as species threatened, endangered or candidates for listing on the threatened or endangered species lists.
Five were fish and 15 were birds. According to SeaDoc Society Regional Director Jon Gaydos VMD PhD the list usually increases by 1 to 3 species a year.
The list now includes 113 species. Their survival depends on protecting more than just the marine environment.
Gaydos and Scott Pearson of the state Dept. of Fish and Wildlife recently compiled a list of all of the birds and mammals of the Salish Sea.
While compiling the list, Gaydos discovered "nearly 60% of the bird species and 30% of the mammals that need the Salish Sea also require terrestrial resources to survive, illustrating the intimate link between land and sea and the need to conserve both."
Their list of the 172 bird and 37 mammal species living in the Salish Sea is available as a PDF.
Another answer to the 'show me the problem' question: The disappearance of all of the eel grass in Westcott Bay. It was noted several years ago and the cause has yet to be determined.
More examples. The 303 (d) program is part of the Clean Water Act administered by the Environmental Protection Agency. It is a water quality based approach for protecting and restoring the nation's waters.
In San Juan County, 11 waterbodies are in Category 5 on the 303(d) list.
Category 5: impaired by a Pollutant and needs a Total Maximum Daily Load. Category 5 is also known as the 303(d) List of Impaired Waters.
San Juan Island:
San Juan Channel - Dissolved Oxygen
San Juan Valley Creek - Fecal Coliform
Unnamed Creek (Tributary to Trout Lake) - Fecal Coliform
San Juan Valley Creek - Fecal Coliform
San Juan Valley Creek - Fecal Coliform
Unnamed Creek - Fecal Coliform
Orcas Island:
Mountain Lake - PCB
East Sound - Dissolved Oxygen
Unnamed Creek Fecal Coliform
Lopez Island
Unnamed Creek - Fecal Coliform
Blakely Island
Horseshoe Lake - Total Phosphorus
Horseshoe Lake also has a category 4c- invasion of an exotic species
In addition, San Juan County has 37 waterbodies in Category 2 - Waters of Concern. These have some evidence of a water quality problem, but are short of impairment.
Sometimes data that are not sufficient for listing a waterbody segment as impaired may still raise a concern about water quality. Examples of this include:
The data show some exceedances of an applicable water quality standard, but not enough exceedances as required for listing as impaired
The data shows exceedances, but there are too few samples to gain confidence that it is not a random sampling or analysis error
The data suggest impairment, but there is substantial contradictory data
The data suggest impairment, but there are problems regarding quality assurance, sampling, laboratory procedure, or similar issues, or
Narrative information raises concerns, but is not sufficient for listing as impaired. This includes segments that are near or between impaired segments and are believed to also be impaired, but that have insufficient data to include them as part of an extended segment or to place them on the 303(d) list even as part of an extended segment.
In these and similar cases, the waterbody segment will be placed in the Waters of Concern category.They could need more data, there could be questions about the quality of the data
The state Department of Ecology website has two ways of searching for information on water pollution in the different categories. It can be viewed with a mapping tool, or by query form. FYI San Juan County is in WRIA 2. (Water Resource Inventory Area).
At first glance it's difficult to imagine anything is awry because birds swoop overhead, foxes run across the road, scientists arrive to conduct research in our waters, visitors are awestruck by the natural beauty.
But we know this isn't Disneyland. Things are more than surface-deep here.
The CAO process has made us look at the situation facing our islands. We can't put blinders on, no matter how much easier that would be. So what should we do?
We need to acknowledge and honor the wonderful work the people who came before us did in taking care of the islands.
And we need to recognize, in the 21st century, that other more formal mechanisms are necessary to achieve the same result for future generations.
Others need to join the ongoing development of reasonable ways to save the spectacular natural environment which drew us all here in the first place.
That's the answer.
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