Water and Salmon Committee

WATER AND SALMON COMMITTEE

Next Meeting: Monday, January 18, 2010 - Sierra Club, 180 Nickerson Street, Ste. 202, 7 - 9 p.m. All Club members welcome.

Would you like to know which river basin you live within? Go to www.inforain.org/watershed.

WATER AND SALMON MISSION STATEMENT: To promote stewardship and responsible management of water in order to ensure its availability to sustain the natural balance between people and the environment.

Please join us, assisting with one of the programs outlined below. Following are presentations of currently active programs and proposed programs deemed important by the Committee each of which needs a leader.

If you would like to kept informed of the activities of the Committee please contact Stan Moffett (stanmaggie@comcast.net ). While you do not need to be a Club member, please let Stan know if you are. If however you want to participate as a member of the Committee, ask Stan for a new member packet. Committee membership has two requirements: you must be a Club member and you must become actively involved in a committee project or program. Thanks.

Presented below our Active and Proposed Programs and Current Campaigns 

ACTIVE PROGRAMS

1. POLICY AND LEGISLATIVE (Contact: Pat Sumpton, patsump@juno.com )

We affect legislation of concern to the Club related to the Committee's mission. If you are the type who likes to be involved in legislative matters with the Washington State Legislature and the Governor. Contact Pat to see how your talents can be put to use.

2. AQUACULTURE 

The Water and Salmon Committee has developed an Aquaculture Policy designed to protect the valuable natural resource in Puget Sound and off the coast of Washington. Associated with the policy, we have created a brochure that further defines the issues relating to unregulated expansion of the aquaculture business in Washington State.

3. “BUSINESSES-TO-SCHOOLS" Rain Garden Campaign (Contact: Rebecca Phelps, rebeccaphelps@comcast.net )

The Water and Salmon Committee is developing a relationship with the Seattle School District and its teachers to retrofit Rain Gardens at schools. Rain Gardens are landscaped areas specially desiged to infiltrate rain runoff from our roofs, driveways, and lawns. The Rain Gardens will serve as a means to educate children as to the significance of stormwater, the pollutants it carries, and methods to reduce the impact of urban runoff on our urban streams and salmon habitat. We are joining businesses with schools as a means of funding the construction of the Rain Gardens. We seek additional expertise from a landscape architect and soil scientist. If you reside in the Bellingham area please contact Llyn Doremus (llynadele@yahoo.com) who is coordinating a similar effort with the Mount Baker Group.

Check out our project where we helped students at Montlake Elementary School in Seattle install a rain garden.

4. PARTNERSHIP FOR WATER CONSERVATION (contact Stan Moffett: stanmaggie@comcast.net ). The Partnership engages the Puget Sound region in conservation efforts generating measurable water savings that support communities, provide long-term economic benefits and protect watersheds by helping to sustain necessary flows in rivers and streams. Stan represents the Sierra Club.

5. BOTTLED WATER (contact Rebecca Wolfe: rr.wolfe@comcast.net). The bottled water industry is aggressively promoting bottled water. In the U.S., more than 30 billion plastic water bottles end up as garbage or litter each year. Most don’t get recycled. The bottles take up to 1,000 years to decompose and contribute to the vast vortex of plastic waste in the Pacific Ocean, which is harming wildlife.

The withdrawal of large quantities of water from springs and aquifers for bottling has depleted household wells in rural areas, damaged wetlands, and degraded lakes. It takes 3 liters of water to produce 1 liter of bottled water. Please see the following for more information:

• defending water for life in washington
• defending water for life in california
• defending water for life in maine
• Food & Water Watch
• Sierra Club Bottled Water Campaign
• Stop Nestle Waters.org

PROGRAMS REQUIRING LEADERSHIP (Contact: Elaine Packard, espackard@msn.com)

1. Stormwater Permits: About 90 cities, counties, and ports in Washington have permits from the Department of Ecology requiring the implementation of Best Management Practices (BMPs) to reduce non-point pollution and to improve the water quality of streams, lakes, and wetlands. The Committee seeks a Club member willing to monitor the progress of local governments in implementing the requirements of these permits.

ENVIRONMENTAL ALERTS

Plastics: Plastic for drinking containers as well as thoudands of other uses is resulting in huge environmental damage. View the the presentation "Bottled Water -- Do we need it?" and learn more about the issues.

OTHER ACTIVITIES

(1) Dams proposed for eastern Washington. Eastern Washington already includes some of the most heavily dammed rivers on earth: the Columbia and Lower Snake. Crab Creek is at the top of the list (drowning the 19,000 acres of dedicated wildlife habitat, including the Columbia National Wildlife Refuge), followed by Hawk Creek ($8 billion and taller than Hoover Dam) and Sand Hollow Creek flooding out irrigated agriculture. See the March/April 2008 issue of the Crest for details. Learn more at http://www.waterplanet.ws/crabcreek/ccrhome/Home.htm. Lead is Pat Sumption, patsump@juno.com or at 206-525-1708. 

UPCOMING EVENTS 

COMMITTEE OFFICERS: Chair, Elaine Packard; Secretary/Treasurer, Stan Moffett; Members-at-Large, Laura Hendricks, Rebecca Wolfe.