The Skagit Conservation District and Horses for Clean Water present Healthy Horses, Healthy Watersheds, a series of three, free workshops aimed at improving livestock property and the quality of local waters.

Spend up to three evenings with equine expert, Alayne Blickle of Horses for Clean Water learning ways to manage your horse or livestock property, reduce mud, manage manure, and improve pastures. Workshops will take place at the Padilla Bay Research Reserve/Breazeale Interpretive Center on April 6, April 20, and May 4 from 6pm-9pm. Pre-registration is required by April 1, 2010. For more information, contact Kristi Carpenter of the Skagit Conservation District at Kristi@skagitcd.org or at (360) 428-4313.

These workshops are funded by Skagit County's Clean Water Program and support the Clean Samish Initiative.

Download the flyer.(Pdf)

More than 20 non-profit groups, businesses and government agencies formed Clean Samish earlier this year to speed cleanup in the river, bay and nearby streams. Several of these water bodies do not meet state clean-water standards for fecal coliform, bacteria from digestive systems of people and animals.

Other Clean Samish participants include Samish Bay shellfish farmers, the Samish Indian Nation, the Western Washington Agricultural Association, the Puget Sound Partnership, and the state departments of Health and Agriculture.

“Clean Samish represents a community-wide commitment in the broadest sense,” said Ecology’s regional director Jeannie Summerhays, who chairs the Initiative. “If you’ve ever had questions about the Samish cleanup, many of the organizatio
ns working on it will be under one roof at this open house.”

Summerhays added that owners of septic systems and farm animals can make very significant contributions. “When managed properly, none of these uses represents a threat to water quality,” she explained.

Teams from the county Health Department and Ecology have been visiting homes and farms in selected sub-basins to provide information and assistance on meeting local and state requirements to prevent contamination from reaching Samish waters.

Fecal coliform bacteria indicate the likely presence of disease-causing organisms in the water. Elevated levels of this pollutant have led to Washington Department of Health closures of commercial shellfish harvests in Samish Bay for a total of ten weeks in 2008 and 2009. Bacteria levels frequently reach levels too high for safe non-commercial shellfish harvesting and for recreational water-contact activities such as swimming and fishing.

“A clean Samish adds a critical value for farmers, especially those who irrigate from surface waters or grow shellfish” said Mike Rundlett of the Western Washington Agriculture Association. “Consumers need to be assured their food products are safe.”

Marine monitoring is conducted by the state Department of Health. Freshwater monitoring is conducted by Ecology, Skagit County and the volunteer Skagit Stream Team.

The Clean Samish Initiative has developed a plan to coordinate its members’ cleanup activities, based on an Ecology water-quality improvement strategy for the Samish, approved last month by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, under the federal Clean Water Act. In addition to proper management of septic systems and animal waste, the plan addresses other pollution sources, including:

• farming operations that spread animal manure as fertilizer;
• various human recreational activities, including boating, hunting, fishing, hiking;
• marina live-aboard boats;
• waterfowl attracted to fields planted in grain.

For more information, or to get involved with Clean Samish, please contact:

Corinne Story, Skagit County Public Health, 360-336-9380, corinnes@co.skagit.wa.us

Pete Haase, Skagit Conservation Education Alliance, 360-419-3161, sceamail@verizon.net

Kristi Carpenter, Skagit Conservation District, 360-428-4313, kristi@skagitcd.org

Rick Haley, Skagit County Public Works, 360-336-9400, rickh@co.skagit.wa.us

Related: Clean Water Web Site: www.skagitcounty.net/cleanwater

To report water pollution concerns in unincorporated Skagit County, call (360) 336-9400. For after hours response contact one of the additional spill response numbers listed below: Washington Department of Ecology NW Regional Office: 1-425-649-700 National Response Center: 1-800-424-8802 Washington Emergency Management Division, 1-800-OILS-911 or 1-800-258-5900 For emergency situations that include hazardous waste spills, spills of raw sewage, gasoline, or other hazardous materials, dial 911.