Water? Here is info on our most precious resource

The Northwest coast is currently experiencing a severe draught, and the stagnant pools or barren gravel beds that were once our streams, remind us of how serious it is. Luckily, we are approaching the rainy months and soon our waterways will flow once again. The question is; what will they flow with? Will this winter not only reveal what we're dumping into our water supplies, but will it also show how we're treating the surrounding land within our watersheds?

Community Clean Water Institute (CCWI) is a non-profit out of Sebastopol dedicated to promoting and protecting clean water and public health by identifying water pollution, advocating for sound water policies, and providing information/education to the public. CCWI received funding from the Sonoma County Fish and Wildlife Commission to conduct a storm monitoring study on Dutch Bill Creek (DBC) during the fall and winter months of 2007 and 2008.

In 2002, DBC was added to the 303(d) list of impaired waterways, which is a section of the Clean Water Act that identifies streams and rivers that don't meet water quality standards of California. There is great concern about how increased sediment and pollution will affect Coho Salmon, an endangered species on the brink of extinction in Dutch Bill Creek. Heightened levels of sediment can harm salmon at all stages of their life cycle. Nutrients from fertilizers, wastewater and livestock can stimulate plant growth in creeks and rivers, interfering with the amount of oxygen available to fish.

As we approach the rainy months, water from storms will fall onto the ground and then either flow into nearby waterways (runoff), or seep into groundwater sources (percolation). Whatever the rainwater collects from this process, such as pesticides, fertilizers, and loose soil, will end up in our water supply. When the rain water seeps through soil, it can end up in septic systems and these can over flow, and sewage can pollute our drinking water.  CCWI's storm water program aims at understanding the extent of how sediment, nutrients, and bacteria are impacting our streams.

Our interest in bacteria monitoring on DBC came out of a growing concern for possible sewage pollution from Occidental and Camp Meeker. CCWI went out and collected water samples on October 4^th 2008, the day after the first storm of this fall, and our results were worrying. At all the sites we tested, coliform (a group of bacteria commonly found in the environment that may indicate contamination by disease-causing microorganisms) and E. coli. readings were much higher than the California Department of Health Service's recommendation for water used for drinking and recreation.

 CCWI feels that collecting water quality data, and informing the public of results will promote environmental stewardship among our local residents. We also feel that continuing to study sediment and nutrient levels in DBC will be extremely beneficial to the Coho Recovery Program. This study will continue through till the end of the 2008 winter and informative fact sheets and an educational forum will soon follow. For any questions please contact the CCWI office.

Learn More about the PacificMix Report

Wikipedia tells us more.

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is an area of marine debris in the North Pacific Gyre, and is also known as the Plastic soup, the Eastern Garbage Patch, and the Pacific Trash Vortex.

PacificMix is going to find out more and will update this report for those of us that love the biggest ocean on the planet.

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Or... visit the PacficMix Studios business site, and visit the trash can... my favorite place.

Be sure, one thing in life that is always gonna be there... your thirst for water.