Hangman (Latah) Creek Watershed Planning Project

Watershed Planning in Hangman (Latah) Creek

The Spokane County Conservation District is working with local citizens, interest groups, and government organizations to address water-related issues in the Hangman (Latah) Creek watershed. The impacts of population growth, agricultural production, fisheries, and water pollution will be addressed as the project team members work together to develop recommendations for managing water resource and water quantity in the basin. Guidance on issues related to water quality, habitat, and water storage will also be provided. The goal of the management recommendations is to balance and protect the watershed's in-stream resources and associated habitat with the economic interests in the water resources.

Project Background

The Hangman (also known as Latah) Creek watershed drains approximately 431,000 acres and spans across two states and four counties (Map). Upstream influences, land use changes, as well as stream channel and flood plain alterations, over the last 100-years contribute to "flashy" flow conditions and unstable stream banks.

Flows in Hangman Creek range from summer flows as low as 10 cubic feet per second (cfs) to peak flows in excess of 20,000 cfs. Maximum discharge in Hangman Creek occurs from December through April, resulting from warm Chinook winds that induce rain on snow events (usually on frozen soils). These events produce high turbid flows that can last a few hours to several weeks and occur many times within a season (SCCD 1994).

The continued degradation of the system and anticipated development over the next twenty years prompted the Spokane County Conservation District (SCCD) to initiate a watershed planning process in Hangman Creek. In 1999, the SCCD received funds from the Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) to constitute a planning unit and develop a scope of work for the planning process. Additional funding was received for a watershed assessment and the development of a watershed management plan. The Hangman (Latah) Creek Water Resources Management Plan was completed in late Spring 2005. The SCCD is already working with area residents and government agencies to begin implementation of the plan recommendations.

Watershed planning in Washington State is conducted within the framework of the Watershed Management Act (ESHB 2514), passed by the Washington State Legislature in 1998. The Act enables local citizens, interest groups, and governmental organizations to collaboratively identify and solve water-related issues in each of the 62 Water Resource Inventory Areas (WRIA) of the state. Hangman Creek is known as WRIA 56.

The Conservation District is also facilitating a Water Quality Improvement/Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Project. The project involves identifying the type, amount, and source of water quality problems, and recommending practices to reduce the impacts of pollutants and improve the water quality of the Hangman Creek watershed. While there is a relationship between the water quality issues addressed in the TMDL process and the water quantity issues addressed in the watershed planning process, the water resource issues in the Hangman Creek watershed are being addressed in the two separate projects.

Project Status:

The Hangman (Latah) Creek Water Resources Management Plan is complete and has been adopted by the Commissioners of Spokane and Whitman Counties. The Plan is available through the Web site and hardcopies and CDs are also available while supplies last.

The planning process is continuing with Phase IV, the development of a Detailed Implementation Plan (DIP). The DIP has been finalized and approved.  (Final DIP)

Please Contact Us:

If you would like to learn more about or participate in the watershed planning process in Hangman (Latah) Creek, please call Walt Edelen at (509) 535-7274 or email him at walt-edelen@sccd.org

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