Meeting Summary Hangman Creek Water Quality Improvement Planning Meeting Chair: Rick Noll, Spokane County Conservation District (SCCD) Present: Charlie Johnson Gary Ostheller William Sayres, Jr. Jennie Kane Elaine Snouwaert, Dept. of Ecology Dee Bailey, Coeur d’Alene Tribe Shallan Dawson, SCCD Cathy McBeth Lon Ottosen Micki Harnois Linda Graham, SCCD APPROVIAL OF MINUTES The meeting was called to order at 6:30 p.m. and began with introductions. The minutes for February were approved with one change. The spelling of Approval on the first page should be corrected. No content was changed. Motion was made to approve the February minutes with changes by Charlie Johnson and was seconded by Penney Tee. Motion carried. OLD BUSINESS Time sheets Rick asked for everyone to please fill out their timesheets and turn them in. Public comment Rick opened the floor for public comment. There was a request for an update on the Tekoa Golf Course water rights situation. Currently, there is no long-term solution for the golf course. Ecology is working with the potential to allow the golf course to continue pumping from the creek and the City of Tekoa would mitigate drop per drop by dumping water to the creek. This short-term solution is being investigated by Ecology and the City of Tekoa.
Audit Sheets The group reviewed the audit sheets and made the following additions or deletions: Issue A-1: Deletion under Costs or barriers to watering livestock in the creek Issue A-9: Addition to Benefits or motivations to no-till and other sediment reducing BMPs Issue B-2: Addition to Costs or barriers to alternative practices · Air pollution (airborne particulates) Issue E-7: Addition to Costs or barriers to harvest most trees on a plot · Land values decrease significantly · Aesthetics and habitat loss · Affects downstream landowners without input (unintended consequences) A discussion regarding no-till practices ensued. It was decided that the discussion should continue at a later date and that it would be beneficial to have a guest speaker present information to the group. Information/Outreach in North Palouse Journal The group discussed the potential for working with the North Palouse Journal to develop a regular monthly column for providing information and education about the project and general water quality issues. It was agreed on to investigate the possibility, but there may be other media outlets that could be used. Rick will investigate all these possibilities and report back to the group. He will also begin working on an article to be submitted. The subject of the article will focus on phosphates and how to reduce your use and disposal of them. Strategies for Improving Water Quality Concerns Rick had previously distributed a table describing the issues that the water cleanup plan will discuss. Rick presented a newly updated table that included forestry management and nutrients from residential uses. Group members will be working on these issues beginning at the next meeting. Rick would like each group member to go through the table and rate each issue according to the criteria provided. Rick also discussed the issues of concern that are not included in the TMDL. There was discussion regarding the maintenance of riparian areas. Rick distributed the water quality report completed for Ecology.. The report contains the data collected during the TMDL effort and historical data collected from previous efforts in the watershed. The group further discussed the need for additional speakers on various relevant topics. The following initial list is not comprehensive. Others may be appropriate in the future. Public Comment No public comment Next Meeting The next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, May 12th from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Fairfield Community Center. Please note that this date is not the regularly scheduled meeting date. April 21, 2005
The meeting was adjourned at 8:20 p.m.