July 27, 2010
Tuesday

The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) announced the release of its 2010 Integrated Report. Every two years DEC describes the condition of state waters in accordance with the federal Clean Water Act. The biennial Integrated Report categorizes them to meet federal reporting requirements. It helps the state prioritize waters for data gathering, watershed protection and restoration.

The Kenai River and three other waterbodies that were listed as polluted now meet water quality standards, according to the 2010 Integrated Report.

"The good news is that private groups along with local and state government agencies have worked together to improve the quality of water in some of Alaska's most important rivers, lakes and bays," said Lynn Kent, director of DEC's Water Division.

"The Kenai River was listed for violating petroleum standards, but through the efforts of the local watershed council, tribe, and government along with state and federal agencies the problem was identified and a solution found.

The problem on the Kenai River was heavily polluting two-stroke boat motors. The solution focused on educating boat owners on the problems with two-strokes, a change in regulation to ban two-strokes on the lower river during peak boating times, and financial incentives for boat owners to buy cleaner running four-stroke motors.

Nine waters have been added to the list of impaired and lack a waterbody recovery plan. Five are creeks along a new U.S. Forest Service road on Prince of Wales Island; another is Cottonwood Creek in Wasilla. The other three, Salt Chuck Bay, Red Devil Creek and a portion of the Kuskokwim River (downstream from Red Devil Creek) are listed due to problems from historic mines.

Even with these new listings, Alaska still has the fewest impaired water bodies and the greatest number of unimpaired water bodies in the country. It takes teamwork to keep them that way. "Together we can keep our waters clean and pass them on to future generations of Alaskans," said Kent.

Below is a summary of the 2010 Integrated Report findings:
(A full copy is available online pdf)

There are five categories to which a waterbody can be assigned:

• Categories 1 and 2 are waters that attain their designated uses.
• Category 3 covers waters for which there is not enough information to
  determine their status.
• Category 4 is waters that are impaired but have water body recovery plans.
• Category 5 waters are impaired and do not yet have a waterbody recovery plan.

The following actions were taken in the 2010 report:

Eleven waters, or portions of those waters with specific pollutant problems, are removed from the 2008 Integrated Report Category 5/Section 303(d) list of impaired waters:

• Caribou Creek, in Denali National Park, moves to Category 2 after data show it is meeting standards.
• Chena River and Chena Slough in Fairbanks are meeting standards for petroleum hydrocarbons and are moved to Category 2; however, they are still listed as impaired for sediment problems.
• Cottonwood Creek in Wasilla moves to Category 2 after sampling data show the standard for residues, in this case, foam, is met. The creek has been found
  impaired for fecal coliform bacteria.
• Dutch Harbor near Unalaska, portions of the harbor are now in Category 2 after sampling data show a large portion of the harbor is meeting standards. Two small nearshore areas of Dutch Harbor remain impaired.
• Iliuliuk Bay, bordering the City of Unalaska, moves to Category 2 after sampling data show it is meeting standards.
• Jordan Creek, near Juneau, is now in Category 4a since the total maximum daily load (TMDL) was completed.
• Klag Bay, North of Sitka, is now in Category 4a since the TMDL was completed;
• Nakwasina River, North of Sitka, is now placed in Category 2. The standard for turbidity is met.
• Noyes Slough in Fairbanks is now in Category 2 it has a TMDL completed for residues.
• Pullen Creek, in Skagway, is now in Category 4a since the TMDL was completed.

Four waters are moved from the 2008 Integrated Report Category 4a and 4b waters to Category 2 attaining waters:

• Jewel Lake in Anchorage is now placed in Category 2 since it is meeting fecal coliform standards.
• Kenai River is now placed in Category 2 since it is meeting petroleum
  standards.
• Lake Hood in Anchorage is now placed in Category 2 since it is meeting fecal coliform standards.
• Ward Cove near Ketchikan is now placed in Category 2 since it is meeting the toxic and other deleterious substances standards.

Nine waters are placed in Category 5 in the 2010 Integrated Report:

• Five creeks along the U.S. Forest Service 3030 Road near Coffman Cove on Prince of Wales Island for exceeding standards for one or more of the following metals: aluminum, cadmium, copper, iron, lead, manganese, mercury, nickel, selenium and zinc. The source of the metals is crushed rock used to build the new road.
• Cottonwood Creek, a seven-mile segment near Wasilla, is impaired for exceeding the fecal coliform bacteria standard. The source of the bacteria is undetermined.
• Red Devil Creek and the Kuskokwim River are listed for exceeding standards for antimony, arsenic and mercury. An abandoned mine site is along the creek.
• Salt Chuck Bay on Prince of Wales Island is impaired for exceeding standards for copper. An abandoned mine is in the area.

Source of News:

Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation
www.dec.state.ak.us

 

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