Ecology crew samples South Palouse pollution

A crew from the state Department of Ecology sampled the flood control channel in Colfax Tuesday to target the source of high levels of fecal coliform found in the South Palouse River.

The sampling team of Jim Ross, Elaine Snouwaert and Matt Hammer emerge from the shadows of the Cooper Street Bridge, where Spring Flat Creek meets the S. Palouse River.

Tuesday, the crew of Matt Hammer, Colfax wastewater treatment plant manager, Elaine Snouwaert, Ecology water quality manager, and Jim Ross, Ecology natural resource scientist, measured the flow and took samples of the river where drain pipes dump into the channel.

The crew also sampled Spring Flat Creek, which joins the South Palouse in the flood control near the intersection of Cooper and Lake Streets, and the drainage into the river from the Fairview Street hill. That drops into the Spring Flat channel on the east side of Main Street.

Ross used a flow gauge to record how fast the river was moving at different spots. In the channel near the Codger Pole, the river was 1.7-feet deep, and flowing at 4.54 feet per second.

Snouwaert said a high bacteria count in a rapidly flowing section of the river should be a good indicator of the source.

“It’s a little like being a detective,” said Snouwaert.

Hammer was testing samples from those spots in the city water lab Tuesday afternoon. After the tests begin, they have to incubate for 24 hours, he said.

He will then forward the test results to Ecology, which will compare them to the flow rates of the river. The combination of those two pieces of information should narrow down the source of the fecal coliform. Results are expected within two weeks.

“Hopefully,” said Hammer.

Contamination could either come from animal or human waste. Snouwaert said the problem could either come from a leak in the city sewage system or from the large number of deer and livestock along Spring Flat Creek.

Data from a 2007 survey showed the South Palouse in Colfax contained more than 200 colonies of fecal coliform bacteria per 100 milliliters of water. The state’s maximum fecal coliform standard is 100 colonies per 100 milliliters.

Fecal coliform bacteria can damage human intestinal systems if ingested or absorbed into the body.

Snouwaert said the fecal coliform count was high, but acceptable, in samples taken just before the South Palouse enters the Colfax flood control channel.

The high content was measured between that point and the confluence with the North Palouse upstream from the Colfax sewer plant.

The sample crew plans return to the river in September.

Beginning Monday, the public will be able to review and comment on an Ecology plan to improve the water quality in the South Palouse. The public review period will run through Sept. 25. A paper copy is available for review at the Neill Public Library in Pullman.

A public meeting on the plan is slated for Thursday, Aug. 27, at 7 p.m. at the Hilltop Inn in Pullman.

This water quality improvement plan includes a study of the bacteria problem, indicates how much the bacteria must be reduced to meet water quality standards and describes activities to achieve those reductions.

The plan is available at: http://www. ecy.wa.gov/prog-rams/wq/tmdl/palouse/index.html.