Submitted by Don Russell.
On June 14, 2022, without prior announcement or consultation, we City of Lakewood 22-year citizen volunteer lake water quality monitors received the following email notice from the Pierce Conservation District.
“We are saddened to let you know that after 22 years of monitoring and over 20 engaged volunteers, we are closing the Lake Monitoring Program at the end of this year. Since 2000, the Cities of Lakewood, Bonney Lake and Milton have participated in lake monitoring programs. We provided key watershed health data to our partners and agencies to help them make informed water quality decisions. This data was featured in PCD annual reports to our partners and volunteers.”
“We want to thank our Pierce Conservation District (PCD) Stream Team and Lake monitors for their commitment to water quality monitoring and being the “eyes and ears of our watersheds.” More than 2,000 of you have participated in either stream or lake monitoring. We will be sunsetting these programs due to staff changes and need for program support for our jurisdictional partners.”
One of the Pierce Conservation District’s jurisdictional partners was the City of Lakewood. This year the City decided to stop supporting and funding its 22-year citizen volunteer lake water quality monitoring Program.
It is instructive to review how this Program came into being, its accomplishments over this span of years and the significance of its demise.
The Program’s Origin
During the winter of 1988-1989 American Lake experienced a harmful cyanobacteria bloom (HAB) that poisoned 11 pets, 5 of whom died. This was the first recording of such an HAB event in Western Washington. It piqued the concern of the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department (TPCHD).
In 1991-1992 a TPCHD sponsored Lake Restoration Study was conducted to determine the cause of this bloom and its prevention. It was concluded that American Lake’s bottom sediments had become polluted over the years with high concentrations of phosphorus being discharged from on-site septic systems located along American Lake’s unsewered eastern shoreline into the groundwater that flows into the lake. The study recommended a lake wide alum treatment to inactivate the phosphorus that had accumulated in the bottom sediments of 1100-acre American Lake. This recommendation was rejected by American Lake shoreline landowners who were expected to pay for this million-dollar treatment.
Recurring toxic algal blooms followed each year thereafter until a second American Lake study was conducted in 1996-1997 by Pierce County Surface Water Management to confirm the results of the first study. This second study challenged the finding of the first study regarding the source of phosphorus found in the bottom sediments of American Lake. It concluded that the phosphorus source was likely from organic rich muck soil located southeast of American Lake, thus was a natural condition. This time the Study’s recommendation was to implement an American Lake water quality monitoring program to assess progress of any future attempts made to prevent harmful cyanobacteria blooms (HABs) from occurring in American Lake.
In 1994-1995 Lake Steilacoom was studied to determine the cause of its recurring harmful cyanobacteria blooms and actions necessary to prevent them. This was followed by a second study. As was the case in American Lake, two competing explanations were articulated by these two studies. That is, on-site septic system phosphorus pollution vs. phosphorus from natural organic rich soils being conveyed to the lake by groundwater.
In 1999 the City of Lakewood requested that the Pierce Conservation District develop and implement a citizen volunteer lake water quality monitoring program to assess the progress of efforts being made to prevent these HABs from occurring in American Lake, Lake Steilacoom, and, later, in Waughop Lake. This Program was finally implemented in 2000.
The Program’s Accomplishments
The City of Lakewood’s citizen volunteer water quality monitoring personnel made significant contributions to our understanding of the cause of HABs in Lakewood lakes and their prevention during its 22-year life.
Whereas the City of Lakewood never valued or used the data gathered by its citizen volunteer Lake Water Quality monitoring program to manage water quality in its Waughop Lake or Carp Lake stormwater runoff detention and infiltration pond, other jurisdictions found the data invaluable.
In 2004 the death of a dog from cyanobacteria poisoning on Lake Steilacoom led to the creation of Ecology’s Freshwater Control Algae Control Program whose intent was to act to prevent HABs from occurring in the nutrient polluted lakes of Washington.
In 2012 the citizen volunteer lake water quality monitors drafted a Waughop Lake Restoration Plan that described the cause of Waughop Lake’s recurring HABs and proposed an action plan for their prevention, at no cost to the City of Lakewood. The City opted instead to hire Brown & Caldwell to prepare a $200,000 dollar Waughop Lake Management Plan.
In 2019 the citizen volunteer water quality monitors pleaded with the City of Lakewood to not implementation a consultant recommended $420,000 alum treatment of Waughop Lake. When these pleas were ignored, we citizen monitors advised the City Council of the adverse ecological impact that such an unnecessary and costly alum treatment would have on Waughop Lake’s water chemistry and related biological response.
The predicted Waughop Lake adverse environmental impact has indeed been realized as a result of the City Council failing to heed its constituents’ expressed concerns about this alum treatment.
The data generated by Lakewood’s citizen volunteer lake water quality monitoring program was used in a five-year Federal CDC/TCPCHD study of the adverse effects that HABs were having on water quality in several Pierce, King and Snohomish County nutrient polluted lakes.
The Washington Department of Health used the data from Lakewood’s Lake Water Quality Program to assess the extent to which fish in Waughop Lake were accumulating cyanotoxin in their internal organs and flesh and thus pose a health hazard to its fishermen.
The data collected by this Program inform the landowners surrounding American, Gravelly, Louise and Steilacoom Lakes of the current water quality conditions in their lakes so that they could select the most appropriated and cost effective water quality treatment options to prevent excessive aquatic plant growth, filamentous green algae and harmful cyanobacteria blooms in their water quality managed lakes.
Lakewood Water District reported in its 2021 Annual Water Quality & Business Report under the title “Monitoring Our Lakes and Streams”
“The lake levels are indicators of the water table level in the Steilacoom Gravel, deposited by the receding Vashon Glacier. Water in the gravel also leaks through the Vashon till or springs out above the till, adding to the flows of the area’s major springs such as Ponce de Leon, Chambers, Garrison, and Sequalitchew. The District collects monthly data from gauges on Ponce de Leon and on five lakes. (American, Gravelly, Hidden, Louise, and Waughop). This information, together with the data collected from the Pierce Conservation District Stream Team is vital to the District’s Aquifer Management Program as well as the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department’s long-term groundwater monitoring program.”
The consequence of the demise of the City’s citizen volunteer lake/stream water quality monitoring program
Lakewood’s lake and stream shoreline property owners, City of Lakewood’s park attendees, and consumers of Lakewood Water Department’s water will no longer have the assurance that the City of Lakewood’s groundwater, stream and lake water quality is being monitoring and managed to assure its safe beneficial uses as a result of Pierce Conservation District’s and City of Lakewood’s unilateral and irresponsible decision to discontinue ongoing support for its Stream Team and Lake Water Quality Monitoring Programs.
After reading this article, and a previous piece on the subject, it seems shameful to have ignored this volunteer effort over many years. Water quality and conservation will be essential for our future as the climate changes. I ask the City of Lakewood to reconsider this decision. I am a Lakewood resident (98499)
Horrible decision to stop the water monitoring. Obviously, the powers that be don’t care or have something to hide. It can’t cost that much and money can be budgeted if desired.
This sounds like another example of government bureaucrats’ effort to eliminate citizen awareness and input into decisions which affect the very community which the bureaucrats are supposed to serve. Their easiest approach is to simply spend tax payer money and eliminate the more cumbersome task of evaluating other opinions about correcting a problem. The letter which was sent to volunteers only provides a vague explanation as to why the program has been terminated before consulting with the volunteer citizens or residents of Lakewood. Citizens deserve transparency, but vague reasoning on the part of bureaucrats serves their purpose of dismissing pushback and a demand for accountability. Could it be that the bureaucrats in question don’t like alternative approaches publicized by the conscientious volunteers? I have valued the past volunteers’ informed reports to the public in The Suburban Times and deeply regret another example of “Big Brother” government telling citizens it knows best and will make all decisions for us.
It’s nice that they used a delicate term like “sunsetting”, but the city should really try to explain this in more detail than “due to staff changes and need for program support for our jurisdictional partners”.
I agree with Sandra.
Why are they discontinuing this service Now?
It seems to me that it would be even more relevant
at this time, with the increase of population, construction,
and whatever water management accompanies
them.
So now the dangerous or toxic levels will be swept
underneath the carpet and the general public will
be clueless, like someone apparently wants us to be.
Why have “jurisdictional partners” and staff changes caused what seems to be a positive volunteer program to be discontinued? According to the section of the letter shared in this article this was not addressed. The constant calls for transparency seem to have fallen on deaf ears. Who are the staff who oppose this program? What is their rationale? Please, Mr. Russell, how can we help to reverse this decision?
The most-egregious act perpetrated by the City of Lakewood (i.e., the entire bureaucracy, including the city council) is the killing of Waughop Lake.
That occurred after years of advice from citizen volunteer lake monitors like Don Russell and Tom McClellan telling them it was a bad thing to do….over, and over, and over, and over again.
Well, the bureaucracy did not like what they read nor heard, because they considered it was beneath them to listen to “ordinary” people. They got sick and tired of having their ears and eyes bent with the truth, and what better way to stop the “noise”….defund it.
Well…..so-called governing and managing authority of Lakewood, WA, here’s some more stuff you will likely cringe at.
Tom McClellan is a neighbor, of sorts, across from us at Lake Louise. I have met Don Russell only once, but know him well from email conversations and his persistent attempts to get the City of Lakewood to wake up and smell the crap, literally. Both have been REPEATEDLY IGNORED !!! The obvious question is WHY?
The answers are Arrogance, Hubris, Power, Privilege, & frankly…..Stupidity.
Both of these gentle, caring men have voluntarily put their tremendous levels of experience, heart, and souls into trying to HELP the City of Lakewood and Pierce County do what is RIGHT AND PROPER. And, they have been doing so since 2012, along with 2 well-respected Scientists (i.e., awarded PhDs in Environmental Chemistry and Engineering & Geology)…Jim Gawel of UWT and Professor Jeff Tepper of UPS, as well as many Lakewood Citizens who have responded positively to their efforts, myself included.
Based on the treatment by the City of Lakewood, County, AND even State Officials (i.e., elected and employed) it appears the governmental “deciders” consider these voluntary, persistent exhortations to be nothing more than some frivolous, Don-Quixote-like pursuit not worthy of serious consideration.
Simple question…..WHY would so-many Lakewood Citizens consistently provide the same advice for 10 years ? Because, first of all, they know what they are writing about, and importantly, they really do give a damn about doing the RIGHT THING….based on FACT & PRINCIPLE.
Did you know that Federal & WA State Environmental Protection LAWs have been IGNORED regarding Waughop Lake ? Yeppir !! According to these laws the INSTIGATOR of environmental abuse is liable to be held responsible to correct that abuse. In this instance there are TWO (2) STATE INSTITUTIONS AT FAULT:
• Western “State” Hospital for 65 years of dumping People, Bovine and other animal Scattology, hides, blood, bones, offal and other waste materials into Waughop Lake.
• Pierce College for 40 years of intermittent dumping of student and faculty sewage directly in to Waughop Lake due to a faulty sewage system design.
Has the City of Lakewood pursued/asked the WA State government to cough up the dough to fix the problem THEY CREATED ? Hell no! And….the WA Stage Department of Ecology has ignored Citizen of Lakewood pleas to stop the Alum treatment…WHY?
They KNOW THE STATE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS MESS AND IF THE CITY OF LAKEWOOD WANTS TO “DO ITS THANG”….so be it. WHY….because WA State DOES NOT WANT TO BE FOUND LIABLE NOR RESPONSIBLE FOR THE PROPER AND LEGAL WAY TO MITIGATE THE DAMAGE THEY HAVE DONE TO THE ENVIRONMENT OF LAKEWOOD !!!!!
And the City of Lakewood said…hokey dokey…got your 6.
And the end result? The State, Pierce County, the City of Lakewood and its citizens expended $200,000 to repeat a study that replicated a comprehensive study that was already done FOR FREE by Mr McClellan, Mr Russel and 2 well-respected University Scientists? That was followed by hiring a company that insisted on ignoring advice of Lakewood Knowledgeable Citizens to perform an unnecessary, expensive, reprehensible, and ill-advised dumping of $420,000-worth of toxic materials into Waughop Lake that has had an absolutely Devastating Ecological Effect on a lake & its wildlife. This lake and all others belong to the Citizens of Lakewood….not expressly for just the whims of the City of Lakewood government nor its employees.
FYI…the primary person behind this foopah for the City of Lakewood (i.e., the bureaucrats, certainly NOT the citizens) is PAUL BUCICH, Director of Public Works Engineering.
Fellow citizens…..if ANY of this (including the killing of the Lake Monitoring Program) upsets you, here is Paul’s email address and phone #:
pbucich@cityoflakewood.us
253-983-7737
Thank you sir. I did send an email requesting an explanation. Hopefully we will all get a response for our community.
The obvious question is, what/who has replaced this program? If none, WHY???
What you all don’t realize is that the City of Lakewood is engaged in a top secret collaboration with the US Department of Defense, to develop new and powerful biological weapons. Although the City isn’t being compensated directly for this important research, there’s an unofficial agreement to name this effort “The Lakewood Project”, similar to WW2’s “Manhattan Project” which created the first atomic weapons.
Lakewood citizens and neighbors should be proud of their essential contribution to our nation’s defense!
Note: Although the specific details remain classified TOP SECRET, it has been rumored that approximately 50 gallons of Waughop Lake contents have been shipped to a NATO weapons storage facility for additional processing into aerosol form.
Special Thanks to Daniel Ellsberg, Bob Woodward, and Carl Bernstein for breaking this story!
Neat! Unfortunately, it is relatively close to the actuality since the City Council and the employees of the City of Lakewood have kept this whole thing TOP SECRET or whatever it is called in their governmental facilities,
You know…why reply in any form, or better yet, tell the TRUTH? Especially when it will hurt your agenda?
Indeed, Eric…Satire always has some truth embedded!
I sent an email as well and am contacting all my Lakewood friends concerning this egregious action by the City.
I am very pleased that concerned citizens are sending emails and letting their Lakewood friends know about this situation.
Please refer them to this Article and the Reply “thread” that follows. This is our, Citizens of Lakewood, chance to call into account the so-called “leadership” of our city.
This is a result of Ecological regulations that were eliminated by the former Presidential administration. Public input no longer needed.
Same reason Point Ruston is changing their plans on parking lots and use of arsenic infused soil.
You know, “less government.”