It’s Time to Make Stewardship

More Than Words

   In July, the City of Spokane was responsible for the illegal spill of thousands of gallons of raw, untreated sewage into the Spokane River over the course of several days. This spill was not discovered by high tech monitoring devices or routine inspections, but by an inquisitive (and probably angry) fisherman. 

    Unfortunately, this type of spill is not an isolated incident.  Over the last several years, the City has spilled hundreds of thousands of gallons of untreated sewage into the River during times of relatively low flows.  These events potentially expose fishers, boaters, visitors to Riverside State Park, and other river users, to dangerous levels of bacteria and other harmful substances.  

    Not only are these spills dangerous, but they also violate the City’s wastewater permit.  In fact, the Washington Department of Ecology fined the City for such a spill back in 1999, discovered by canoeist.  Remarkably, the primary cause of these spills is clogs in sewer pipes, which then overflow from the many sewer lines constructed near the River.  Even more remarkable, this problem could largely be addressed by a fairly simple solution:  adequate monitoring and maintenance of the wastewater system.

    In his January State of the City address, Mayor Hession stated that one of his primary goals was to “improve and maintain water quality in the Spokane River.”  Part of this initiative was the adoption of a city water stewardship program. 

    Good stewardship requires that the City take immediate action to address its raw sewage overflow problem.  The City should not wait for the Department of Ecology to issue a fine or for citizens to sue.  A thorough review of the City’s existing maintenance and monitoring program is needed.  The size and frequency of recent spills indicates that the City’s current program is not working. 

    The City also needs to educate river users about where sewer overflows occur, provide widespread public notification when raw sewage is spilling to keep the public out of harm’s way, and provide an easy way for the public to notify the City, the Department of Ecology and the Regional Health District when spills are discovered.  These are simple solutions that benefit the health of both the river and the public who enjoys it.

    The days are past when the River was viewed as a dumping ground.  Spokane is waking up to the idea that a healthy river is an indicator of a healthy economy and a healthy community.  Spokane’s citizens are making good things happening on the River.  Citizen efforts are leading the design and development of a kayak park.  Citizen efforts stopped the transfer of state park lands to private developers leaving the properties for each one of us to enjoy.  These types of initiatives, which embrace the economic and aesthetic values of the River, are stymied by poor management of our sewer system. 

    Let’s make the commitment to good stewardship more than words – let’s fix the problem.