Water quality effort gets boost

An effort to improve Hangman Creek water quality received a $221,500 boost Friday from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Officials at the Washington Department of Ecology and Spokane County Conservation District said the money, along with other state and local funds, will be used to work with farmers, ranchers and other landowners willing to adopt land-use practices that reduce stream temperature, sediment and phosphates.

The creek drains 430,000 acres in Washington and Idaho.

Elaine Snouwaert, DOE water quality specialist, said the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, the Coeur d’Alene Tribe, and the Benewah Soil and Water Conservation District sent letters supporting the funding request. Officials want agencies in both states involved in the clean-up, she said.

Reducing sediment in Hangman Creek, also known as Latah Creek, will help improve water quality in Long Lake, which has been troubled by phosphate-fed algae blooms, Snouwaert said.

Walt Edelen, water resources manager for the conservation district, said the program will focus on better planting practices, creating riparian buffers to catch sediment, off-stream livestock watering, and keeping manure away from the creek.

DOE and district officials will spend the summer meeting landowners and identifying areas available for remediation, which will not begin until fall at the earliest.

“There’s lots of groundwork to do,” Edelen said.

Washington will receive $2 million from the Agricultural Water Enhancement Program. Projects on the Yakima and Methow rivers, and Manastash Creek in Kittitas County, are the other funding recipients.