June 1989
Your Board in Action by Lee Bayley
The 1988-89 DLPOA year was one of total commitment by your board for DLPOA. Long hours and hard work, fact finding and soul searching were all necessary as your DLPOA board wrestled with two major projects. They are:
Water Quality
It was indicated by a majority of the property owners that you are concerned about the poor quality of the water in Deer Lake. You showed that you are also concerned about the second algae bloom in as many years, indicative of the necessity to join together to more effectively resolve the problem.
Clearly, by your mandate at our 1988 annual meeting, your board proceeded with securing the necessary signatures to start the formation of a sewer district with the ultimate goal of having a sewer around the entire lake. Jerry McBride, water quality committee chairman, along with Lila Howe, Virgil Gering, Clyde Innes, Bruce Gage and Wes Wagoner have spent countless hours following up on money sources, attending meetings with Washington State DOE people, Farm Administration employees, the Stevens County PUD, Loon Lake Sewer District leaders, EWU Biology department and other groups in order to see that no stone is left unturned in our efforts to sewer Deer Lake. The path was not gilded with gold, ad our efforts to receive state or federal grant monies met resistance and eventual denial.
However, our conviction is strong that we continue with this resolve, even in spite of a small group of Concerned Citizens, who for many reasons, mostly personal (not monitary), injected mistrust, misinformation and confused beliefs upon many of the property owners. Repeated individual and group meetings of theirs with Stevens County PUD did not thwart their efforts and attempts to slow down and completely stop our sewer project. The result has put the project at least six months and quite possibly a full year behind. Also, the delay added one year's inflationary cost to the project. Ultimately, this cost will be borne by all of the rest of us.
If you get a chance, you might thank these people personally for what they have done for Deer Lake! Already the algae is starting to bloom and this likely will continue to occur with more turbidity until the nutrients unfortunately entering the lake are stopped. Then we will have added years trying to clean out the nutrient loading, which has accumulated over time and remains in the lake.
I never knew we had so many armchair engineers and sewer experts around Deer Lake as have appeared when they attempted to tell the PUD how to construct a sewer system. However, I assure you, the Stevens County PUD has proceeded with great caution to follow up every possible means of lowering the overall cost of the sewer project.
Enough said for now! More updates will follow by others in this newsletter.
Ordinance.
The second major project, which also has a significant impact on lake water quality, is what we do constructionwise around the lake. We must make every effort not to directly or indirectly allow foreign materials such as dirt, oil, fertilizer, wash water and other contaminants to enter the lake. Part of the solution is the overall design of our lake community.
We have finished the final draft form of the Deer Lake Planning District Zoning Ordinance. Hopefully, this will become an ordinance to effectively regulate future construction and activities around Deer Lake. Please remember that this plan is not for all time. It is not cast in concrete, and, in years to come, could be amended in context. But, it is a start. Like every first step, we are not sure where it will ultimately take us.
At present, it is in the hands of the Stevens County Planning Commission and the Stevens County Commissioners. Hearings will be scheduled shortly and publicized in the Colville, Chewelah and Deer Park newspapers. It is important that you attend these hearings and let your ideas be heard.
I would like to thank LeRoy Johnson, Ed Sweet, Clair Jones and the late Dr. Ted Maxson for their vigil in seeing that this needed project came to a conclusion.
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Update on Deer Lake Sewer Project by Jerry McBride
Funding
No additional funding has been acquired. The PUD has been in contact with the Farm Home Administration in regard to grants and low interest loans. A group of DLPOA members plus Dick Price visited Tom Foley's office in Spokane asking for assistance in getting money from Farm Home. A form Home engineer is coming to Deer Lake soon to discuss the project.
Construction Schedule
Most likely, construction will start in the spring of 1990. Originally, construction was slated for the spring of 1989, but it has been delayed due to the search for public funding.
The PUD used the extremely cold weather last winger to put a sewer line across the head of the Narrows. Doing this work in the wintertime saved a lot of time and expense.
Treatment Site
It looks quite certain that the Deer Lake sewer system will be connected to the Loon Lake treatment facility. This option appears to be the most economical and practical solution.
Water Quality Testing
A proposed program has been submitted to the PUT by the Biology Department of EWU. In turn, the PUD has submitted this proposed program plus a funding request for it to the DOE. The proposed one year study would cost $85,000. Results of the study, if it were started in October, 1989, would be available in 1991. Any funding of a sewer system by DOE would be available in 1992.
Concerned Citizens of Deer Lake
The PUD held a public meeting to answer questions and take input from people around the lake. Hopefully, this exchange resolved many misunderstandings on both sides.
Overall Picture
We are moving towards having a sewer around Deer Lake. The pace is not as fast as originally projected, but progress is being made. The major obstacles have been overcome. The remaining ones DLPOA is continuing to work on.
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Lake Beautification Report by Virg Gering
Pollution Solutions
Any activity which affects the shoreline or the water must have a Hydraulics Permit from the Washing Department of Wildlife or the Department of Ecology.
The Shorelines Management Act, the Clean Water Act (RCW 90.48), and the Lake Class Water Quality Standards (WAC 173-201) clearly prohibit the indiscriminate modification of the shoreline.
It is not legal to create land by filling in the lake. Dumping of soil into the lake adds to the nutrient loading problem of the lake and increases lake sedimentation. This seriously contributes to the water quality problems we already have.
Please report suspected water quality violations to:
Department of Ecology (456-2926) or Department of Wildlife (456-4082).
Aquatic Weeds
Aquatic Weeds play an important role in lake ecosystems and are desirable in moderate quantities. They have considerable value as a form of habitat for fish and wildlife species. However, large numbers of aquatic weeds interfere with lake usage and contribute to lake aging (eutrophication). Dense beds of aquatic plants are another symptom of poor lake conditions and may occur at nuisance densities along shoreline areas.
Removing weeds by hand is an inexpensive way to remove shoreline and lake weeds and is a good way to get some exercise. Hand pulling of weeds cannot totally eliminate the plants, but even cutting the plants off near the root will seriously slow down growth.
The weeds which you pull must be removed from the lake. Otherwise, they will only contribute to the nutrient recycling problem which characterizes lake in a state of deterioration. Drying them in the sun will make them light and manageable.
Herbicides such as Endothall, Diquat and Caseron are sometimes used for weed control. However, many herbicides have been associated with fish and wildlife kills, birth defects in humans and other undesirable health effects. In addition, when the weeds die, they sink to the bottom where decomposition releases their nutrients back into the lake. The nutrient supply is not reduced and next year's weeds have an enhanced nutrient supply.