Active and Proposed Programs and Current Campaigns 

Presented below our Active and Proposed Programs and Current Campaigns 

ACTIVE PROGRAMS

1. MARINE ECOSYSTEMS (Contact: Laura Hendricks, marine@washington.sierraclub.org)

The Water and Salmon Committee has developed an Aquaculture Policy designed to protect the valuable natural resources in Puget Sound and off the coast of Washington. Associated with the policy, we have created a  brochure   that further defines the issues relating to unregulated expansion of the aquaculture business in Washington State. Contact: marine@washington.sierraclub.org  for further information.

Farmed salmon are threatening the health of wild salmon around the world (including British Columbia). To better understand the issues, please view the " Farmed Salmon Exposed" video provided by the Pure Salmon Campaign.

Marine debris is unfortunately a by-product of all forms of aquaculture. Plastics and PVC are used extensively in shellfish aquaculture and they contribute to debris issues in Puget Sound. You can help document the amount of debris using the  Marine Debris Tracker. The  Marine Debris Tracker mobile application   allows you to help make a difference by checking in when you find trash on our coastlines and waterways.

2. SLUDGE-FREE WASHINGTON (Contact: Darlene Schanfald, sewagesludge@olympus.net)

 

The Sierra Club opposes the use of contaminated toxics-containing or pathogen-containing waste as a compost ingredient and the application of municipal sewage sludge as a fertilizer….Agricultural water pollution can arise from land applied sewage sludge…that inherently leach nutrients into groundwater.

 

Sewage Sludge Free WA has a “Your Right to Know What Is In Your Food and Compost” project to inform the public about toxic sewage sludge being used as garden fertilizer/compost and for food production.

 

Wastewater treatment plants (Plants) were built to treat sewage for a few things, like some medications and some pathogens.  However, depending on a community‚Äôs size and business/industrial makeup, 90,000 chemical compounds and several pathogens can daily enter these plants.  Land applied sludge has been linked to human illness and death.  Sewage effluent released into water bodies subject marine life to multiple toxins.

 

Our public outreach work is via tabling at community fairs, community presentations, articles, and assisting communities threatened by sewage sludge. We are also working towards legislation requiring products contaminated with sewage sludge be labeled and will track WA State Department of Ecology ’s plans to land apply sewage effluent.

 

If you would host a presentation, contact:  sewagesludge@olympus.net

 

For further reading, go to:

 3. COMMUNITY RAIN GARDEN PROJECT

The Community Rain Garden Project  informs students and community members about stormwater and the problems that stormwater runoff generates, and the benefits that rain gardens provide in mitigating stormwater problems. The  Community Rain Garden Project promotes and builds collaborative partnerships that install rain gardens on private and public properties.

Rain Gardens:

  • Help restore natural hydrologic processes

  • Designed to receive rainwater and enhance infiltration

  • Rainwater that can be infiltrated through a rain garden falls on roof tops, driveways, sidewalks, and streets

  • Filter contamination out of stormwater before is discharges to natural water bodies

We have helped with the installation of rain gardens at two area elementary schools. On May 4, 2009, around 100 students from Montlake Elementary School in Seattle installed the first rain garden in the Seattle Public Schools District. Rain gardens slow stormwater runoff and remove nutrients from the runoff that are taken up by the plants. The project was a joint effort of Seattle Public Schools, the Community Day School Assn. at Montlake Elementary, and the Sierra Club's Washington State Water Sentinels.View a video here.

On June 8, 2012, local Girl Scouts helped install a rain garden at Columbia Elementary in Mukilteo with the help of volunteers from the Snohomish Conservation District. In addition to planting the rain garden, the girls also rotated though five stations designed to help them better understand why rain gardens are beneficial. At the stations, the girls helped mark storm drains, conducted an experiment that explains how rain gardens work, painted plant markers and learned how to collect rain data.View some great pictures here.

For more information about the  Community Rain Garden Project, click on the links below:

In addition to Rain Gardens,  Storm Water Runoff is another important issue. We can all help reduce runoff and pollution with simple RainWise practices. Check out the  Seattle Residential RainWise Program.

Additional Links:

4. DEFENDING WATER IN WASHINGTON (contact Rebecca Wolfe:  rr.wolfe@comcast.net).

The bottled water industry is aggressively promoting bottled water. In the U.S., more than 30 billion plastic water bottles end up as garbage or litter each year. Most don’t get recycled. The bottles take up to 1,000 years to decompose and contribute to the vast vortex of plastic waste in the Pacific Ocean, which is harming wildlife.

Plastic for drinking containers as well as thousands of other uses is resulting in huge environmental damage. The withdrawal of large quantities of water from springs and aquifers for bottling has depleted household wells in rural areas, damaged wetlands, and degraded lakes. It takes 3 liters of water to produce 1 liter of bottled water.

Our Committee has worked directly with five different communities to block water bottling facilities.  In chronological order, we helped stop three Nestl√© projects in these Washington communities: Enumclaw, Orting, and Black Diamond, followed by Everett and Anacortes victories against a new startup venture  called "Tethys."  All five attempts were defeated when citizens learned about secret deals that were being discussed without public disclosure.   In August 2016 the citizens of Waitsburg became the sixth town in Washington to say "no" to water bottlers.

On May 17, 2016 Hood River County, Oregon voters approved a ban on commercial water bottling, blocking a $50 million bottling plant Nestl√© wanted to build in the Columbia River Gorge.  The Oregon Chapter of the Sierra Club participated in that campaign.  Our water bottling efforts depend on working with other organizations to educate the public about the negative environmental, social, and economic impacts of water privatization and extraction for enormous corporate profits.  Investing in public water systems needs the support of voters, so education and outreach must continue. 

Click for printable Brochure (pdf)

5. COLUMBIA RIVER FUTURE (contact: John Osborn  john@waterplanet.ws)

 The historic, massive hydrologic re-engineering of the Columbia River via dams and irrigation projects transformed one of the world's great salmon rivers into what historian Richard White has described as "the organic machine.‚Äù In 2006 Washington State enacted a new law to "aggressively pursue" new dams and other water projects, unleashing a small army of dam planners in the state's part of the Columbia River watershed:  the Office of Columbia River in the Dept of Ecology.

Starting in 2007 in response to the latest onslaught of new dam proposals in eastern Washington, Sierra Club has undertaken the Columbia River Future Project, advocating for sensible and affordable solutions to water scarcity in this time of climate change.

Current conservation advocacy for the Columbia River and its tributaries include:

1.    Modernizing the Columbia River Treaty

1.    Treaty Round Table   

2.    Ethics & Treaty Project   

2.    Yakima River   

3.    Spokane River   

4.    Similkameen River (and removing Enloe Dam)

5.    Supporting the Palouse Group and Family Farmers in protecting drinking-water Aquifers

6.    Breaching the four lower Snake River Dams