| Project Name | Amount Funded | Project Description |
| Idaho Ground Water Testing for Potentially Harmful Pesticide Compounds | $21,000 | Sulfonylurea compounds, imidazolinone, and tralkoxydim compounds have been used extensively for control of roadside vegetation in parts of Idaho. The herbicide residues have proven to be extremely persistent and toxic to plants at levels below “non-detect”. This has had a devastating economic impact on some sensitive crops such as sugar beets. It is presently unclear what health effects low levels of these compounds may have on human health. It is also unknown if sulfonylurea compounds, imidazolinone, and tralkoxydim compounds have contaminated Idaho ground water. Over the last year, new procedures have been developed to detect the compounds at previously non-detect levels. This project will be allow the Idaho Department of Agriculture to gather data in targeted areas to determine whether or not these compounds are present in groundwater wells used for drinking water and human consumption. |
| Columbia Basin Watershed Networking Forums | $20,000 | The grantee will be applying capacity building strategies successfully demonstrated in northern California to the complex mix of stakeholders along the Columbia River Basin. A series of workshops will bring together different watershed councils to exchange technical and funding information so that they will be able to make progress in achieving on the ground results towards implementation of the Columbia River TMDL which is nearing completion. |
| A Method for Prioritizing Aquatic Restoration Projects in the Willamette River Basin | $25,000 | Restoration projects are being completed in the Willamette Basin by watershed councils, local governments, and state and federal agencies. Generally, project implementation has been more opportunistic than strategic thus not leveraging off the cumulative benefits of multiple projects often implemented in the same watershed. This project will establish a methodology for developing GIS based maps from existing landscape featured data bases. These maps will be used to help set restoration priorities targeting areas where the best restoration opportunities exist. By identifying the key restoration areas, land use managers at the local, state and federal levels could develop common priorities and leverage from their collective restoration resources. |
| Community Rivers Planning Coalition Watershed Planning Support | $15,000 | 1) Support of the Community Rivers Planning Coalition facilitator will allow that group to continue its mission of working within the community to identify specific problem sources and develop community based solutions. It will also aid in their becoming a self sufficient organization. 2) Intern support for the Kenai Watershed Forum will enable that organization to continue with water quality monitoring and clarify pollutant hot spots found last year in the Kenai River. 3) Support for Ninilchik River flow gage will fill a gap in USGS funding to for continuous coverage of that strategic gage on the central Kenai Peninsula. Understanding of water quality data is dependent on flow information from that gage. |
| Union County Air Quality Monitoring and Health Information | $37,500 | In August and September of 2000, several smoke intrusions into La Grande and surrounding towns brought about numerous citizen complaints that led to a review of the County’s Smoke Management Ordinance and Program. EPA-Region 10 has a place-based employee located in La Grande, who was asked to participate in the review. Numerous improvements were identified, several of which were formally adopted by Ordinance amendment and others were committed to as ongoing efforts. One of the commitments was better air quality monitoring to meet several objectives: (1) assist the Program with determining whether to allow field burning; (2) provide the public with real-time information on air quality; and (3) better assessment of the effectiveness of the Program each year.
This project will provide a real-time nephelometer, meteorological station, website hook-up to meet the objectives. The state of Oregon will be providing technical support to the county and will be maintaining the data. The project is designed to be replicable in other Eastern Oregon counties. |
| Lower Portneuf River/Fort Hall Reservation Regional Geographic Initiative | $125,000**
**Note: Grant limits have been established at $50,000 for FY 2003 | Ongoing activities to protect the aquifer include the understanding of the surface water and groundwater interface, urban, agriculture and wild land run-off control, monitoring of TMDLs, Phase II stormwater controls and in the future a critical materials initiative. A study of sustainable alternatives to the use of pesticides for potato farming has been initiated. This RGI will include installation of two TMDL “real time” surface water quality monitoring stations, will establish a thorough baseline of sewered and septic tank areas correlating bacteria nutrient loading, soil capacity and hydrology for use in land use planning and modeling and monitor effectiveness of sustainable alternatives to using pesticides for potato farming on Fort Hall.
This effort involves extensive inter-jurisdictional work, especially with the county, the state, the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, and the cities of Pocatello and Chubuck |
| Alaska DEQ “Oceans and Watersheds Conference” | $15,000 | This grant supports the Alaska DEQ “Oceans and Watersheds Conference” being held in June 2002. The conference attendance of over 350 people represents a broad cross section of Alaskan natives, policy makers, researchers, agencies, industries and the public. The funds were used to highlight efforts to better coordinate research in the Bering Sea. |
| Columbia River TMDL Outreach | $42,000 | This contract will provide funding for workshops, facilitation and logistics for the outreach efforts associated with the Columbia River TMDL. Particular focus is on the need to involve the 14 Columbia Basin Tribes in the consultation process. |
| US/Canada Air Quality Monitoring | $10,000 | EPA is funding Washington State University to develop an emissions inventory for air quality analysis and modeling in the Vancouver, BC - Seattle corridor. This effort will enhance the collaboration and common goals among US and Canadian air quality stakeholders and will provide, along with parallel Canadian efforts, a common database for analysis and decision making. |
| Diamond Lake Nutrient Modeling Project | $15,000 | Diamond Lake, which was originally mesotrophic, is now eutrophic due to increased human activity. During the summer of 2001, a toxic Anabaena algael bloom developed that posed a significant health risk to both humans and animals resulting in the closure of the lake - a major recreational destination in the area. This project will enable a multi-agency group to complete data collection in anticipation of producing a TMDL and TMDL implementation plan in 2003. |
| Three Public Outreach and Demonstration Efforts in Eastern Washington | $15,000 | Working through local entities, the Washington State Department of Ecology proposed three local projects for this grant: 1) Quantify the level of Lead/Arsenic in soil at Public School properties in Yakima, Chelan and Douglas Counties; 2) Create an Xeroscape sustainable garden for demonstration purposes in conjunction with the Yakima Arboretum; and 3) Install educational/informative signs to draw public attention to landowner contributions to the restoration efforts in the Teanaway Valley. Most funds are directed at project #1. Lead and arsenic are of particular concern due to their extensive past use in this agricultural area. |
| Healthy, High Performance Cleaning for 2002 and Beyond | $5,000 | This grant was used a leverage funding for up to four one-day workshops by the American Lung Association of Washington for school administrators and school building managers across Washington State. The goal is to enhance school district techniques for evaluating their cleaning programs and ways to increase the effectiveness of their cleaning programs while reducing negative impacts on indoor air quality. |
| Bringing Smart Growth Applications to Puget Sound’s Watershed Protection | $15,000 | This project will identify, organize and spotlight a series of case study approaches
using watershed protection, smart growth and low impact development strategies in the Puget Sound area. This will enable the broad transfer of the results of these initial innovative approaches to any interested jurisdiction through a single web link. |
| Conference on Transboundary Ecosystem Based Management | $5,000 | This grant supports a Conference on Transboundary Ecosystem Based Management which will address a number of critical issues including the cross boundary transport of heavy metals and dissolved gasses into the Columbia River system, air pollution, and a variety of other concerns. |