Region 10 will continue to place strong emphasis on our important watershed protection and restoration work. Several watershed efforts are already well underway and others are being planned. These projects involve a wide crosssection of Region 10 offices, and our collective efforts will be critical to meeting our environmental mission. Specific watershed projects include the following:
Puget Sound, Washington
The State has established a goal of restoring Puget Sound to a healthy state by 2020. To assist the State in attaining this goal, Region 10 will work with our state, federal and tribal partners to accomplish the following by 2011.
- Improve water quality and enable the lifting of shellfish harvest restrictions on 1000 acres of shellfish beds
- Remediate 200 acres of contaminated sediments
- Restore 3,500 acres of nearshore wetlands
- Reduce diesel emissions in the airshed by 8%
Columbia River Basin
The Columbia River Basin includes land belonging to Idaho, Oregon, Washington and Columbia River Tribal Governments. We are building an integrated program, with state, nonprofits, and tribal partners, to reduce the concentration of toxins in fish, sediment and water. Toxics reduction efforts in the Columbia River will be enhanced by the ongoing Superfund site-specific activities such as those on the upper Columbia, the lower Willamette, and at Hanford.
- By September 2011, working with our partners we will: ensure protection, enhancement, or restoration of 16,000 acres of habitat in the lower Columbia River estuary; ensure cleanup of 150 acres of known highly contaminated sediments; and work toward a 10% reduction in the concentration of contaminants of concern in water and fish tissue, using baseline data from studies conducted by the states of Oregon and Washington.
- By the end of September 2007, we will develop a plan to complete the Columbia River temperature total maximum daily load (TMDL).
| | |