Lake Roosevelt Administrative History

Water Quality

When LARO was established in 1946, sewage effluents from Spokane and Grand Coulee and industrial pollution of tributaries to Lake Roosevelt were serious concerns. The areas most affected were the entire Spokane Arm, the Colville River, Crescent Bay Lake, and Hawk Creek. Recreational development was delayed at several locations because of significant water pollution. Since then, LARO managers have continued to look beyond the boundary lines defining the NRA to address external sources of pollution. In recent decades, federal laws such as the National Environmental Policy Act have given park managers more authority to address such external threats. [85]

In 1950, LARO managers protested a particular external source of pollution that threatened the park. At that time, eleven mills that concentrated ore in the Lake Roosevelt watershed used flotation or cyanide in their process, and some discharged tailings into the lake. LARO Superintendent Claude Greider notified various agencies about pollution from the Reeves-McDonald mine, which the Park Service felt represented a serious threat to spawning and feeding grounds for Lake Roosevelt fish. This mine was located eighteen miles up the Pend Oreille River from its confluence with the Columbia. [86]

Another relatively early external threat to Lake Roosevelt was a mill proposed by Western Nuclear on the Spokane Reservation. Uranium deposits were discovered on the reservation in the 1950s, and Western Nuclear prospected thousands of acres of land there. In 1969, the company proposed building a mill. The issue of whether the company or the tribe would have to pay for the large amounts of water the mill would need became controversial, but the Park Service decided that it had no interest in that question. But LARO personnel, along with the tribes and Reclamation, did express their concern about the potential water pollution problem, including radioactive contamination. The final Environmental Impact Statement was approved in 1976, and the Sherwood mine and mill were constructed; the impact on the watershed is not known. After the Sherwood mine shut down in 1985, LARO supported the efforts of the tribes and various agencies to have proper reclamation done at this and other open-pit mines. [87]

LARO personnel began assisting in gathering baseline data on Lake Roosevelt's water quality by the mid-1970s, and they hoped to cooperate with other agencies on water quality issues. U.S. Fish and Wildlife studies in the early 1980s found high concentrations of cadmium, lead, arsenic, and zinc in the tissues of Lake Roosevelt fish. The Washington Department of Ecology performed studies in the late 1980s that indicated that metals concentrations were below limits set by the Food and Drug Administration, so no consumption advisories were issued. In 1988, Canada issued an advisory concerning walleye because of mercury concentrations found in this fish. Elevated levels of dioxins and furans were found in fish downstream of a pulp mill in British Columbia, and the Canadian government placed a consumption advisory on lake and mountain whitefish. Canadian advisories, however, technically do not apply to U.S. waters. A health advisory related to dioxin and furan was also issued in the United States that recommended that children not eat whitefish from Lake Roosevelt. For a time, LARO personnel posted large orange signs at campgrounds and boat launches warning fishermen about the dioxins and furans found in whitefish. [88]

The primary source of water pollution in Lake Roosevelt is point-source industrial pollution. For example, the main source of heavy metals in Lake Roosevelt fish is the Cominco lead-zinc smelter located in Trail, British Columbia. For many decades, this plant discharged each day several hundred tons of black, sandy slag into the Columbia River. This slag, previously thought to be inert, is now known to harm aquatic organisms. LARO personnel began meeting with Cominco managers in 1986 and had input into amending Cominco's discharge permit. By the late 1980s, Cominco had reduced the mercury concentrations being discharged, and in 1995 it eliminated the slag discharge altogether by landfilling the material. Political pressure from the United States, and stronger enforcement of provincial anti-pollution laws, led to the change. [89]

The primary source of dioxins and furans in Lake Roosevelt fish is the Celgar Pulp Mill at Castlegar, British Columbia, about thirty miles from the border. This plant began discharging untreated effluents in 1961. The mill started updating its processes and equipment in 1991, resulting in reduced usage of chlorine and significant reductions in the amount of dioxins and furans in the effluent. LARO was a member of the Celgar Pulp Mill Citizens Advisory Group. [90]

Other sources of pollutants entering Lake Roosevelt include sewage treatment plants, runoff from nearby agricultural and logging operations, heavy metal contaminants from northern Idaho's Silver Valley, shoreline erosion and slumping, construction sites, and air pollution deposition. Recreational sources include campsite sewage, unsealed pit toilets (most have been replaced with vault toilets), garbage dumped in the lake, fertilizers and pesticides used on home lawns and golf courses, and leaks of oil and gas from boats and fueling stations. Another source was livestock waste from grazing; LARO decided to phase out its remaining grazing permits in the 1990s for this and other reasons. [91]

The CCT took the lead in 1988 in investigating and monitoring Lake Roosevelt's water quality, with assistance from the Park Service through the provision of a boat and funding from Reclamation for an aquatic vascular plant study. The tribes also helped form the Lake Roosevelt Water Quality Council, composed of representatives of tribal, federal, and state agencies and user groups. One major accomplishment of the Council was obtaining funding from the Environmental Protection Agency to fund a Lake Roosevelt Water Management Plan. The Washington Water Research Center of Washington State University prepared this plan, completed in 1996. The report analyzed available information and included recommendations for improving the water quality and productivity of Lake Roosevelt, but little action has yet been taken on these recommendations. The Council also sponsored conferences, workshops, and educational programs. LARO's Superintendent Gerry Tays served as the Park Service representative on the Council's Management Committee, which was responsible for overseeing the management plan and for public education. The LARO Natural Resources Specialist served on the Technical Advisory Committee. By 1997, the Council had evolved to become a committee within the Lake Roosevelt Forum. [92]

Floating dump station on Lake Roosevelt, 1975. Photo courtesy of National Park Service, Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area (LARO.HQ.MENG).

The Park Service Water Resources Division (Fort Collins, Colorado) prepared a Water Resources Scoping Report for LARO in 1997. This report recommended that the park seek funding for a Water Resource Management Plan, which would help define the Park Service role in water quality, research, monitoring, and other activities in relation to the other involved federal, state, and local agencies and tribes. But without a staff position dedicated to water resources, this is unlikely to happen. Instead, LARO personnel are trying to stay informed and effect change when possible. [93]