State Ecology meets with county on sediment, dredged‑material reuse, grant options and Silver Lake water quality

Bob Aktolabi, southwest region director for the Washington Department of Ecology, and Shawna Hannish Kirkbride, manager of Ecology’s Vancouver field office, met with commissioners and county staff to discuss the agency’s role in water quality, floodplain and shoreline management and to outline funding and technical resources available to local partners.

Aktolabi and Hannish Kirkbride described the Spirit Lake‑Toutle‑Cowlitz Rivers Collaborative and an interagency work group focused on on‑the‑ground flood‑control and salmon‑habitat projects. Hannish Kirkbride said Ecology can help local partners with planning grants and technical assistance that lead to larger federal funding opportunities. She described cooperating technical partnerships, FEMA programs and planning grants the agency can help local governments access for floodplain and habitat work.

Participants focused on the large volume of ash and fine sediment moving through the watershed since the Mount St. Helens eruption. County commissioners and Ecology staff agreed the sediment dynamics require a system‑scale understanding because changes in one reach can affect downstream areas. Ecology staff recommended collecting foundational planning information (for example, a comprehensive flood hazard management plan or geotechnical study and a dredged‑material management plan) to open access to a broader set of grants and Corps partnerships.

Ecology staff discussed opportunities to use dredged material for beneficial purposes and noted the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has a national beneficial‑use goal (staff cited a roughly 70% beneficial‑use target discussed in federal policy discussions). County staff and local partners have discussed commercial and restoration uses for sediment, and Ecology said aligning a local strategy with Corps authorities could unlock funding and disposal options.

Commissioners raised a separate, previously discussed proposal to capture methane from the county landfill for energy use. Ecology staff said the project had stalled and that the PUD had decided not to continue at that time, but Ecology indicated it is open to renewed conversations and technical engagement should local partners and the PUD wish to resume discussion.

Silver Lake

Jeff Curry, chair of the Silver Lake Water Advisory Council, asked Ecology for help turning Ecology’s 2018 water‑quality assessment and existing monitoring into actionable steps. Hannish Kirkbride said Ecology has water‑quality grant programs that could apply to Silver Lake and offered to provide options and contacts for next steps.

Silt availability and public access

Several attendees discussed making dredged or excavated sediment available for public use (for bank repair, sandbags or other local uses). Ecology staff said there are private and public channels that have handled dredged material and that county staff could consider a local borrow‑pile or sales approach; Ecology offered to share examples and contacts from other counties.

Septic systems and wells

Attendees raised questions about septic‑system records, inspection cycles and potential lake impacts from failing systems. Ecology staff said many of those responsibilities and enforcement actions sit with local health departments and the delegated local authorities; Ecology offered to follow up with technical resources and potential funding pathways for water‑quality projects.

Salmon recovery and dredging

Ecology staff described the agency’s role in habitat restoration and water‑quality grants; they noted WDFW is the primary fish‑management authority, while Ecology contributes technical assistance and restoration funding. Participants discussed Army Corps roles — including navigation, flood control and sediment management — and the difficulty of addressing multiple objectives across a changing sediment regime. County and Ecology staff agreed local leadership and a shared, system‑scale plan would help prioritize projects and funding.

Ending

Ecology staff offered to follow up with contacts, grant options and potential Corps coordination, and commissioners said they would host future conversations; Ecology said it will attempt to return with additional Corps representation at a later meeting.