Sunday, May 19, 2024
BRIDGEPORT – A presentation of the Foster Creek Conservation District’s (FCCD) Foster Watershed Improvement Plan was the dominant issue at the monthly meeting of the Bridgeport Planning Commission last Thursday, May 2.
Commission Chair Leslie Robb explained some background of the visit and introduced Desiree Elliott, the primary coordinator for the watershed plan.
“We are in the water resource inventory area (WRIA) and in 2004 FCCD was the lead in developing a watershed plan for northern Douglas County and part of Okanogan County,” said Robb. “It’s a required update and this is the 20-year mark.”
A watershed plan is a non-regulatory document that represents the wants, needs, and concerns of everyone in the watershed. It encompasses an area of land defined by geographic ridgelines that channel water to the same outlet, the way Foster Creek empties into the Columbia River.
The plan is designed to guide future restoration and conservation in the watershed and related projects, such as FCCD’s Volunteer Stewardship Plan for agriculture producers.
“The ultimate goal is to preserve water in quantity and water quality,” said Elliott. “The original plan also elected to preserve aquatic habitat.”
Toward that end, the timeline for completing the Foster Creek WRIA is next summer 2025. The steps to get there include:
Since Bridgeport is the most populated area in the Foster Creek Watershed Elliott believes that local representation is essential.
“The main role that a city would play would be providing some sort of information that we may need for understanding the watershed,” said Elliott.
Robb asked if the Army Corps of Engineers (ACE) is involved since ACE represents such a large influence in the local watershed.
Elliott said an ACE employee is on the planning committee to represent the interests of the Corps.
“This is not a regulatory plan because we cannot interfere with the public regulation that exists,” said Elliott. “What it is primarily is a plan to understand where our water resources are, understand the interests and needs of the community as best we can, and to look at ways to mitigate what we see or to bring about the future that we want to see in our watershed.”
There are three irrigation districts that fall under the area covered by the Foster Creek Watershed. Bridgeport has three city wells that draw from the Columbia groundwater, a river not included in the Foster Watershed.
“The Planning Commission is in the process of updating our comprehensive plan,” said Robb. “One of the first things will be updating our critical areas ordinance but I don’t know if that fits into the watershed.”
Robb said the city’s biggest water concern is the flow off the hillside coming into town after the wildfire. A stormwater drainage system is being planned to deal with drainage from a rain or snow event that affects the east end of the city. She asked what kind of data FCCD wants from the city.
Elliott replied that even though the Columbia River is not included in the plan, information about how people, land, and wildlife depend upon and interact with such a major water source is helpful in creating an overall picture of the adjacent watershed dynamic. When water meters came up, Robb advised Elliott that the city was near complete with the installation of the latest cutting-edge remote meters that closely monitor usage.
It was suggested that Superintendent of Public Works Stuart Dezellem be brought into the loop since he is the best source of city water and sewer figures.
Robb also noted the greater input from Bridgeport sources in the earlier 2004 plan, which included the Foster Creek/Moses Coulee area. The current plan does not involve Moses Coulee, which is now a separate conservation district.
The parties agreed to stay in contact while the city statistics are assembled and shared in the coming weeks.
To learn more about the Foster Creek Conservation District visit fostercreekcd.org.
Mike Maltais: 360-333-8483 or michael@ward.media
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