Stormwater Management: One Backyard at a Time

Good Morning,

As I went out to the motel balcony to greet Grandfather Sun and receive the blessing of a new day, my eyes were struck with the beauty of this starkly harsh environment. Clouds marching to greet the Grandfather blurred the crisp sliver of Grandmother Moon’s shine. As the night sky paled, the clouds celebrated the dawn by turning mauve with still gray tops and as Sun rose farther to the East became cerise filling the sky with flame.

Reflecting on the week, I give thanks for the Creator inspired mission to spread the word of sustainability and habitat protection by talking to people who have endeavored to make their homes safe havens that also collect and infiltrate gully-washer rain storms and huge snowmelts in the spring. One man spoke of his stewardship driven goal when he designed and built his home near the banks of the Big Wood River. He felt since he had disturbed the natural environment, he had an obligation to mitigate that disturbance by planning stormwater management in his backyard. Thank you Tom, you have strengthened me with your perceptions.

When I arrived in Ketchum last Tuesday, the camera crew had spent Monday driving around filming porous pavered driveways, bioswales, smartly engineered narrow streets bordered by broad sidewalks lined with bike racks, Aspens, public art, and people sitting outside coffee shops chatting under Sun.

Before arriving, there had been only one person who would chat with me about my endeavor; we stopped by his office on the way from the airport so I could shake his hand and thank him for his conversations. He gave me a name of the person who was the designer of the city’s infiltrative solutions…that was an auspicious beginning. Phone calls were made to Real Estate offices, home-owners whose names were provided by a conference brochure. Voice messages were answered daily, and we filled our roster of six interviews and film of four lovely homes and a condo complex.

I fly back to Washington today, mission accomplished and a mind’s eye filled with brilliant fall colors set against the craggy mountains of the Sawtooth Range with a blue-ribbon trout stream meandering in the Valley’s bottom. Thanks be to the Creator!

Fish Ladders on Source Waters on Central Washington State

Good Day,

And, this is a good day! Grandfather Sun shines on us...and BuRec smiles on the salmon. Today, in the newspaper, it was reported that BOR has decided it is feasible to build fish ladders on dams at Cle Elum and Bumping Lakes. The nearly $3M study concluded that the Yakama Nation has been correct all along. Therefore, by 2018 or so, Sockeye salmon will be able to return to the upper reaches of the Yakima and Bumping Rivers to spawn and leave their carcasses to enrich the forests for the first time in over 100 years.

Freedom to salmon, and their people!