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Working for clean water, healthy ecosystems and lasting quality of life in the Flathead Watershed in Northwest Montana. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
P.O. Box 70 | Polson, MT 59860 | 406-883-1346 | Email to Lakers | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Flathead Lake A Project of the Flathead Basin Commission Tables Figures Figure I. Map of Flathead Basin. Need For New Measures To Protect Flathead Lake The Flathead Basin, the area draining into Flathead Lake, is recognized for its spectacular natural beauty, its water clarity and high water quality, but this water quality is declining. The Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has identified Flathead Lake as a waterbody that is not fully meeting state water quality standards. The Department of Environmental Quality has designated Flathead Lake a high priority for development of a strategy to protect the lake and restore it to a condition that fully supports Montana water quality standards. The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes have adopted water quality standards for Flathead Lake that are as stringent or more stringent than Montana's standards. The DEQ has asked the Flathead Basin Commission to assist in this effort. The Tribes are a partner with the state in the development of measures to protect the lake's water quality. The purpose of this report is to provide a foundation for a basin-wide citizen-led effort to protect water quality in Flathead Lake and the Basin above the lake. The Flathead Basin Commission will use the information provided to guide the development of a Voluntary Nutrient Reduction Strategy for the Flathead Basin. This report proposes a lake management target and begins the process to allocate pollutant loading throughout the basin. The next phase of the Voluntary Nutrient Reduction Strategy is to bring citizen groups together to craft a basin-wide watershed protection strategy. This report addresses four objectives to assist in achieving the goal of protecting water quality in the Flathead Basin: The watershed can be divided by sub-basin areas. Sub-watersheds for purposes of this effort are: An important component of this decision-making process is the recognition that while we talk about the effects of man's activities on the health of Flathead Lake, natural processes also play a role. This natural nutrient load is not pollution but in combination with man-caused pollution determines the quality of the lake. Although this natural nutrient loading is uncontrollable it is nevertheless important. The strength of a watershed-based approach is that it allows one to consider the entire watershed; look at man-caused and natural pollution; and identify the trade-offs and control measures most acceptable to people living in the basin. While there is no single approach to how to best achieve water quality protection, it is clear that pollution must be eliminated or reduced. The best approach to water quality protection for the Flathead Basin is an adaptive approach. It needs to include a mix of design criteria and measures that are most appropriate for the lake and the people directly responsible for implementing the measures. The identification and crafting of strategies to protect water quality will be accomplished during the voluntary watershed education phase of the project. People living in the Flathead have a unique opportunity to take the steps necessary to protect their future and the future of the basin. Declining Water Quality --- Action Needed Six years ago, an area outside of Big Arm Bay in the deeper waters of Flathead Lake was identified as having declining water quality. This site has been monitored for over twenty years through a cooperative effort between the University of Montana Flathead Lake Biological Station and the Flathead Basin Commission. As nutrients increase (nitrogen and phosphorus), the number of algae and other organisms increase. As these organisms die, bacteria break down their remains using oxygen in the process. The result is that the oxygen supply in the water becomes depleted. Oxygen depletion is a recognized sign of water quality degradation. Similar oxygen sags, as they are called, have been identified in Swan Lake and Whitefish Lake. In all, 35 water bodies in the Flathead Basin fail to meet Montana's water quality standards. Restoration of the Flathead Basin requires looking at the entire watershed and seeking cooperation from everyone living there. Flathead Lake, at the bottom of the catchment, is a reflection of everything that happens in the basin. Local People Identifying Needed Technical Assessments The Flathead Basin Commission formed a TMDL technical team to identify and coordinate technical assessments necessary to establish a new Flathead Lake water quality target and to allocate pollution loading to the various portions of the basin. The team was a loosely structured working group open to anyone interested in controlling pollution in the basin. The team included representatives of Flathead County, Lake County, the [Confederated Salish and Kootenai] Tribes, Forest Service, National Park Service, Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, Department of Environmental Quality, two county conservation districts, Plum Creek Timber, scientists from the University of Montana Flathead Lake Biological Research Station, members of the Flathead Basin Commission, Natural Resources Conservation Service, biology teachers from the four high schools, private citizens, and a number of non-governmental organizations. The team developed and coordinated this four element work plan to provide the foundation for the citizen-based watershed education project. Flathead Lake Impairment --- Why Is A TMDL Needed --- Montana The Montana Water Quality Act provides the Department of Environmental Quality with the authority to administer a program for controlling water pollution. The Montana Surface Water Quality Act provides a yardstick for controlling pollution by designating water uses for all surface waters and establishing criteria for protecting those uses. Water pollution is defined under the standards as any contamination or other alteration of the physical, chemical or biological properties of any state water which exceeds the water quality standards or impairs a prescribed beneficial use. The standards for surface waters are a combination of drinking water, aquatic life, and water and fish ingestion numeric and narrative standards, as well as the prohibition of specific practices which degrade water quality. Flathead Lake and its tributaries are classified A-1 in the standards, reflecting the State's desire to maintain a very high level of water quality which is supportive of all beneficial uses, including drinking and food processing; bathing; swimming and recreation; growth and propagation of trout and associated aquatic life, waterfowl and fur bearers; and agricultural and industrial water supply. Of particular interest is the A-1 turbidity standard, which may not be increased above naturally occurring levels. This establishes a criteria for water clarity in Flathead Lake, which may be adversely affected by algae blooms as well as sediment loading. The water quality standards for Flathead Lake have been in effect since 1972 and resulted from a groundswell of public support for assigning the most protective available standards to the lake. The non-degradation statute is a part of the standards that apply to new or increased sources of pollution. These rules prohibit increasing concentrations of toxic and deleterious materials in state waters, unless it is affirmatively demonstrated to the Board of Environmental Review that a change is justifiable as a result of necessary economic or social development and will not preclude present or anticipated uses of these waters. The federal Clean Water Act gives the department additional pollution control responsibilities. Sections 303(d) and 305(b) of the Act require the state to monitor and assess waters for water quality standards attainment, and identify and prioritize waters requiring a water quality-based approach to pollution control, where technology-based approaches are not sufficient to achieve compliance with water quality standards. States are required to develop management plans for controlling both point and non-point sources of pollution in these "water quality-limited" waters, beginning with the highest priorities. This is the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) process. TMDLs must be developed for impaired waters as well as those which presently support their designated uses but are threatened. Flathead Lake has been designated by the state as a high priority water body since 1984. The rationale for this designation was "...mounting scientific evidence that water quality is deteriorating, a large amount of public concern and the establishment of a Flathead Basin Commission by the 1983 Montana Legislature and Governor Schwinden.…" (The 1984 Montana Water Quality Report, MDHES). The 1988 Montana Water Quality Report reaffirmed this appraisal: "The five-year Flathead River Basin Environmental Impact Study funded by EPA and completed in 1983 left no doubt that water quality in the Flathead River Basin is deteriorating at an accelerating rate. Slowing this transformation requires pinpointing pollution sources, weighing the trade-off involved in ending pollution and coordinating the many agencies that share jurisdiction over important development-related decisions in the basin." Montana published its first list of threatened and impaired waters in need of TMDL development in 1992. Flathead Lake was categorized as threatened in this initial list and was ranked as a high priority for TMDL development. Following a lake-wide algae bloom in 1992, and evidence of continuing water quality degradation in the lake, Flathead Lake was rated impaired in both the 1994 and 1996 303(d) lists. The identified probable impaired water use was aquatic life. It is the view of the DEQ staff that recreation uses should also have been listed as impaired. The scientific information supporting the need for a TMDL for Flathead Lake includes increased reports of attached algae on shoreline rocks, several lake-wide blue green algae blooms, an increasing trend of primary production in the open water areas of the lake, and hypolimnetic (lower water column) oxygen depletion patterns near Big Arm Bay. These are uncharacteristic features of oligotrophic (nutrient poor) lakes such as Flathead and clear indications of accelerating lake eutrophication. It has been, and continues to be, the Department of Environmental Quality's position that these are symptoms of declining water quality and, when they occur, constitute impairment of the lake's prescribed beneficial water uses as established in 1972. Flathead Lake Impairment --- Why Is A TMDL Needed --- Confederated Salish And Kootenai Tribes The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes have developed and implemented water quality standards for water bodies located within the exterior boundaries of the Flathead Reservation. The Tribes are currently completing use attainability assessments for each water body. These assessments will be used to determine whether or not standards are being meant. The U. S. EPA is responsible for implementing the federal Clean Water Act. While the EPA has approved the Tribe's water quality standards, currently, a policy does not exist to allow an Indian Tribe to develop TMDLs. The EPA, on behalf of the Tribes, will need to agree that the TMDL protects the Tribe's water quality standards. The Tribes entered into the TMDL process because they saw an opportunity to assess and better protect water quality in Flathead Lake. The Tribes did not become a cooperator in this effort with a concrete intention to implement a TMDL, upon completion of the initial work. The Tribes consider Flathead Lake vulnerable to degradation due to a variety of sources: municipal discharges, nonpoint source pollution, and general pressures from increased development along the shoreline. Additionally, the Tribes believe that evidence of impaired water quality has surfaced in certain areas, as evidenced by the Anabaena blooms previously documented. The Tribes remain concerned about Flathead Lake and consider water quality in the Lake to be threatened. Flathead Lake Impairment --- Why Is A TMDL Needed --- U. S. Environmental Protection Agency The responsibility for establishing and interpreting water quality standards is primarily the responsibility of states and Indian Tribes. Although the Environmental Protection Agency has an oversight role in the standards program, considerable deference has been given to states and tribes, particularly in the area of standards interpretation. For Flathead Lake the Environmental Protection Agency accepts the Tribe's assessment that there is evidence of impairment and the Lake is vulnerable to degradation. Likewise, the Environmental Protection Agency accepts the State's assessment that the declining water quality constitutes impairment of the Lake's beneficial uses. Further, the Environmental Protection Agency agrees with the State that certain uses of the Lake may be either impaired or threatened depending upon the particular response of the Lake in any given year. Use of a phased approach to TMDL implementation can provide an effective way in reducing technical uncertainty. There is a point where the urgency of protecting a water body such as Flathead Lake calls for action; at the same time further study and monitoring proceeds. For example, at Lake Dillon, Colorado, a TMDL was set calling for no further increase in nutrient loading to the reservoir. The TMDL was basically implementing the antidegradation element of state standards. The Dillon approach called for all future sources and activities that would increase phosphorus to the Lake to be offset by controls on past sources or activities. All proposed activities that could result in increased phosphorus to Lake Dillon as well as their offsetting activities are reviewed by a local water quality committee. A crucial component of this approach is the commitment from the stakeholders to monitor the quality of the streams and lakes to assure compliance with the TMDL goal and to upgrade the scientific understanding of nutrient fate, transport and effects within the lake. As part of the TMDL for Flathead Lake, the team agreed with an approach that breaks the problem into different geographic areas. This could result in several TMDLs to address the problems of Flathead Lake. Flathead Lake is deepest on the east shore and relatively shallow on the west side. Owing to the large volume of water stored (Table I-2), the Lake has a large heat budget and rarely freezes. Seasonal cooling and heating (2°-20°C annual amplitude at the surface) interacts with very strong Corriolis circulation to produce dramatic long-shore flow in a counterclockwise direction. Long-shore flow is moderated by the inflow and outflow current and complex wind-generated surges and currents. Hence, movement of the river water into the lake and subsequent mixing is very complex. It is related to temperature and density patterns interacting with convective (internal) and adjective (external) forces. Approximately 42 percent of the land mass in the Basin is included in Glacier National Park and various National Forest wilderness and roadless areas; this land mass also includes the highest elevation areas and the areas with the highest precipitation in the Basin. Hence, most of the water that reaches Flathead Lake is derived from a very pristine land mass. This is extremely important in terms of the mass flux of materials in the Lake since the volumetric renewal time (period required for tributary inflow and lake outflow to equal the volume of the lake basin) is less than 3 years (Stanford et al., 1983). About 60,000 people live within the area draining into Flathead Lake, including the shoreline of the lake and upstream areas. Ninety-five percent of the population lives within the area of the box in Figure 1, which is agricultural lands, small ranchettes and rural subdivisions (ex-urban) within forested or pasture plots and urban centers. Rural areas include homes served by septic systems. Fertilizers are used on some crop lands. A central premise of this study is that a large share of the nutrient load that reaches Flathead Lake likely is derived within that relatively small portion of the drainage and; hence, potentially can be managed and controlled. The Basin forms the headwaters of the Columbia River system along the Rocky Mountains and the continental divide. Much of the present-day landscape owes its existence to events that occurred during a period approximately one billion years ago when the Flathead region was a flat, low-lying plain periodically flooded by shallow seas. Table I-1 Tributary Basin Total Max Min Period of South Fork 4,307 3,190 1,310 0.21d 53 North Fork 4,009 2,670 1,960 5.61 50 Middle Fork 2,921 2,630 3,960 4.90 42 Swan 1,881 1,040 252 5.47 29 Stillwater 875 301 123 1.13 29 Whitefish 440 172 45 1.08 30 Ashleyc 520 29 -- -- 5 Flathead R. at Lk Outlet 18,372 10,500 2,340 0.14d 74 a Average annual discharge Table I-2 Maximum length 43.9 km Maximum width 24.9 km Shoreline length 301.9 km Maximum depth 113.0 m Mean depth 50.2 m Area 495.9 km2 Volume 23.2 km3 Sediments eroded from distant land masses to the east settled on the sea floor and slowly solidified forming layer upon layer of limestone, sandstone and mud-stone. When the climate turned wetter and cooler about 3 million years ago, the landscape we know today began forming. Four times massive glaciers advanced south from present-day Canada as snow accumulated faster than it could melt. The last glacier advance occurred about 10,000 years ago leaving such legacies as the large terminal moraine forming the southernmost blockage responsible for holding the waters of present-day Flathead Lake. More recently, the interaction of geology, climate and vegetation formed the soils which provide the basis for much of the human activity in the Basin. It is the interaction of these factors that supports the unique environmental conditions in the Basin. In the recent past, large forest stand replacing fires were a major source of large pulses of nutrients in the basin. Today, overland water run-off is generally limited to periods of snow-cover or brief periods in the spring when frozen ground limits infiltration. Large amounts of sediment are moved through the rivers to the Lake during spring snow melt. Sediment movement is increased during wetter years or when climatic events cause sudden snow-melt associated with rain. When these conditions occur, direct nutrient input from vegetative material and stream bank under-cutting can result in significantly larger volumes of sediment and nutrients being carried to the Lake. The interaction of geology and soils forms a complex natural system controlling Basin water quality. Historically, forest-fires, and floods dominated by rain on top of snow may have been the largest forces modifying the aquatic systems of the Flathead Basin and Flathead Lake. As human development impacts have added to the natural processes in the Basin, pollution loading in the form of nutrients and sediment shifts to more constant inputs of pollution. The Watershed Approach --- Watershed Based Targets (Total Maximum Daily Load) Over the past several years, there has been growing recognition of the need to look at entire watersheds rather than just individual discharge permits for municipalities and industrial sources. The development of a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) is a process that looks at all sources of pollution influencing water quality, including natural sources in a watershed. The provision has been the law since 1977, but has only recently begun to be widely implemented. The Clean Water Act requires states and allows Indian Tribes to identify lakes, rivers and streams that will not meet water quality standards even if all technology-based effluent limitations (point-source permits) or other legally required pollution control mechanisms are implemented. There have only been a few efforts using this approach that looks at an entire watershed to focus on the water quality problems. In addition to considering an entire watershed, the TMDL provides a way to assure all the pollution sources in a watershed are considered and everyone is doing their fair share to protect water quality. The health of the entire watershed is assessed in order to develop a plan and program to meet water quality standards. The strength of this approach is that local citizens and agencies can identify and then implement an approach suited to their particular needs, provided that water quality standards are met. An understanding of the four types of pollution sources provides a framework to develop a watershed strategy or TMDL. Pollution coming from individual point source discharges is identified as the Waste Load Allocation (WLA) for the Basin. Pollution sources associated with waste loads generally require permits from the states, Indian Tribes or EPA known as National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits. The phosphorous limitation (1mg/L) requirement that community waste water treatment plants must currently meet falls within the WLA. The other primary source of man-caused pollution is known as non-point pollution. This type of pollution is often not part of a state or federal regulatory program. For purposes of developing TMDLs, this pollution is called the Load Allocation (LA). WLA plus LA equals the man-made pollution in a basin or watershed. The man-caused pollution represents the nutrient loading that can be addressed and controlled. Another way to look at this pollution is the nutrient load that man has added on top of the natural nutrient load. Natural or background loading and a safety factor or adequate margin-of-safety together play an important role in the health of a watershed. The TMDL process considers all factors affecting the water body in establishing a target and plan to control man-caused pollution. Natural systems occur under conditions where climatic events create uncertainty and can cause wide fluctuations in conditions controlling water quality. This could include floods, rain events, forest fires and other natural phenomena. These factors can not be controlled, but must be considered in establishing a plan to protect water quality. An adequate margin of safety in addition to assuring that natural climatic events are considered also meets a real economic need. A decision to adopt a control measure must have some likelihood of extending into the future. Water quality in Flathead Lake and throughout the Basin is a local, state and national resource with irreplaceable economic and social value. Unlike most water control efforts, a TMDL is established using available information. The less scientific understanding one has of the sources of the pollution, the greater the adequate margin-of-safety needs to be. In other words, the provision requires the water management agency to err on the conservative side. Flathead Lake is widely recognized as an important water resource. People in the Basin strongly support protecting it from degradation. Protecting Flathead Lake from blue-green alga blooms has been a shared goal of the EPA, Montana, and the Salish and Kootenai Tribes since at least 1984. It was the basis for the Phosphorus Control Strategy. The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes are committed to maintenance and improvement of the high water quality generally found throughout the Flathead Basin. The recognition that water quality was declining provided the impetus for making Flathead Lake a high priority for TMDL development. Montana has over 900 lakes, rivers and streams on its 1996 303(d) or TMDL list. An important part of the identification of water bodies that require watershed protection measures is the establishment of priorities for establishing TMDLs. The DEQ has identified high, moderate and low priority water bodies for TMDL development. Flathead Lake is a high priority water body for development of a TMDL. Swan Lake is also a high priority water body for TMDL development. Whitefish Lake and the Stillwater River are each identified as moderate priority water bodies for TMDLs. Including the low priority water bodies on the list, the Flathead Basin has 35 water bodies that require development of watershed specific plans draining into Flathead Lake (Table I-3). A total of 346 miles of streams in the Flathead Basin above the outlet to Flathead Lake do not meet water quality standards. Over 156,000 acres of lakes do not meet water quality standards in the Basin. The water quality threats to Flathead Lake come from areas around the lake as well as areas upstream from the Lake. Addressing the water quality problems in these stream segments is likely to be the best approach to protecting and restoring water quality in the Lake. The Flathead Lake TMDL process and Flathead Voluntary Nutrient Reduction Education Project provides a unique opportunity to develop priorities tiered to a basin-wide water quality protection scheme. A tiered process provides a rational approach to bring the entire Flathead Lake Basin into conformance with water quality standards through locally identified and implemented water quality protection measures. Flathead Lake, at the bottom of the basin, catches and reflects all of the pollution occurring in the Basin. The timing and delivery mechanisms vary over how and when pollution reaches the Lake, but the ultimate impact is measured in Flathead Lake's water quality. The Lake provides a natural umbrella for basin-wide action. The water quality targets for the Lake sets goals that every lake, river or stream flowing towards the Lake must meet. Addressing the needs of Flathead Lake may require changes in activities in the sub-watersheds that drain into the Lake. As sub-basin measures are adopted to protect the Lake as part of the Flathead Lake TMDL, these same measures can be used to develop TMDLs for these lakes, rivers and streams. Coordinating these activities provides a rational, cost-effective means to protect the water quality of the whole Flathead Basin. Table I-3 Low priority Moderate priority High priority Ashley Creek (3 segs) Whitefish Lake Flathead Lake | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
