Brown!!????

[hdh]

Just an observation

After getting on the Cossatot 1/1 (3.6)and 1/13 ( 5.0)
And little blocker and upper blocker 1/12

Water quality sure seems " browner" than it should ...

I'm thinking its the drought and/or the logging in both watersheds

Hope it's just the drought and clears up .

Crooked was brown also .

[Cowper]

When Cadron was turning colors, it could be traced directly to Gas pipeline work. Some of that is now complete, and the creek is looking better, although there is still a heavy silt load on what used to be cleaner gravel shoals. I'd like to think that complaints to ADEQ (and ongoing or follow-up work by one very dedicated ADEQ inspector) put at least some pressure on the gas companies to complete their mitigation work a little faster and reduced the potential damage.

When the Piney was running "chocolate" brown last year (or was it longer?), Debo and I drove upstream to multiple road crossings until we found where it was running clear. We were able to report to ADEQ, who gave some "feedback" to the county road department that was grading and bull dozing a landslide without use of "best management" practices. It's hard for one government agency to really put the squeeze on a second government agency, but at least Debo and I felt better for having tried.

When Richland ran muddy, not following a rain, but more than 24 hours after the rain had passed, I was able to go through the same "upstream road scouting" exercise and learned that it was caused by either the county, or local landowners re-grading a road crossing to remove sand and gravel that had moved over the road and probably made it impassable to some vehicles. If it happens again, I'll get with Canoe and see if there is something we can do to help them, like donating money to the county for construction materials for a better low water crossing.

All of which is to say, GOOD QUESTION! Let's all keep an eye on it, and if we agree it is "more mud than usual", lets investigate and find the source. If someone who lives close can't do it, then maybe someone who camps out a lot could do it. And if not that, I bet we can find some old retired guy who might add it to his "getting longer every day" To Do list. It might also be worth starting with a call to the Cossatot State Park; we are trying to protect a state resource, after all!

[prophet]

i think the first big rain will bring all the loose dirt accumulated over the summer. i'm guessing dirt roads generate 99% of sediment in streams

[Jim E]

Would guess the recent ice/snow and frozen grounds could contribute also. Recentally thawed dirt makes mud like nothing else and, therefore, would certainly lead to muddy runoff! Even the longest of rains can't compare. Locals of the snowy North add an extra season to the normal four...calling the time after snow melt "mud season"!

Just a thought