DRAYTON HARBOR SHELLFISH PROTECTION DISTRICT
ADVISORY COMMITTEE AGENDA

Download Zip File of All 2002 Summaries

AGENDA

MEETING ATTENDANCE

DOCUMENTS DISTRIBUTED

• Agenda
• 6/19/02 IFA Drayton Harbor Shellfish Protection District Advisory Committee (AC) Meeting Summary
• Drayton Harbor Marine Water Quality Status as of July 2002
• 7/23/02 Department of Health Letter
  

MEETING CONTENTS

1. Public Comment Period

No comments from the public.

2. Review Agenda and Previous Meeting Summary

Review Agenda
Geoff Menzies reviewed the agenda and suggested no changes.

Review Meeting Summary
The committee reviewed and approved the 6/19/02 Meeting Summary.

• Action: Distribute the 6/19/02 IFA Meeting Summary as Final.

3. Land Use Planning Regulations for Drayton Harbor

Sylvia Goodwin and Kurt Baumgarten from the Whatcom County Planning and Development Services (PDS) updated advisory committee (AC) members to recent County Council (CC) discussions concerning land clearing regulations specific to the three Special Management Areas, Lake Whatcom, Lake Samish, and Drayton Harbor (DH).

The PDS was asked to provide the CC with recommendations for changes/amendments to requirements for land use, stormwater control, etc. set forth in the Whatcom County Zoning Ordinance (Chapters 20.71, 20.80, 20.85 and 20.97). These changes/amendments were presented to CC earlier in the year (June 2002) as an interim ordinance. .

In August, when the ordinance was scheduled for approval by the Council, the Builders Association spoke up against the seasonal land clearing restrictions set forth in the ordinance. Applying these restrictions would result in stringent land clearing limitations during the rainy months between October and April, when land clearing has the potential to have a greater negative impact on water quality, due to increased surface flow and runoff.

The seasonal restrictions included in the above ordinance would require additional efforts by builders to maintain their site, as well as reduce the timeframe when the clearing could be performed. People associated with the building industry voiced their opposition and eventually the CC was convinced to rescind the ordinance. A new ordinance will be presented to the CC at their 8/27/02 meeting; the new ordinance will be the same as the original ordinance with the exception of the seasonal land use restrictions being removed.

The Technical Advisory Committee is responsible for the creation of Development Standards for the areas identified as stormwater special districts; the standards are identical for each district. Kurt suggesteded that this committee should work to come up with a strategy to handle DH’s land clearing regulations separate from the regulations for Lake Whatcom and Lake Samish. DH regulations should reflect the need and concerns associated with improving water quality for shellfish beds and Lake Whatcom and Lake Samish should adopt regulations that address the needs and concerns associated with drinking water quality.

The CC has also discussed exempting parcels within DH from on-site stormwater and infiltration requirements, about which many AC members expressed concern. Several AC members were disturbed that this issue was not included in the CC meeting agenda and resulted in a lack of varying viewpoints being represented at the CC meeting.

Geoff asked the AC to agree on what the committee’s position in on DH regulations and to voice this view at future CC meetings. The final ordinance for amendments to the Whatcom County Zoning Ordinance is scheduled to be presented to CC at their meeting in the first part of November and the AC asked Kurt and Sylvia to provide the committee with applicable literature concerning this issue to educate the committee and come up with a committee perspective on this issue.

4.Quarterly Report to DOH

Ami Stillings distributed copies of DH’s 2nd Quarterly Report for 2002 to AC members prior to the meeting. These reports are intended to be formal documentation to the Department of Health of activities occurring in the watershed that address water quality concerns with the goal of getting the shellfish beds re-classified to an approved status.

One AC member commented on the section in the report that dealt with the dye test study for Marine Drive. There was concern about the timeframe of the processes involved in the dye testing on Marine Drive’s sewer lines. It was noted that all groups involved must agree on a testing process before the tests can be executed and that the testing process should begin soon.

5. Water Quality Status / Correspondence with DOH

Water Quality Status
Ami distributed a summary of marine water data for two time periods: one showing data through May 2002 and the other data through July 2002. Ami pointed out that the July samples caused the historical high (from December 1998) to be dropped off the last 30 samples for Site #6. Losing this high value caused the 90th percentile to drop from 54.8 to 42.2 fecal coliform/100mL. This means that Site #6 is currently meeting the marine water quality standard of <43 fecal/100mL. Losing the high count from December 1998 from Site #8, however, caused no improvement in the 90th percentile for this site. This is due to the fact that Site # 8 routinely sees high counts.

Correspondence with DOH
Geoff Menzies distributed copies of the July 23, 2002 DOH letter to AC members for their review. The letter is a response to the committee’s earlier clarification to DOH regarding the December 1998 Blaine sewage overflow location and its impact on water quality testing on that day. Based upon previous circulation studies conducted by DOH, they attributed the high fecal coliform counts in the harbor to sustained rainfall during the previous three to four days rather than the sewage overflow. For this reason, the December 1998 data will continue to be used for classification purposes until these data drop out of the 30-sample data set.

Ami Stillings noticed discrepancies between DOH’s values for DH and the values recorded by Ami. She believes this may be a result of her including the shoreline volunteer results in her dataset, while DOH may not have incorporated them into their dataset yet. She will follow-up on this discrepancy and update the AC with her findings.

Another significant factor that Geoff pointed out to AC members was regarding possible human sources of fecal coliform, which the AC is currently investigating. The DOH letter said that if it can be shown that the fecal coliform contamination affecting site 8 is not caused by sewer lines or boater waste, DH may be considered for an alternate classification.

Geoff pointed out to AC members that DOH remains concerned about the sources that affect site 8 and the potential impact on sites 4 and 6. The fact that site 8 is located near the breakwater, which is a prime location for seagulls and other waterfowl to gather, indicates a need for further assessment as to the impacts birds may have on the water quality of the harbor.

6. Community Oyster Farm Article / Discharge at Marina

Community Oyster Farm Article
Geoff Menzies informed meeting attendees of Bellingham Herald’s ongoing coverage of shellfish trends and the efforts of the Community Oyster Farm. Geoff is currently working with the Herald to develop a TIF version of the articles, so they will be accessible from the Whatcom County Shellfish Website.

Discharge at Marina
Geoff informed AC members to the cause of the red flowing discharge cited in the marina. A broken pipe in a salmon processing plant was leaking into the marina and when the plant owner was notified of the problem, the pipe was repaired immediately.

7. Port Activities Update

Geoff and Ami will meet with the Port of Bellingham’s Blaine Harbor commercial tenants at the beginning of September at their tenant’s meeting to discuss Drayton Harbor and water quality issues. The meeting will also be a chance to talk with the tenants about how the DHSPD, the Port and the commercial tenants can work together to address the water quality concerns within the marina. AC members will be updated with new information when it becomes available.

8. Tideflat Tours and PSRF Grant Updates

AC members were informed of the estimated 40 people who took part in the recent tideflat tours lead by Geoff Menzies. Many county and city government officials from Blaine and Bellingham took part in the tour and showed interest in future involvement.

Ami Stillings mentioned that she is currently working to incorporate the pictures and comments from the tours onto the shellfish website. The next tideflat tours will start-up in Summer 2003.

9. New Business

Geoff Menzies gave a summary of the methodology and results from the recent water circulation study in Blaine harbor and near the entrance to DH . Two research crews placed surface water floats in specific locations around the marina and out in the harbor and bay and then tracked the movement of each float on an hourly basis over the course of the tide change.

One significant observation that Geoff mentioned was that every float placed in the Marina never moved out of the Marina.

Subsequent water circulation studies may use specialized floats called drogues to measure deeper water currents in order to examine the differences between surface and non-surface water movement. Geoff will write up a formal summary of these results and AC members will be updated on any further circulation studies done in DH.

10. Next Meeting’s Agenda

To be determined