CLIPA White Paper

Incomplete and misapplication of the science within the CLAMP 2009 Capitol Lake Alternatives Analysis – Public Review Draft (CLAMP study) includes the assumed benefits to water quality created by such a reversion. WAC 173.201A-020 provides water quality definitions for a lake versus a river. Different standards exist for lake systems compared to river systems.

 

Second, the Department of Ecology (DoE) as a member of CLAMP advisory committee is conceding an argument it has objected to consistently over the past 40 years – the argument that “the solution to pollution is dilution.” It is a well known fact of lake ecosystems that lakes must be managed because their tendency is to fill naturally. In the case of Capitol Lake, this is caused by accumulated sediment deposition from the upper Deschutes; in other lakes, the filling may be due to nutrients and plants. This management requirement was recognized by the State when Capitol Lake was created, but not acted on over the past 25 years.

The CLAMP study properly recognizes that “water quality violations related to dissolved oxygen are predicted to occur whether the system is managed as a lake or as an estuary.” (p.74) Destruction of Capitol Lake and the 5th Avenue dam is no solution to this challenge. However, a comprehensive watershed management plan is a solution, which we advocate and further explain below.