SPOKANE, Wash. — The recent wet weather caused part of Spokane’s Cochran Basin stormwater system to wash away, raising concerns about the health of the Spokane River for a local non-profit.
According to the city, a breach in an overflow catch at Downriver Park caused a built-up earth wall to give way last week. That stormwater is now being diverted into the sunken channels that run along the Spokane River.
“This storm water carries a lot of things, like PCBs and 63d quinone, which are toxic to our fish and toxic when we ingest them as humans, too,” said Spokane Riverkeeper water protector Katelyn Scott. “It’s really important that we have this stormwater infrastructure to filter that water before it goes back into the water system, into our groundwater, into our surface water.”
The Cochran Basin is the largest stormwater collection area in the city, collecting runoff from over 5,000 acres of residential, commercial, and industrial properties in North Spokane. It was designed to protect the Spokane River from contaminated runoff, but some are worried recent rainfall is pushing the system to its limits.
Spokane Riverkeeper said in a Facebook post it is concerned about what this kind of breach could mean for water quality and aquatic life.
“Stormwater management is critical to protecting our river from pollution and ensuring the health of our watershed,” the Facebook post said. “We are saddened and disappointed to see this project struggle with the current rainfall, as this new infrastructure should be capable of withstanding storms of this size.”
The city said crews are actively monitoring the area to make sure the sediment does not reach the river. Spokane Riverkeeper said its team already observed some of the sediment going into the river.
“A lot of water from these storms is being discharged directly into the river instead of going into these infiltration ponds the way it was supposed to,” Scott said.
Programming and testing of the stormwater system began on Nov. 1. The functions that would have diverted the water to other systems were not up and running when the breach happened.
“Had the system been fully installed and operational, it would have been able to divert the water to other stormwater system paths such as the new Whitewater Disc Golf Course swales,” communications manager Kristin Davis wrote on the City of Spokane’s website.
The city said since becoming fully operational, this system has cleared and treated 99% of stormwater before sending it back into the river. Spokane Riverkeeper said it is still disappointed by the delay caused by this breach.
“Now we can’t use it to its full extent that we should have been able to, which really just means it’s a delayed timing for addressing this pollution in our river,” Scott said.
The city said once the rain lets up, crews will finish installing and programming the pump system and repair the damaged wall.
“We see it as a kind of setback, but at the same time because it happened we are going to be able to rebuild and keep it from happening again,” Davis said. “If what we had built had not been in place, it would have been a completely different situation.”
The city is confident the issue will get resolved and Spokane Riverkeeper is hopeful this will not happen again in the future.
“I really hope that we get a plan in place that redesigns this infrastructure so that it actually functions the way that it’s supposed to,” Scott said. “I still hope that this is going to be a really beneficial project for our river.”
In the meantime, people are asked to avoid the area.
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