Original Post Date: 5-21-2008
No, seriously, you have seen these big blue trailers around .. look a bit like a huge dumpster .. with a big circle logo that says, “Rain for Rent.” Most recently two of them sat at the construction site at Skagit Valley College for a long time. They have big white pipes going in and out, with various cylinders and vats interconnected as well. Those are treating and holding water that was running off or collecting on construction sites.
For any construction site involving more than an acre of disturbance, there are pretty strict rules about water runoff. Basically, water running off can’t be any dirtier than it was when it got there! So those trailers and vats and pipes are collecting, filtering and settling out contaminants and sediments and then discharging the cleaned water into the local storm water system, or maybe the local sewer system. Sure beats the old ways of just letting muddy water flow off and down the street into the storm drain or, worse yet, into a creek of stream.
The State Department of Ecology manages and monitors those rules.
There are lots of “best management practices” required now for storm water management on construction sites. A visible place to see many of them is the WaDOT project to widen Highway 20. A great job there of cleaning up while Digging In!
The Rain For Rent company used to be primarily in the business of renting farm irrigation systems – hence the name!
The Local-Organization-You-Might-Want-To-Be-Involved-With this week is The Skagit County Marine Resources Committee http://www.skagitcounty.net/MRC
In 1998 there was a failed attempt to have the Straits of Juan DeFuca and the northern part of Puget Sound declared a National Marine Sanctuary. In response, the federal government founded the Northwest Straits Marine Conservation Initiative. Each of the seven counties (including Skagit) that border the area established a Marine Resources Committee (MRC) to carry out the program. The program is reviewed for continuation every 6 years, and was renewed after the first review, due to good successes toward its mission to protect and restore marine resources and habitats.
The Skagit MRC is appointed by the County Board of Commissioners and includes members from pertinent industry, tribes, city/county/port agencies, and citizens. The MRC identifies various projects, acquires funding through the Initiative, and coordinates implementation. You just recently saw an article about the project to reintroduce the Olympia Oyster into Fidalgo Bay. Finding and removing creosoted logs and pilings, and also derelict fishing gear are other projects of the MRC.
Here are a couple of ways to get involved. First, mark September 20 on your calendar, that will be this year’s big Fidalgo Days party – more info as the date draws near. Second, go down to the calendar of events below and sign up for the Spartina Dig on June 7. Getting invasive Spartina out, and keeping it out, is a great objective. If you are a kayaker, go down there and email for info about how you can help in spots unreachable on foot. If you can’t DIG IN, FLOAT IN!
Here are some near-term activities to consider:
Wed. May 21 Gardening for Wildlife - Pictures and talk about creating a backyard habitat - Anacortes Library 7:00pm
Thur. May 22 Anacortes Old Town Zoning - Public Roundtable - City Hall Council chambers 7:00pm
Fri. May 23 Low Impact Development Workshop Padilla Bay Reserve Facility 8:30am – 3:30 pm No charge, includes lunch to reserve a seat
Sat. May 24 Trail and Brush Clearing at Cumberland Creek 10:00am – 1:00pm http://www.skagitlandtrust.org or for details
Wed./Thur. May 28/29 In-stream Monitoring Workshop 6:00pm – 8:00pm Skagit Fisheries Enhancement Group to register/for details
Sat. May 31 Birding at Cumberland Creek 7:30am – 1:00pm Skagit Audubon Society http://www.fidalgo.net/~audubon/ Meet at S-W Food Pavilion Dress for walking through brush, bring binoculars and a lunch.
Sat. May 31 North Cascades Institute Annual Free Picnic 11:00am – 4:00pm Environmental Learning Center at Diablo Lake, 1 ½ hrs up Highway 20. http://www.ncascades.org/picnic for info. and RSVP. Try to car pool.
Thur. June 5 Streamside Living: Tools for Realtors 8:00am – Noon Skagit Station, Mt. Vernon $20, lunch included! 360 336-0172 or by June 2 for reservation.
Thur. June 5 Healthy Farms, Healthy Puget Sound speaker series 7:00pm – 8:30pm Carol Havens from Slow Food Convivium and discussion group Food Co-op, Mt. Vernon. Free, soup included! Please RSVP 360 336-1936 or
Sat. June 7 10th annual Spartina Dig Day 10:00am – 2:00pm Swadabs Park, Swinomish Tribal Community 360 336-1931 or for details and to sign up.
Many similar events and activities and opportunities are posted on the GoSkagit Event Calendar. Check it often!
(Your comments about this blog will be helpful. New ideas to consider, and changes we should make are especially welcome. Corrections and further enlightenment will help as well. You can email to . Thank you.)
