What Can We Do to Help Lake Billy Chinook?

In spite of years of pollution and regulatory inaction, Lake Billy Chinook is not doomed to its current harmful algal bloom (HAB) fate. The current oversight system cannot bring about this needed progress and must be changed. That change starts with increasing monitoring and sampling efforts at Lake Billy Chinook, which can begin describing current conditions more precisely and lead to better response actions. To stem HABs quickly, nutrient pollution from the Crooked River must be addressed. By both targeting the source of pollution and through mitigation efforts, Lake Billy Chinook and the whole Deschutes Basin can begin the healing process. But this cannot happen without your help. With a strong coalition, a unified voice, and constant advocacy, lawmakers and regulators will have to seriously consider and start responding to Lake Billy Chinook’s HABs issue. Support and join DRA in our advocacy and have your voice heard by regulators and your elected officials about this vital issue.Current GapsAs discussed in our two previous posts, the HAB situation at Lake Billy Chinook is complicated, but not unfixable. The increasingly common HABs result from a combination of factors – high nutrient pollution levels from fertilizer and fecal waste chief among them. These blooms harm not only the reservoir and the species that call it home but also strain the local economy and pass the water quality issues onto the lower Deschutes River.Despite the consistency of HABs and the contribution from nutrient pollution, very little responsive action has taken place. While the Oregon Health Authority issues health advisories for the reservoir, very little monitoring and even less sampling takes place. Monitoring is sporadic at best, and sampling occurs even less frequently. The result creates Lake Billy Chinook-sized blind spots about HAB sizes, severity, and longevity, and the conditions leading up to the bloom. Very little effort has gone into identifying and addressing the specific causes of harmful algae blooms. Over nearly two decades of poor water quality, the State of Oregon has not made any significant progress in bettering LBC’s water quality. Likewise, little has been done to stem nutrient pollution’s contributions, either at the source or through mitigating efforts. Without even the most basic steps, a successful recovery process cannot begin. In the meantime, the biggest symptom – HABs – are left unchecked and will continue to bear their ugly heads.What to DoTwo closely connected initial steps are needed before recovery can begin in earnest – increased monitoring and sampling at Lake Billy Chinook and its tributaries as well as nutrient pollution response actions. Monitoring and sampling must occur at more locations and much more frequently. The information that this increase will immediately provide about LBC and its HABs will not only allow for better public advisories for on-reservoir recreation but will also better inform lower Deschutes River users. Crucially, the information can also describe conditions leading to HAB occurrences, allowing for better prediction. Monitoring tributaries, like the Crooked River, more closely will better identify contributing factors and precisely target future responsive actions in the areas of most need. Expanded monitoring and sampling will bring both immediate and future benefits to Lake Billy Chinook and all that enjoy and rely on the reservoir.While expanding our understanding of Lake Billy Chinook’s HAB situation, nutrient pollution must also be addressed. Heavy nutrient pollution from the Crooked River feeds HABs in LBC. This nutrient pollution comes from agricultural runoff resulting from the large amount of farming and grazing in the area. Fertilizer and animal waste – high in nitrates and phosphates - are swept up by overwatering practices and are discharged directly into the Crooked River. This agricultural runoff makes up a considerable portion of LBC’s nutrient load. By supporting and implementing on-farm water efficiencies, less nutrient-laden water would return to the Crooked River. It would have the added benefit of reducing water withdrawals from the river, which would improve water quality. On similar lines, supporting and reworking fertilizer application and animal waste disposal would also help to reduce nutrient pollution.Moving away from direct sources, increasing riparian buffers along the Crooked River would help lessen nutrient pollution. These vegetative intermediaries act as a buffer by soaking up and slowing runoff and holding onto the nutrients before passing on the filtered water into the adjacent waterway. Implementing land use rules, especially in heavily agricultural areas, that require these riparian buffers would help stem direct runoff into the river. It could have the added benefit of providing habitat for threatened species and a cooling effect on both the overly warm Crooked River and in Lake Billy Chinook. These two steps, addressing the sources and mitigating the impact of agricultural runoff, would benefit not only Lake Billy Chinook but the Crooked and the lower Deschutes rivers too. Combined with more precise information from increased monitoring and sampling, regulators and lawmakers can begin to successfully address this basin-wide issue.ConclusionHarmful algae in Lake Billy Chinook is not an insolvable problem. With monitoring, data, and fact-based advocacy, we can make a difference. We can take steps to mitigate HAB-causing nutrient pollution right now by creating and expanding riparian buffers in the Crooked River. But advocacy must target the root causes – agricultural runoff and overwatering – to be successful. Additionally, the true extent and specifics of nutrient pollution in Lake Billy Chinook cannot be understood without more consistent monitoring and sampling. Find your local representatives, call or write them, and raise the issue of HABs in Lake Billy Chinook whenever you can. Join the DRA in bringing about solutions that will rehabilitate Lake Billy Chinook and our local ecology and economy for years to come and for future generations to enjoy.