Water Quality Talk

 

The public is invited to the Siletz Watershed Council’s fall quarterly meeting for a talk on water quality, specifically about the Siletz watershed but potentially applicable anywhere.  Ryan Shojinaga, a water quality analyst with the state’s Department of Environmental Quality, will speak on “Developing a Dissolved Oxygen TMDL for the Siletz River.  The event, free and open to everyone, takes place on Tuesday, Sept. 10, 6:30 PM in the Siletz Public Library (225 S.E. Gaither St.). Refreshments will be provided.

As with many coastal rivers and streams, the main stem of the Siletz River is water quality impaired.  Oregon’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is currently developing a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) to determine the causes of the dissolved oxygen impairment and identify the maximum allowable pollutant loads in order to attain the dissolved oxygen standards.

In the past two years, Oregon DEQ has conducted two studies of water quality in the Siletz Watershed. The first study involved collecting an extensive amount of water quality data in 2017 followed by thorough analysis in 2018. The second study involved modeling hydrology and nutrient loads generating from landscape runoff processes. Ryan Shojinaga will present a high- level discussion of results and conclusions from both studies, with an eye on how these pieces fit into the TMDL process and what the next steps are. Shojinaga is a water quality analyst with more than 15 years of experience in water resources engineering and environmental science. His professional expertise is in surface water hydrology, hydraulics, water quality and numerical modeling.

A Siletz Watershed Council meeting will follow the presentation to give updates on the MidCoast Watersheds Council restoration and monitoring work in the Siletz Basin, disperse ODFW’s new Siletz River Guide, discuss future goals, and allow time for any questions and announcements from the community.