Sounds Solution

Washington dairies take responsibility and help restore the shellfish beds of Puget Sound’s Portage Bay

by Catherine Merlo

Polluted waterways are no small matter in environmentally conscious Washington.

So, when high bacteria counts in the commercial shellfish beds of northern Puget Sound pointed to manure runoff as the main pollutant, area dairy producers knew they had to stop being part of the problem.

In 1998, they embarked on a cooperative clean-up effort with state and local government, and the native Lummi Nation, which owns the shellfish beds. It took nine years and an estimated $5.1 million, but today, water quality has been restored and shellfish beds are safe for harvesting.

The turnaround in Portage Bay near Bellingham, Wash., demonstrates the success that can result when government and dairies cooperate, those involved say.

“These dairy farmers deserve credit for what they’ve done, and they should serve as inspiration to others that they can make a difference in environmental efforts,” says George Boggs, manager of the Whatcom Conservation District (WCD).

The agency, based in Lynden, Wash., played an integral role in creating the Nutrient Management Plans (NMP) that were used by dairy producers in northwest Washington to help control nutrient runoff.

The Portage Bay clean-up was a case where “industry was part of the problem—and the solution,” says Jay Gordon of the Washington State Dairy Federation.

The problem surfaced in 1996 when shellfish beds were closed after persistent high levels of fecal coliform bacteria were detected in Portage Bay. The shellfish beds lie on the Lummi Indian Reservation where the tribe has fished for centuries.

The closure turned the spotlight on some 250 dairies and their 56,000 milking cows in the Nooksack River watershed. While municipal wastewater treatment plants and malfunctioning septic systems in Bellingham were also found to be responsible for the high bacteria counts, dairies were targeted as the primary source.

The response to closing the shellfish beds eventually mushroomed into a full-blown effort involving the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Washington’s Department of Ecology and Department of Health, WCD, dairies and the Lummi Nation.

In 1997, EPA fined a handful of dairies under the federal Clean Water Act for their part in polluting the bay. The following year, Washington passed a state law requiring dairies to create and implement NMPs by Dec. 31, 2003. In 1998, Whatcom County also passed a manure ordinance prohibiting farms from applying manure to bare ground after harvest.

Spurred to action, area dairies evaluated ways to control runoff into creeks and ditches that feed into the Nooksack, which drains into Portage Bay. Between 1998 and 2003, WCD staff crafted hundreds of NMPs. With technical and financial help from WCD and the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), dairies went to work implementing those plans. Federal, state and local officials, with Lummi participation, also boosted compliance enforcement and water-quality monitoring.

By October 2003, Portage Bay’s water quality had improved enough for most of the shellfish beds to re-open. By 2005, fecal coliform counts had dropped by an average of 63% in the five watersheds that flow into Portage Bay. By 2006, all 1,210 acres of shellfish beds were open.

Jason VanderVeen, whose family’s freestall dairy milks 750 cows near Everson, Wash., adopted a NMP.

VanderVeen’s father-in-law, Bob Van Weerdhuizen, led efforts urging dairies to undertake the controversial, costly but necessary NMPs.

“We could see increased benefits from what we had been doing on our farm,” VanderVeen says. “And it was better for the environment.”

Like others, VanderVeen received funds from the Environmental Quality Incentive Program, a cost-share assistance program for conservation efforts. Still, he says, “the cost was huge, about $30,000.”

Boggs estimates that $1.3 million was privately invested by Whatcom County dairies, in addition to $3.8 million in cost-share assistance from WCD and NRCS.

The Portage Bay clean-up has had its downside. Some dairies closed down, unwilling or unable to make the investment in nutrient management. About 100 fewer dairies operate in the Nooksack watershed today compared to 1998.

The Lummi Nation has never been reimbursed for the revenues it lost when the shellfish beds were closed. Tribal member Leroy Deardorff, environmental program director for the Lummi Natural Resources Department, estimates losses at $850,000 for each of the nine years of closure—or $7.65 million.

“The Lummi Nation doesn’t have a problem with financial or technical assistance to the agricultural industry, but we’ve felt some heartburn because we did not cause the closure, yet there was no compensation to the Lummi Nation or individual tribal members for our substantial losses,” Deardorff says.

The Portage Bay experience taught valuable lessons, affected parties say.

“We need governmental agencies to monitor water quality and inspect operations to ensure that people comply with these laws,” Deardorff says. “Dairy operations should have nothing to hide.”

The key lesson for the dairy industry was the importance of being engaged in the process, Gordon, Boggs and VanderVeen say.

“Get to know your elected officials,” VanderVeen says. “Have them on your farm. Show them what you’re doing and why. That’s what we did. It helped them realize the consequences of their decisions.” DT