Historic Flooding in Yellowstone National Park
By: Shannon Kronz, EIT, Brown, and Caldwell

The beginning of the 2022 water year led to drought conditions throughout the Pacific Northwest region. In April, southwest Montana and surrounding areas experienced higher than average precipitation, which led to increased snowpack in the Yellowstone River watershed. A few months later, between June 10 and13, an atmospheric river brought 0.8-5 inches of rain to the Absaroka and Beartooth mountain ranges, located northeast of Yellowstone. The significant amount of rain from the atmospheric river also caused the snowpack to melt, which, combined, was equivalent to 4-9 inches of rain. The large quantity of precipitation caused historic flooding downstream on the Yellowstone River [1].

Discharge Monitoring Report – Quality Assurance Study Program:
Major and selected minor permittees under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) program are required to participate in the annual Discharge Monitoring Report – Quality Assurance (DMR-QA) study program. DMR-QA evaluates the analytical ability of the laboratories that perform self-monitoring analyses required by their NPDES permit.

If you’re required to participate in DMR-QA, you must report results for the analytes listed in your permit, provided that they are also included in the DMR-QA study analyte list. Not all of the analytes listed on your NPDES permit may be included in an individual DMR-QA study, and you may voluntarily report additional study analytes not listed in your permit.

Join the Stormwater Committee and Racial & Social Justice Subcommittee (RSJ) learning hour on Thursday, August 25 at 12 p.m. Pacific/1 p.m. Mountain. Jule Schultz from the Spokane Riverkeeper will discuss their efforts as a nonprofit to advocate for the Spokane River while working hand-in-hand with the local tribes.

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84351479994
Passcode: Stormwater

Conference Service Event
Make sure you register for the upcoming PNCWA Annual Conference and sign up for the service event on September 11. Join fellow professionals and the Riverkeeper in downtown Spokane to clean up the Spokane River.

Lunch from local food trucks: 12-1 p.m.
River cleanup: 1:30-3:30 p.m.

PNCWA is hosting the next Women of Water Summit in person at Seattle University’s Campion Hall on Thursday, October 6. Hear from women leaders in our industry speak to their passion for water and interest in protecting our environment, which led them to pursue fulfilling careers in the water industry. Open to all, the summit is a networking event including lunch and dynamic speakers. Look for more information in about one month.

The Board of Directors conducted a thorough search, and we are pleased to welcome Association Management Inc (AMI) and specifically Marie Schmidt as PNCWA’s new managing director.

Marie earned a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science and a master’s degree in Water Resources, both from the University of Idaho. She previously worked as the Outreach Specialist for the Community Water Resource Center at the University of Idaho in Coeur d'Alene for 10 years. Marie has extensive experience organizing community outreach programs, developing K-12 watershed curricula, facilitating lake management stakeholder meetings, managing volunteer water quality monitoring, fostering collaborative partnerships, and instructing stormwater and erosion control workshops. Marie lives in Spokane, WA with her husband, two children and golden retriever, and she’s happiest with her feet in a river. Please join us in welcoming Marie and AMI to our PNCWA family, and feel free to drop them a line at [email protected].

Our mission is to be the premier association in the Pacific Northwest dedicated to educating and connecting members. As we head into our next annual conference in September in Spokane, I’m excited to report that PNCWA is in great shape to accomplish that mission.

As a volunteer-led organization, we’ve had to make some difficult decisions over the last few years (huge shout-out again to Adam McClymont and Haley Falconer for your leadership!). Those decisions have led us to where we are today. PNCWA is currently in one of the strongest financial positions of its existence, and that has enabled us to bring on staff to help manage the day-to-day operations of the organization. We believe PNCWA will be better able to fulfill its mission by shifting operational responsibilities away from volunteer leaders and enabling volunteers to focus on strategic leadership and thinking. It’s a huge step for the organization and for all who are involved in PNCWA. See more below for an introduction to Marie and AMI.

Please join us for a beautiful 5k run/walk along the Spokane riverfront and help us turn the tide of the world’s water crisis by supporting Water For People. Water For People has already helped millions of people across 9 countries gain access to clean water, sanitation solutions, and hygiene education, and they continue to empower local communities and governments to invest in long-term water and sanitation solutions for lasting change. Click here to register. 

After the run, local food trucks will provide lunch for all participants from 12 to 1:30 p.m.

• Event: 5k run/walk
• Date: Sunday, September 11
• Start Time: 11 a.m.
• Starting/Ending Location: Forestry Shelter in Riverfront Park (run/walk will be a 5k loop)
• Entry Fee: $35

Pacific Northwest, summer is upon us! After one of the wettest springs on record, I’m excited for what summer brings — time off with family and loved ones, baseball games, barbecues, and longer days. Summer also brings one of the busiest times in our industry, with construction projects humming along and the consistent need for planning and design improvements and upgrades to our vital infrastructure.

PNCWA is an organization founded on volunteers from within — folks who live and breathe the issues facing our wastewater industry on a daily basis. Each and every board member, committee chair, section leader, and volunteer represents not only us, but you and all of our membership. And that ensures that the education, programming, networking, and advocacy coming from PNCWA meets those challenges we all face head-on.

Register Now!

If it’s been awhile since you’ve stopped by our annual conference site, make sure you do soon! Thanks to our Planning Committee and volunteers, we have several updates to share.