[Water_news] 4. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS: WATER QUALITY - 8/27/08

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment

 

August 27, 2008

 

4. Water Quality –

 

 

 

Stuff in Sacramento River is algae, not human waste

Chico Enterprise Record- 8/27/08

By BARBARA ARRIGONI, Staff Writer

HAMILTON CITY -- Like some kind of April Fool's joke in August, nature had the last laugh with Glenn County and state officials who momentarily worried Tuesday that the stuff floating down the Sacramento River might be human waste — at least two miles of it.

 

Though it turned out to be a form of algae that State Park Ranger Tim Davis said indeed does look like feces. Officials initially took the call as a health hazard, accentuated by the annual Labor Day float is just days away.

 

Still, for all the worry, the situation also elicited a round of chuckles and puns from more than one person before the reality was clarified.

 

As Davis recounted, it all began around 2 p.m. when a fisherman reported seeing a "clumpy brown material" that looked like waste in the water near the boat ramp at Irvine Finch River Access, south of the Highway 32 Sacramento River bridge.

 

The fisherman — who is a river guide — also reported what appeared to be toilet paper, was stuck to and dried on the bottom of his boat.

 

Though Davis said he was fairly certain the stuff was not human waste, he gingerly went ahead and physically checked the clumps out, just to be sure.

 

"It felt like algae, but it certainly looks like the material it was thought to be," Davis said with a hint of laughter in his voice.

 

He said there is no smell to the algae and added, when it dries, the algae does resemble toilet paper.

 

Meanwhile, the substance did more than wash downriver: it rippled from agency to agency as the fisherman's report was routed via a state park ranger to Glenn County Sheriff's Office.

 

Taking seriously the threat of a big "effluent" spill and toilet paper fouling the public waterway, the Sheriff's Office in turn notified county health officials and the state Department of Fish and Game, said sheriff's Lt. Phil Revolinsky.

 

There was even concern about the potential of closing the river, but Revolinsky said that would have ultimately been up to the Fish and Game authorities.

 

As an immediate precaution, the boat ramp at Irvine Finch River Access was closed for nearly an hour until officials could positively identify the substance.

 

Davis said the algae bloom was seen floating in "islands" north of the bridge and stretching at least two miles downriver from the boat ramp.

 

Glenn County Health Services Director Scott Gruendl said later Tuesday that Environmental Health specialist Kevin Backus went to the river and confirmed the suspect material was an algae bloom.

 

Gruendl said its commonly found in the river.

 

"It's the right time of year," he said.

 

Before hearing from Backus, Gruendl also acted on the possible presence of raw sewage by calling the Regional Water Quality Control Board.

 

He said the largest sewage source anyone could think of that could cause a spill into t he river would be the city of Corning. He also said he and others thought perhaps someone was dumping waste in the river.

 

There was also a health concern about sending any personnel out onto the river to check the situation, he added.

 

Gruendl said he was relieved when it turned out to be algae bloom because the first question raised by the Regional Water Quality Control Board was how the substance would be "captured and removed" from the river. That would have taken equipment Glenn County doesn't have.

 

"It would have been a monumental task," Gruendl said.

 

While it turned out to be a false alarm, the incident activated several local and state agencies, with sheriff's deputies and volunteers from Hamilton City Fire Department among the county and health officials.

 

"It was good practice," Davis said.

 

Davis added that people who go out on the river shouldn't be alarmed if they see the ugly looking stuff in the days ahead.

 

"It is algae — even though it doesn't look like it," he said.#

http://www.chicoer.com/news/ci_10313859?source=rv