Will Protecting the Oregon Spotted Frog Protect our Water Supply?

I don’t know but its worth finding out.

Pavement, warehouses, roads and new housing. All create ‘polluted’ runoff. The Clean Water Act was established to protect our water. And in order to get a permit to build, one must get a suite of permits, one of which is a permit from Ecology to comply with the Clean Water Act. The State Dept of Ecology has developed thousands of pages of guidance for clean water. But what if that guidance causes harm to a listed species?

In my work to protect the Oregon spotted frog (OSF), I have discovered that improvements are needed in the local stormwater manual, (that is to be consistent with the Ecology manual), which triggered an appeal to the Pollution Control Hearings Board. The appeal stems from the issuance of a stormwater permit from the Department of Ecology to a developer for a housing project consisting of 28 houses on 19.5 acres inside Tumwater’s Urban Growth Area (UGA). The measures to “clean stormwater” may also be the same measures that cause problems for a listed species. Rational minds would think this would call for extra review by the experts at Ecology in site-specific locations, not “No review.”

Because it is a new construction site, Ecology may not have even reviewed the permit materials, but the developer generally abided by most of the current rules. The stormwater permit itself, however, is the proximal cause of the start of construction of a single family residential development across a 2-lane road in a high groundwater area across from designated critical habitat for the OSF, a federally listed species.

As a requirement for obtaining coverage under the permit, builders must eventually develop a Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) that includes installation of stormwater detention basins to treat water before discharging it to a wetland. The stormwater pond can become an ecological trap that attracts OSF to an area that does not provide shallow water for a long time, a condition for the frog’s sustainable habitat. A prolonged shallow hydroperiod also insures infiltration of water into the ground in late summer and protects the OSF. Does a prolonged hydroperiod allow water to infiltrate to our wells? That may be important for future water supplies.

The Stormwater manual just needs improvement to protect threatened species

What is odd is the measures required to “protect water quality,” may, in turn, literally cause “take” of a listed species. Especially if some activities are not done to prevent harm to the creature. For instance, it allows a developer to “improve downstream conveyances” such as drainage ditches if the stormwater ponds are not large enough to handle large rain and snow events. Elsewhere in the County, this type of “improvement” meant dredging ditches which in turn caused the loss of more than 8 beaver dams, important for the continued survival and recovery of one of our largest populations of spotted frogs, and for a high water table that recharges our aquifer.

And here in the marsh downstream from the area of my appeal, perhaps with the intention to prevent problems caused by stormwater infiltration from the additional impervious surfaces of the development, the State Department of Fish and Wildlife authorized pond levelers which can effectively lower a marsh by 2 feet, possibly draining the area the frog lays eggs in or needs for other life stages. Can we find out whether this draining also affects our well water supplies?

I have visited most of the known occupied marshes in or adjoining Tumwater. This marsh is the last of four in or near Tumwater that at least at some time hosted this listed species. One marsh is threatened by runoff from impervious surfaces and the subsequent need for dredging. The frogs in the other three marshes are also threatened by runoff from impervious surfaces and the subsequent perceived need for dredging. More pertinent to human needs is the fact that many of these frog habitats occur in aquifer recharge areas which replenish our water supply.

Now, here we are lowering the water in the last marsh habitat that I know of. As homes encroach on these ancient landscapes, our frog species composition will change from rare listed species to common bullfrogs and tree frogs. Also, as homes encroach on these ancient landscapes that had late season standing water which slowly soaked into the ground replenishing aquifers, we may influence our well water underground.

In the early 1970’s a Republican president signed the Endangered Species Act (ESA) recognizing that the natural heritage of the United States was of aesthetic, ecological, educational, recreational and scientific value to our nation and its people. Without protection, our nation’s native plants and animals will become extinct. The same president signed the Clean Water Act. They can act in concert as required by the Administrative Procedures Act. We need these two Acts to work in harmony and not be out of tune.

What can Ecology do to prevent “take” and protect endangered species

At present, the Department of Ecology offers limited to no guidance for stormwater permits to avoid “take” of a federally listed endangered or threatened species under the ESA in site-specific areas. I am in the process of asking Ecology to urgently develop guidance that protects endangered species and leaves room to update that guidance as the best available science becomes available.

1. Clearly, Ecology should actually review construction permits and their associated hydrologic analysis in site specific situations that drain to areas with listed species or aquifer recharge areas.
2. Ensure the effective dispersal of stormwater by requiring ample stormwater systems large enough to prevent the need to improve offsite ‘conveyances’ even during extreme events like severe drought or rain on snow events.
3. Require conditions to prevent the entrapment of wildlife in stormwater detention facilities.
4. Avoid creating bullfrog ponds near spotted frogs to protect the OSF from predator bullfrogs.

I am an advocate for wild things, but not a lawyer. I welcome the input of anyone or any group with legal experience to review a draft “brief” for the Pollution Control Hearings Board to protect this state endangered and federally threatened species. Email me at froghabitat@gmail.com.

Bonnie Blessing enjoys the aesthetic, ecological, educational, recreational and scientific value of our natural heritage.