SEPA
Columbia River Basin Restoration Program
Success Stories from the 2020 Grant Projects	RESTORATION PROGRAM
ABOUT THE COLUMBIA
RIVER BASIN RESTORATION
FUNDING ASSISTANCE
PROGRAM
Congress amended the Clean Water
Act in 2016, which required EPA to
establish a Columbia River Basin
Restoration Program. EPA was directed
to develop a voluntary, competitive
grant program for eligible entities to
fund environmental protection and
restoration programs throughout the
Basin. Eligible entities include state,
Tribal, and local governments; regional
water pollution control organizations,
nongovernmental organizations,
and soil and water conservation
districts. Funded work must be for the
purpose of environmental protection
and restoration activities within the
Columbia River Basin; and may include
programs, projects, and studies.
EPA funded 14 projects in the 2020,
inaugural round of grants that address
the following four priorities:
1.	Increase monitoring and access
data from monitoring.
2.	Reduce stormwater and
agricultural runoff.
3.	Reduce toxics through small
scale cleanup of non-CERCLA
(also known as Superfund)
contaminated sites.
4.	Promote citizen engagement,
education, and involvement to
increase pollution prevention
actions.
In September of 2020, EPA was able
to provide the full amount requested
by successful grantees for a total of
$2,053,903 in FY19 and FY20 grant
funding. These are their stories of
progress made to date.
EVALUATING AND PRIORITIZING CONTAMINANTS OF
EMERGING CONCERN IN THE LOWER COLUMBIA RIVER
(OR, WA)
The University of Washington Tacoma (UW-Tacoma) Center for Urban Waters (CUW)
received $76,601 from EPA's inaugural Columbia River Basin Restoration Grant Program.
UW-Tacoma analytical laboratories focus on understanding the presence, fate, and
impacts of anthropogenic contaminants in regional waters. The group collaborates
with federal, state, and regional partners, performing investigations at the intersection
of chemistry and ecotoxicology, and addressing questions around the evaluating
and improving management approaches. The UW-Tacoma laboratories at CUW are
co-located with the City of Tacoma Environmental Services and the UW Puget Sound
Institute, a boundary spanning organization focusing on integrating science and
evaluation into management and policy decision-making processes. Key partners on this
project include the Columbia River Basin Restoration Working Group and the Puget
Sound Ecosystem Monitoring Program.
This goal of this project is to
monitor previously unmonitored
contaminants, known as
Contaminants of Emerging
Concern (CECs) such as
endocrine disruptors, in the
Columbia River to determine
whether they might have the
potential to harm important
species. The sampling area
covers the Portland metro
area to Wauna, OR, as well as
locations in the Willamette River.
This project specifically addresses the grant program Priority 1—Increased monitoring
and access to data.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS TO DATE
All water quality sampling events have been completed. The events took place in
February, March, August, and September 2021. The first two events were meant to
characterize conditions during the wetter winter and spring, while the last two focused
on the dry summer period. Sixteen samples were collected in each event and processed
the following day at the UW-Tacoma laboratories.
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COLUMBIA RIVER BASIN
RESTORATION PROGRAM
"We successfully
completed our
sampling events in
spring and summer
2021 over a large
range of the lower
Columbia river.
They were logistically
challenging events
and were pleased to
have completed them.
We also continue to
engage the Puget
Sound Ecosystem
Monitoring Program
CEC subgroup,
which includes
our EPA Technical
Lead, focusing on
approaches for
prioritizing CECs in
regional waters. This
has been a fruitful
collaboration and
feel that it will bring
value and improved
coordination to
regional water
quality work."
- Andy James, PhD PE,
Center for Urban Waters
Research Laboratories
UWT Project Area
The samples have been run of the LC-QToF
(liquid chromatograph-quadrupole time of
flight) and we are currently starting in on
the data analysis.
WHAT'S NEXT? WHERE DO
THEY GO FROM HERE?
To Learn more, visit the University of Washington Tacoma's Center for Urban Waters
website: https://www.urbanwaters.org/.
Hillsboro
Once the data analysis is complete,
the results will be compared against a
CEC Prioritization Effort that is being
performed under the Puget Sound
Ecosystem Monitoring Program. This
will help determine which CECs might
be biologically relevant. The results will
be communicated through a final report
and regional presentations. Through
these results UW-Tacoma is looking for
information to better understand what CECs might be occurring, and if any of them might
be of concern. UW-Tacoma is focusing on previously unmonitored contaminants such as
endocrine disruptors in the Columbia River.
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