Camas Lake Management Plan
Camas Lake Management Plan
Quick reminder for Tonight's 5:30pm Special City Council Meeting
Hey, it’s Ry.
Reminder: Special City Council Meeting Tonight. 5:30pm @ City Hall.
Tonight we’re talking again about the future of Lacamas Lake. There's a special City Council meeting tonight and, if you can make it, you should be there.
The Stakes? High. 🎯 The Price Tag? 🤔
First off, let's talk numbers. Last Friday the city dropped a 300+ page doc for us to sift through in advance of tonight’s meeting. You can read it in its entirety here.
We’re looking at a 10-year plan with a total budget of $4.1 million to address, which is broken out at $540,000/year for the first five years and $280,000/year for the next five. Nearly 90% of those monies will be used on a chemical treatment.
🔄 New Plan, Same Ideas
If you were paying attention back in 2019-2020, like our friend Marie Callerame and others were, you might experience déjà vu when you look at the plan:
Starting from Spring 2024, chemicals like Alum/Eutrosorb will be used annually to take out phosphorus from the lake.
Educate us—the public—on reducing phosphorus in stormwater.
Work with other stakeholders to deal with pollution further upstream.
🚫 The Missing Pieces
What's not in the plan? A few things
Lacamas Shores Biofilter: Remember when we dug into this a few months ago? Seems to be dumping 3-10x more pollution into lake than Currie Creek. So why is it still not a priority?
State Regulations: Without setting maximum phosphorus levels, are we just spinning our wheels? Treating symptoms rather than root causes?
Nanobubblers: Plan decided not to consider this potentially sustainable solution with no known downsides that could actually give us more bang for our buck over the long haul.
🔮 Looking Ahead
No matter how tonight’s meeting goes, assuming this plan will stay in draft mode until the city gets the full data from the Department of Ecology's two-year study.
We’ll also expect all stakeholders (from Clark County to the Watershed Alliance) to be aligned with the plan so that we have a holistic, transparent way forward.
📣 Your Voice Matters
Look, this is about cleaning up a dirty, dying lake. But it’s also more than that. It's about the kind of community we want to be. The legacy we’ll leave for our kids.
Do we settle for short-term fixes or incomplete solutions? Or do we insist on openness, digging in to address root causes, and holding our leaders accountable?
It’s up to you. You can read this. You can share it. And you can act on it by being there tonight at 5:30pm. If you have a question or POV, make your voice heard.
❤️Ry
PS: See you at the game tomorrow night. We’ll be waving flags at the crosswalk across from Doc Harris around 6pm if you wanna tailgate with us! 🤠🏈
And don’t forget that we’re hanging at Crown Park pavilion this Saturday at 11am. I hear some neighbors are bringing some special baked goods in addition to our coffee + donuts (RSVP on NextDoor or Here).
See you there!