KNDO/KNDU Tri-Cities, Yakima, WA | Kittitas County Set to Receive Water Clean-up Funding

Kittitas County Set to Receive Water Clean-up Funding

ELLENSBURG, Wash--Combine cattle, old septic tanks and water, it's a recipe for pollution.

Cathy Bambrick runs the Kittitas County Health Office.They've  tested the Wilson Creek Basin for years. It's tested positive for high levels of bacteria and caliform or in other words feces.

"Wilson Creek Sub Basin has reached the top of the state list for most contaminated streams," said Bambrick. 

Up until now they've only had enough money to tell people, stay out of the water. But, the state just announced projects to receive a chunk of recovery act funding.

"That essentially doubles the amount of money Washington can share for clean water projects across the state," said Sandy Howard, Washington State Department of Ecology.

Wilson Creek starts north of Ellensburg, flowing through cattle fields and past old farm houses,
running into two sources of pollution animals and humans.

The animals are an obvious source, human contamination can be found underground.

"What we have are some really old septic systems out there some that are older than 1970, which the state regulations have changed greatly since then," said Bambrick.

These septic tanks leak into the ground water and streams. The streams go underground through the city of Ellensburg only to open up at the South end of the city.

Kittitas County Public Health now has $500,000 dollars to fix this problem. They are creating an educational campaign about water pollution. Some money will be used to help homeowners pay for septic upgrades. Public health plans to begin fixing septic tanks by August.