2011 Conference
The North American Lake Management Society (NALMS) and the Washington State Lake Protection Association (WALPA) teamed up on the NALMS 31st International Symposium in Spokane Washington on October 26-28, 2011. It had been nearly 20 years since NALMS came to the Northwest, and the Convention Center, on the banks of the Spokane River, offered the perfect venue. The symposium presented a variety of educational and technical information on the theme of Diverse and Sustainable Lake Management.
Welcoming NALMS to Spokane was Andy Billig, State Representative for Washington’s Third District in the heart of Spokane. Representative Billig discussed his efforts as the prime sponsor of HB 1489, a bill that eliminated unnecessary phosphorous in lawn fertilizer, reducing toxic algae blooms and making waterways across the state, including the Spokane River, safer for people, wildlife, and pets. Dr. John Stockner, of Eco-Logic Ltd. and the University of British Columbia Fisheries Centre, kicked off the conference with a plenary talk on how lakes react to nutrient imbalances caused by both excesses and losses of needed nutrients. Over two days, participants chose from dozens of presentations on lake issues from cyanobacteria to noxious weeds to aeration and modeling. Four concurrent sessions full of impressive talks and information from around North America ran throughout both days of the conference.
Apart from the formal program, networking opportunities allowed people from the scientific, environmental, recreational, residential, government and other communities to compare notes on important water management issues. At a Wednesday night reception sponsored by Hach Hydromet, attendees socialized while checking out the impressive poster sessions from students and colleagues around North America. On Thursday, the NALMS annual banquet featured the McManus Comedies starring Tim Behrens and based on the writing of humorist Patrick F. McManus, whose stories describe his life growing up in Idaho and eastern Washington.
With 480 attendees, the symposium was a huge success, but would not have been possible without the generous support of our sponsors. These included: the US Army Corps of Engineers, Aquarius Systems, Avista, Freese and Nichols, Golder Associates, HAB Aquatic Solutions, Hach Hydromet, Herrera, Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, Liberty Lake Sewer and Water District, PhycoTech, Princeton Hydro, Smith Root, Spokane County Utilities, Spokane River Stewardship Partners, Spokane Riverkeeper, Sweetwater Technologies, Tennessee Valley Authority, Washington Department of Ecology – Shorelands & Environmental Assistance Program and Washington Department of Ecology – Water Quality Program.
Both members and board members of WALPA were instrumental to the success of the event as they served on the Local Host Committee, putting together an impressive list of talks and presentations, recruiting wonderful sponsors and keeping the symposium fun. At the annual business meeting during Friday’s lunch, WALPA board members discussed possible changes to the aquatic weed permit fee and to WALPA’s membership structure (stay tuned), congratulated retiring board members, welcomed new board members, and reviewed changes to the website and Waterline. Plenty of discussion ensued and the incoming board has a full slate of issues to contemplate at its next meeting.
Thanks to everyone who made the NALMS 31st International Symposium such a success!
2010 Conference
Annual conference in Tacoma spotlights low impact development and stormwater management
On September 9th and 10th, WALPA members from across the state converged on the University of Washington’s Tacoma campus to learn about lake and watershed studies around Washington. Curtis Hinman, an Associate Professor with Washington State University Extension, and Affiliate Faculty with WSU Department of Natural Resource Sciences, kicked off this 23rd conference with a fantastic plenary talk about low-impact techniques used around the state. This set the tone for the following session on Low Impact Development, which showcased an excellent mix of techniques that address the needs of development both west and east of the Cascades.
Other highlights from the first day included an aquatic plant session that was highly popular thanks to the great talks and the continuing education credits offered for pesticide license holders who attended. Another first-day session covered short and long-term monitoring projects, including one in Spokane County that uses snowmobiles to collect samples through the winter. Speaking of long-term, the first day also included reports on the Centennial Grant Projects.
At the WALPA business meeting, the board discussed everything from retiring board members to legislation. No votes were needed, so members aired a video about the City of Spokane to entice WALPA and NALMS colleagues to next fall’s NALMS conference slated for Spokane.
The first day wrapped up with a terrific no-host social at the Harmon Brewery right next to campus. WALPA members filled the back tables to discuss the day’s presentations and catch up with colleagues from across the state. Many of the WALPA student attendees and speakers gathered at one table and it was networking in action! The comfortable atmosphere made the evening seem more like a gathering of old friends than a formal “icebreaker” event.
The second morning was filled with concurrent presentations – more on aquatic weeds and, in keeping with the conference theme, a stormwater session. The last talks were dedicated to cyanobacteria — always of interest to conference attendees. This session featured a talk by the Seattle citizens’ group Friends of Green Lake, who reported on their recent study of cyanobacteria. Gene Williams and Marisa Burghdoff shared new data and procedures, especially their use of a phycocyanin meter to try and predict blue-green algae blooms.
The conference concluded with a field trip organized by Chris Burke of the City of Tacoma and Jim Gawel of the University of Washington, Tacoma. The tour took WALPA members around the city to look at stormwater management techniques and LID projects – both in progress and complete. Jim also took the group to Lake Wapato in the heart of the city and discussed the challenges of managing an urban lake.
The caliber of the presentations, the delightful social and the informative tour made this WALPA conference one of our best. WALPA sends thanks to our sponsors who support our mission and help us grow, and especially to all the speakers who gave their time to participate in the conference.
2010 Premier conference sponsors include:
- Hach Hydromet – Hydrolab & OTT Products
- Washington Department of Ecology
- Electronic Data Solutions
- Landau Associates
- Enviroscience
2009 Conference
Spokane Conference a Success!
On September 22nd and 23rd WALPA members gathered at the Doubletree Hotel in Spokane to catch up with the goings of colleagues and fellow members and to hear speakers on a variety of topics. Citizens, tribal staff, consultants, lake association members and government officials—more than 110 people altogether—attended the annual conference, this year called “Healthy Watersheds and Clean Lakes-Working for a Sustainable Future”.
2008-2009 WALPA President Jonathan Frodge kicked off the event with a welcome and a call to action for WALPA members to be more engaged. Ideas included leading an effort to reinstate a statewide lakes program and working on lawn fertilizer legislation to keep lakes clean. Andy Dunau, from The Spokane River Forum followed up on Jonathan’s suggestions with a tough love pep talk that spoke to the need of implementing actions to follow the research. Also included in the opening session was exciting news from NALMS President Harry Gibbons confirming that the 2011 NALMS International Symposium will be held in Spokane! We look forward to this exciting event, as it proves to be one for the ages.
At Tuesday’s lunch, Glen Rothrock from Idaho Department of Environmental Quality and Dale Chess from the Coeur d’Alene Tribe spoke about the Coeur d’Alene Lake Management Plan and the multi-faceted approach needed for such a large undertaking. The history of the Coeur d’Alene basin, with a once thriving mining and timber industry leaving a legacy of nutrients and minerals throughout the waterways, truly left the mark that our lakes are indeed often the repositories of what goes on in the watershed. Dale Chess also spoke of a new model developed for the LMP which is designed to improve the understanding of the entire lake ecosystem as well assist in predicting water quality trends as management strategies are implemented.
Other sessions at the Spokane conference covered topics from community and volunteer work to aquatic invasive species to toxic cyanobacteria. Members also gathered for cocktails, snacks and networking Tuesday night and for a business meeting at Wednesday’s lunch. At the business meeting new board members were selected, WALPA’s public relations work on the Dish Detergent Phosphorus Ban was discussed, and any unanswered questions were satisfied.
Eight vendors sponsored this year’s conference including Hach Hydromet, Earth Friendly Products, Clean Lakes LLC, AquaTechnex, , Aquatic Environments Inc., Northwest Aquatic Management, LLC, Electronic Data Solutions, Cygnet Enterprises NW Inc. , and Lakeland Restoration. We also received sponsorship from Washington Department of Ecology. These generous sponsors helped make the 22nd annual conference a great success – thank you!
We are still working in the initial stages of planning for next year’s conference, but rumor has it we will be heading to the west side of the state for WALPA 2010. Stay tuned and make space on your fall calendar now!
2009 Premier conference sponsors include:
- Hach Hydromet – Hydrolab & OTT Products
- Earth Friendly Products
- Washington Department of Ecology
- Cygnet Enterprises
- Electronic Data Solutions
2008 Conference
WALPA 2008 Conference – Where rubber meets the road
Peter Goldmark, candidate for Lands Commissioner, kicked off the 2008 WALPA conference on September 30th. During his plenary speech, he tackled some very difficult questions that are concerns to lake managers and residents, like who is responsible for land at the bottom of lakes and how logging has been handled in past contributed to major floods. It was a great speaker for a year that is full of elections and political activity, even here within WALPA.
On the science side of things the first morning, members earned pesticide license recertification credits attending sessions learning about aquatic plant management issues and emerging aquatic plants, such as phragmites and milfoils (and its hybrids) susceptibility to herbicide. Lake Modeling and Data was also a popular session that ranged from TMDL modeling to eutrophication models. It was an opportunity for WALPA members to learn what strides have been made in lake science and what challenges face them as they try to protect and restore this valuable resource.
There were well attended sessions that focused on new/student work and community activism. Conference attendees were treated to learning how 2007 WALPA scholarship winner, Kelly Turner spent her summer in the North Cascade alpine lakes studying benthic macroinvertebrates for her master’s thesis at Western Washington University. WALPA members truly enjoyed hearing about student projects and meeting with the scholarship winners. We also had the pleasure of having citizens who are directly involved with the management of their lakes come and speak to us about how a community can organize to face some to the more challenging management issues. Some of the lakes are facing issues of noxious aquatic weeds and how the community has come together to survey, manage, and educate about the issues. Another lake community, Crystal Lake in Snohomish County, is using money generated by community timber harvest revenues to monitor the water quality and survey their lake.
The second day was filled with lake monitoring updates, toxicity in lakes and lake management issues. Lunch on the second day introduced the new WALPA board members and officers and included a short but productive business issues. Arlen Harris, the WALPA lobbyist, came and talked to the group about WALPA’s work down in Olympia. WALPA is very involved in passing two bills in this legislative session – one that is banning the use of phosphorus in residential fertilizers and the other asking the state to do a study that assess the needs of a state run lakes program. Both of these bills were introduced last year in 2007 and will be reintroduced in 2008. He talked about the importance of contacting your legislators and staying on top of the issues so that WALPA can pass these two very important bills (for more information go to www.walpa.org/legislation).
The conference closed with a bang. The room was packed, yet again, for blue-green algae talks. Kathy Hamel, of DOE, gave a talk about the state blue-green algae monitoring program and its successes in 2008 while Joan Hardy, of DOH, gave a talk on the recreational standards set by the state for algal toxins. Both Neil Harrington, form Jefferson County, and Ray Hanowell, Pierce County, gave talks on how toxic blue-green algae’s have affected their area lakes and what they are doing to manage it. This was the final wrap-up session to an exciting and very informative conference.
Jacob McCann, of Spokane County, is WALPAs president-elect and conference planner. According to the leaked planning details, the 2009 conference will be on the east side this next year, most likely in the Spokane area. Stay tuned and we hope to see everyone in 2009!
2008 Premier conference sponsors include:
2007 Conference
On October 18th and 19th WALPA members gathered at Campbell’s Resort in Lake Chelan to celebrate twenty years as an organization and to hear speakers on a variety of topics. Citizens, tribal staff, consultants, lake association members and government officials—more than 90 people altogether—attended the annual conference, this year called “Lakes – Bringing Science and Communities Together”.
Jonathan Frodge from King County kicked off the plenary session suggesting directions WALPA could take as we head into our next 20 years. Ideas included leading an effort to reinstate a statewide lakes program and working on lawn fertilizer legislation to keep lakes clean. Senator Ken Jacobsen followed up on Jonathan’s suggestions with a presentation about developing meaningful and successful legislation.
At Thursday’s lunch, Bill Jarocki from the Boise State Environmental Finance Center spoke on “Saving Time and Finding Money to Achieve Results: A Watershed Approach.” The talk focused on work his team has been doing to help people fund environmental enhancement and protection projects. Tools available include a searchable database of financial resources for watershed restoration in Washington and other states, a planning tool to help estimate project costs and a program that allows users to implement a long term financial strategy to meet strategic goals.
Other sessions at the Chelan conference covered topics from community and volunteer work to new legislation updating the state Shoreline Master Program to the ever-popular blue-green algae.
Members also gathered for cocktails and networking Thursday night and for a business meeting at Friday’s lunch. At the business meeting members selected new board members, met the new presidents, and asked general questions of the board and other members.
Ten vendors sponsored this year’s conference including Hach Environmental, Clean Lake LLC, AquaTechnex, TG-Eco-Logic, Aquatic Environments Inc., Northwest Aquatic Management, LLC, Electronic Data Solutions, Solar Bee and Cygnet Enterprises NW Inc. These generous sponsors helped make this year’s 20th anniversary conference a great success – thank you!
Next year’s conference is still coming together, but will be on the west side of the state in the fall Stay tuned and make space on your fall calendar now!
2007 Premier conference sponsors include:
Hach Environmental
Clean Lakes, Inc.
Aquatechnex
Washington Department of Ecology
2006 Conference
The Washington State Lake Protection Association (WALPA) and the Oregon Lakes Association (OLA) held a regional conference with support of the North American Lake Management Society and the Portland State University Center for Lakes and Reservoirs. The Pacific Northwest Regional Conference was held at Portland State University in Portland, Oregon on September 13th and 14th, 2006. This regional conference offered a unique opportunity to learn the concerns and challenges experienced by other Pacific Northwest states while forging connections among lake and resource managers, researchers, and citizens.
2005 Conference
WALPA’s 18th annual conference was held at the Mirabeau Park Hotel in Spokane, Washington, from March 30 – April 1, 2005. The conference theme was Lake Stewardship in the Pacific Northwest.
2005 Conference wrap-up (as part of the June 2005 issue of Waterline)
2004 Conference
WALPA’s 17th annual conference was held at the Lakeway Inn in Bellingham, Washington, from March 31-April 2, 2004. The conference theme was Lakes Solutions for the 21st Century.
2003 Conference
WALPA’s 16th annual conference was held at Campbell’s Resort in Chelan Washington from April 2–4, 2003. The conference theme was Lakeside Livingand the conference included two full days (Thursday and Friday) of concurrent sessions that followed two tracks of interest.
2003 Preliminary Program and registration form
2002 Conference
WALPA’s 15th annual conference on lakes, reservoirs, and watersheds was held in Olympia at the WestCoast Olympia Hotel on April 3 – 6, 2002. The conference was very successful, thanks to the efforts of many.
2001 Conference
WALPA’s 14th annual conference was held in Spokane, Washington from April 4 through 7, 2001. The conference theme was Lakes, Reservoirs, and Watersheds with a Special Focus on Federal Initiatives.