by Wafa Tafesh, new WALPA President
WALPA’s 38th annual conference in Moses Lake, Scabland Lakes of Eastern Washington, was a major success! Huge thanks to sponsors, exhibitors, speakers, attendees, hotel staff, and all volunteers. Conference attendees included lake association members, researchers, students, teachers, local citizens, consultants, government staff, and others. The conference brought nearly 80 folks together to learn and share ideas.
The conference started on October 8th and opened with keynote speaker Chad Pritchard of Eastern Washington University. Dr. Pritchard set the stage, speaking about the unique lakes formed by the catastrophic Ice Age megafloods. Attendees were hooked. Talks that followed included presentations on Moses Lake’s water quality history and macroinvertebrate analysis of mountain lakes.
Author Matthew Sullivan, gives a reading from his novel, Midnight in Soap Lake.
In a first for a WALPA conference, we next heard from author Matthew Sullivan, who gave a reading from his novel, Midnight in Soap Lake. He was followed by speaker Leo Bodensteiner, who explained the unique properties of Soap Lake. This session set the scene for the conference’s Friday field trip, leaving us all excited to learn more about the town and lake.
The first night of the conference brought our annual poster session, raffle, and silent auction. There was something for everyone this year with all the donations. From art pieces (made by Anna, Ty, Darren, and Jeremy of our very own board) to sampling gear and equipment, folks had a lot to bid on or buy a raffle ticket for. Overall, we raised $6,790 for our organization. This will help us fully fund student scholarships next year!
This conference saw another WALPA first – an online auction – which opened in September and closed Thursday during the conference. Anyone could bid on two state-of-the-art water quality instruments for lake and river monitoring. Both items were sold to lake monitoring groups who were able to look at the instruments and talk with the vendor at our Thursday evening workshop. With this success, watch for future live auctions!
Day two of the conference started early and was packed full of presentations. We heard about management of HABs, invasive species, and diverse strategies for lakes. We all learned something new, sparking plenty of discussion. You can see the presentation abstracts and a list of talks and presenters HERE .
Bradley Roth with Aquatechnex accepted the Secchi Disk award on behalf of winner, Terry McNabb.
At the business meeting, we awarded this year’s Secchi Disk award to Terry McNabb. Terry was unable to attend the conference; Bradley Roth with Aquatechnex accepted the award on his behalf. See the dedicated Waterline article highlighting the nomination.
Later at the business meeting, we spent time remembering Sally Abella, who recently passed away. Sally was a limnologist who worked with King County, breaking trail with the Lake Stewardship Monitoring Program. Sally worked closely with WALPA, serving on the board in 2002-2004, 2009-2011, and in 2018. Sally was WALPA president 2004-2007 and 2018-2021. To honor her many contributions to the lake community, Sally was the Secchi Disk award winner in 2015. The WALPA community mourns the loss of a leader in the science community. Our thoughts are with the Abella family.
Lastly, we heard from the 2025 WALPA board about all that was accomplished this past year. The board has been working hard. Highlights include:
- The organization’s management was moved to Google Workspace for Nonprofits
- Membership dues were revised
- The Legislative Committee is working to advocate for additional lake funding
- Working with existing Lake Management Districts, local and state agencies to identify revisions to RCW 36.61 Lake Management Districts
- Supporting review of new Aquatic Plant and Algae Management Permit draft
- Working with WA DNR to expedite “authority” for treatment of state-owned bedlands
- Tracking bills in the Washington State legislature
- Reduced Waterline frequency and created an e-newsletter, The Ripple
- Reinvigorated social media presence and engagement; added Instagram
- New WALPA logo thanks to Johna Walls!
- Letters to federal representatives from Washington defending strong federal science
- The 2025 Western WA Workshop, Waves to Engage, was well attended and led to a new lake resources page
- Hosted an early career panel in April with representatives from state, federal, and county governments and the private sector
- Updated students and early career resources webpage
- The early career mentorship program continued!
Thursday afternoon ended with a multimeter operation workshop hosted by In-Situ and YSI. Attendees were encouraged to bring their instruments and/or come ready to learn about the latest models and features of water quality instruments. The winners of our online auction were able to hear from In-Situ and YSI directly about their newly acquired equipment!
After the workshops, Shawn Ultican, with the Washington State Department of Ecology, led a discussion to elicit feedback on the proposed changes to the Aquatic Plant and Algae Management Permit.
The night ended with a happy hour gathering at Moore Brewing in Moses Lake.
Conference attendees on a field trip to Soap Lake and Dry Falls
With attendees eager to get out and touch grass lake, the conference concluded with a bang on Friday with a field trip to Soap Lake and Dry Falls. The group first met with the Soap Lake Conservancy to talk about the history of the lake and conservation efforts, before heading down to the shoreline to experience the medicinal lake in person.
Then we rode on up through the scablands to the Dry Falls Visitor Center in Sun Lakes State Park. We met with parks staff who shared a presentation on the Dry Falls story. We took in the view and explored the gift shop.
At this point we all parted ways, with the field trip itinerary offering additional options to visit Deep Lake, Lake Lenore Caves, Blue Lake, Banks Lake, and the Grand Coulee Dam.
Thank you to all attendees, speakers, volunteers, and Best Western staff for making this conference one to remember!
If you have any feedback to share, feel free to reach out to your new WALPA President, Wafa Tafesh at wafa@walpa.org.
