Celebrating Key Watershed Plans in Spokane and Okanogan Basins

January 2021 launched great news for watersheds across Washington state – but first, let’s recap.

The $300 Million Watershed Law

In 2018, following water rights uncertainty that held up a $4 Billion budget in Washington State, the state passed the $300 Million Streamflow Restoration Act. The prime target was unlocking more water in a way that benefits habitat, communities, and agriculture and allows thoughtful development plans to proceed. Fast forward to 2021 and counties and basins across the state are seeing the outcomes of that law – most directly 6 out of 15 basins have updated watershed plans to date.

Status of Streamflow Restoration Grants and Planning Process
Source: Washington State Department of Ecology

Key Takeaways of Streamflow Restoration Act Results (So Far)

  1. Permit-exempt well impacts on instream flows and water right holders will be completely offset for the next 20 years.

  2. Local watershed partners have once again demonstrated they can collaborate on local solutions to water supply challenges.

  3. The plan adoption paves the way for shovel-ready projects to be implemented to benefit streamflow.

In three of those basins – Little Spokane (WRIA 55), Okanogan (WRIA 49), and Chehalis (WRIA 22 and 23) – there has been real progress on planning for the future water needs of the region. Aspect has worked for years on two of these (Little Spokane and Okanogan) and is excited to see the positive outcomes so far.

Little Spokane Watershed (WRIA 55) Plan Update

Headwaters of the Little Spokane River, near Newport, WA

Aspect has worked with Spokane County over the last several years to support watershed planning and management, including the development of watershed restoration projects. On January 28, 2021, Ecology adopted the updated Little Spokane Watershed Management Plan. This will mean:

  • Spokane County is in the process of completely offsetting permit-exempt well impacts and developing streamflow improvement projects totaling 4,085 acre-feet, including:

    • Purchasing water rights as mitigation

    • Building a Managed Aquifer Recharge project

    • Studying approaches for increasing storage in Eloika Lake to improve summer streamflows, combined with wetland and habitat enhancement

Okanogan Watershed (WRIA 49) Plan Update

Okanogan River
Source: US Forest Service

Aspect has worked for years with Okanogan entities like Oroville-Tonasket Irrigation District (OTID) and others to lead up to this watershed planning update. This will mean:

  • The lead Okanogan watershed planning group -- WRIA 49 Planning Unit -- developed a two-tier list of projects to be adaptively managed to provide both consumptive use water offset and achieve Net Ecological Benefit in a manner consistent with the strong agricultural values of the community.

  • Two projects – Antoine Valley Ranch and Methow Beaver Project’s Restoring Streamflow after Wildfire in Okanogan and Methow River Subbasins – have been funded by Ecology and will be the first projects implemented following the adoption of the plan.

A Year in Photos

Aspect is lucky to have amazingly talented photographers – who also just happen to be amazingly talented scientists and engineers as well. Our marketing team received over 1,100 photos this year (continuing a photo culture that has seen over 2,000+ photos submitted in the last 2+ years alone). Though there were many exceptional ones, we have gathered 10 that best represent our 2020.

Know Your Water Rights Math: Annual Consumptive Quantity 101

Kittitas North Branch Canal.JPG

The Washington State water code is daunting. The network of rules and regulations is complex: Washington Administrative Codes. Revised Code of Washington. Hundreds of court cases. Ecology administrative policies. It can be difficult to navigate. 

In this mix is a key concept: ‘Annual Consumptive Quantity’ or ‘ACQ.’ Originating in 1997, ACQ is a specialized analysis that is triggered whenever a water right is changed to expand its authorized irrigated acreage or add a purpose of use (while retaining its current purpose of use).  

The ACQ process can have big implications on the outcome of a water right change – especially if the water right falls into one of the special exceptions that disqualify it from ACQ.  

Taylor Dayton, Aspect engineer and member of the Chelan County Conservancy Board, recently gave a presentation on what Annual Consumptive Quantity is, how to apply it, and possible alternative approaches to changing the attributes of a water right in water rights permitting projects. 

See a video of her presentation below:

Contact Taylor to learn more.

Meet Katie Sultani-Wright and Scott Mortensen

Aspect recently welcomed Katie Sultani-Wright and Scott Mortensen to our Seattle office. Here are Five Questions we asked to get to know them better…

Katie Sultani-Wright, Practice Coordinator

First camping trip with the five of us at Birch Bay, near Bellingham

  1. Where are you from? If you’re not from the Pacific Northwest, what brought you here?

    I was born in Washington, DC, and have been making my way west ever since.  I’ve lived in DC, Maryland, Colorado, Michigan, Alaska, and Washington State.  I came to Seattle for a job after college.  Graduating as a naval architect/ocean engineer, being near water was, well, a requirement.  I currently live in West Seattle.   

  2. What inspired you to pursue project management? What made you curious about it?

    I don’t know that I pursued project management, I think it’s more like project management pursued me!  Being a consulting engineer, effective project management is a critical skill and a huge part of good client service.  For me, Operations is a natural extension of project management — there are even more moving pieces and the work is never done.  I like that I get to work hard and there is always something to learn. 

  3. What do you like best about your area of expertise? What excites you and keeps you motivated?

    I like the fact that I get to support others!  I love being a part of systems and processes that enable my colleagues to do their best work.  I am motivated by continuous improvement.  How can we challenge ourselves to do better?  Let’s do it!

  4.  What do you like to do when you aren’t working?

    I like to spend time with my spouse (Jon) and our three children.  I like to read books — business, sci-fi, fantasy, survival/disaster.  I like puzzles, especially crosswords and jigsaw.  I like to be outside.  My kids and I have fun playing Nintendo games together.  Music is what brought Jon and I together, so we enjoy going to shows on the off chance that we find someone willing to take care of our kids for an evening.

  5.  What five people would be your dream dinner party guests?

     ABBA!  And I suppose I’d invite Jon, too.  

Scott Mortensen, Staff GIS Analyst

Hiking in California

Hiking in California

  1. Where are you from? If you’re not from the Pacific Northwest, what brought you here?

    I am from the PNW but a little more NW than Seattle; I’m from Anchorage, AK. After more than a decade of moving around as a young adult, I suppose I felt drawn to reconnect with my PNW roots and be closer to family.

  2. What inspired you to pursue GIS? What made you curious about it?

    GIS was something I was first exposed to while surveying gravity-fed aqueduct systems as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Panama. I was drawn to the technical skill and the practical application of data management, manipulation, and visualization as a tool for decision-making and communication.

  3.  What do you like best about your area of expertise? What excites you and keeps you motivated?

    I like the combination of fieldwork + office work and the balance of the analytical left brain + creative right brain. GIS seems to always be evolving so there’s never a dearth of things to learn.

  4. What do you like to do when you aren’t working?

    Relationships are the most important thing to me and I highly value having an active lifestyle, so I spend a good deal of my free time combining those things: spending time with friends and family backpacking, cycling, working on house projects, and cooking. I like to read and am learning to play the harmonica.

  5.  If you were given $50,000 to donate to any cause what cause would you choose?

    Increasing access to high-quality education is the cause that I would most like to dedicate resources towards.

Aspect Welcomes Hydrogeologist Jay Pietraszek to Water Resources Team

Senior Hydrogeologist Jay Pietraszek joins Aspect’s Pacific Northwest-leading water resources team. Jay is a hydrogeologist with over 15 years of experience focusing on process-based assessments of water quality and water quantity for water supply, resource evaluations, and water management planning for commercial and industrial projects. He is based in Seattle, supporting Aspect’s Puget Sound clients as well as expanding Aspect’s water supply services throughout the Pacific Northwest.  

Jay Pietraszek, LHG

Jay Pietraszek, LHG

“As a firm founded by hydrogeologists, Jay’s background and expertise are an ideal match with Aspect’s water resources client base,” said Dan Haller, Principal Engineer for Aspect’s Water Resources Practice. “We’re excited to continue to build Aspect’s water resources team to be one of the strongest in the entire Pacific Northwest.”

Jay has performed extensive hydrogeologic analyses including site characterizations, water quality source assessments, evaluation of surface-groundwater interactions, pumping test analyses, well installations in complex hydrogeologic systems, production well design, and dewatering assessments for public agency, tribal, and mining clients. Pairing with his deep scientific know-how is Jay’s ability to translate complex ideas into clear communication and engage with regulatory and permitting bodies to move projects towards milestone goals.

“I’m excited to join the Aspect team and have the opportunity to work and collaborate with such a talented group of consultants,” said Jay.  “Aspect is one of the premier hydrogeologic consultancies in the region, with an excellent reputation for developing innovative and practical approaches to solve complex water resource challenges. I’m confident that Aspect’s core values and brand will provide a foundation for future success and opportunities, particularly as the demand for water resource-related services continues to grow.”

PFAS: An Emerging Contaminant for Brownfield Sites

Source: https://www.defence.gov.au/Environment/pfas/PFAS.asp

PFAS may seem like an obscure scientific acronym, but we encounter these chemical compounds—dubbed “forever chemicals”—in our food, water, air, and soil.

PFAS are perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, a family of over 4,000 man-made surfactant compounds manufactured to repel water and oil/grease. Since the 1940s, PFAS have been widely used in commercial and industrial applications, including many consumer products that can be found in every household: Teflon non-stick pans, food packaging, stain-resistant upholstery, and more.

Recent studies point to PFAS as a growing concern for communities and clients, including at water systems and brownfield sites. Aspect has recently worked on sites with PFAs concerns, and we summarize the history, background, and current regulations (both the state and federal scale) around this emerging environmental concern.

A Brief History of PFAS: Why Should We Care?

In 1956, researchers discovered that PFAS compounds bind to human proteins, and by the 1970s PFAS were found to accumulate in human blood. In 2000, the American Chemical Society published a study showing the distribution of people with detectable concentrations of PFAS in their blood was at a global scale. Research groups worldwide, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), are increasingly evaluating the toxicity and potential human health risks of PFAS exposure.

Though limited human epidemiological studies have been conducted to date, laboratory animal studies suggest that adverse health effects due to PFAS may include irregular fetal development, cancer, and liver and thyroid damage, among others.

PFAS in the Environment

Source: https://pfasproject.com/2018/10/02/analysis-of-state-by-state-differences-in-pfas-regulation/

PFAS are released into the environment primarily from locations with long-term use of aqueous fire-fighting foams (military sites, airports, and fire-training facilities), industrial facilities that produce metal plating or directly produce PFAS, and landfills that receive municipal or industrial wastes. One of the main exposure pathways for the general public is via PFAS-impacted drinking water.

Of about 6,000 public water systems monitored by the EPA for PFOA and PFOS between 2013 and 2015, approximately 80 public water systems were found to contain the compounds at concentrations above the EPA’s Lifetime Health Advisory level of 70 parts per trillion (ppt). In Washington State, Aspect is incorporating testing for select PFAS compounds into drinking water aquifer monitoring programs at the request of municipalities.

Current State vs. Federal PFAS Regulatory Context

Despite the public and regulator awareness and general acceptance of the risks associated with PFAS exposure, PFAS compounds are not currently identified as hazardous substances in federal regulations to enforce investigation and cleanup standards. In 2019, the EPA released a PFAS Action Plan outlining an approach for their response, which is in progress. The plan suggests that in the relatively near future, we can expect to see at least the two most well-researched compounds, PFOA and PFOS, listed as hazardous substances at the federal level, by Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), or other pathways.

In the meantime, 28 states are forging ahead with state-level regulations in lieu of EPA enforceable action and CERCLA status. In Washington, the state legislature recently passed two bills limiting uses of PFAS in food packaging and Aqueous Film-Forming Foams (AFFFs) in 2018 (Engrossed State House Bills 2658 and 6413). Additionally, the Washington State Department of Health (DOH) is developing an amendment for Chapter 246-290 of the Washington Administrative Code (WAC) to address PFAS in drinking water in Washington. This amendment includes state action levels for the EPA’s two target compounds, PFOA and PFOS, as well as three additional compounds (PFHxS, PFNA, and PFBS).

The DOH is proposing a more protective approach than the EPA by setting the draft state action levels for PFOA and PFOS for Group A public water systems at 10 ppt and 15 ppt, respectively—lower values than the EPA’s Lifetime Health Advisory value of 70 ppt. DOH is projecting to finalize the amendment in 2021.

Learn More About PFAS

PFAS Draft Chemical Action Plan (CAP) – October 2020
Long-awaited Washington state plan (a joint publication by the DOH and Ecology) that offers recommendations to reduce PFAS exposure to humans and the environment. The public comment period is currently open until December 7, 2020.

Click here to access the public comment form.

Washington State Department of Health
Resource to learn more about PFAS, and a guide to statewide and nationwide initiatives to address public health concerns related to PFAS.

EPA PFAS Action Plan
National PFAS Action Plan detailing how the EPA is addressing PFAS identification, mitigating exposure, and engaging with affected communities. Refer to the EPA’s homepage for more information.

Safer States
A nationwide coalition of advocates, policymakers, and scientists who collect data on current PFAS policies and guidelines by state, which is then used to make PFAS policy and mitigation recommendations to the federal government.

PFAS-Free Products
A comprehensive list of products and brands from apparel to cookware to furniture that do not contain PFAS.


PFAS Next Steps in the Pacific Northwest

In October 2020, Washington State Departments of Health and Ecology published their PFAS Draft Chemical Action Plan (CAP). The draft CAP has been in development since 2016 and includes recommended actions to reduce human and environmental exposure based on a comprehensive assessment of known and potential sources and occurrences of PFAS in Washington State. The public comment period started on October 7, 2020, and closes on Monday, December 7, 2020. DOH and Ecology are projecting to finalize the CAP in 2021.

Applying State-of-the-Science Insight to PFAS Cleanup and Monitoring

The lack of federal PFAS guidance creates significant challenges for industry and public officials as they assess environmental liability and community impacts. Aspect is working on several projects to help clients problem-solve PFAS challenges, including applying state-of-the-science PFAS data to help municipalities evaluate and monitor wellhead protection programs.

On December 9, 2020, Aspect Senior Geologist Ali Cochrane and Associate Environmental Scientist Kirsi Longley will be presenting on PFAS at the CLE Bootcamp, an annual event for the continuing education of legal professionals, hosted by The Seminar Group. If you are interested in arranging a PFAS presentation for your team/organization or want to learn more about how Aspect can provide PFAS support, please reach out to Ali Cochrane and Kirsi Longley.

Spokane Health Building Taps into Groundwater for Carbon-Neutral Goals

It’s not every day you can celebrate the first step in an innovative, carbon-neutral $60 Million health campus. In Spokane, Washington, a group of regional partners – including Gonzaga University, University of Washington, and McKinstry – are collaborating to build a four-story, 80,000-square foot health sciences building in the heart of Spokane’s riverfront. This Regional Health Partnership is the first of its kind in several ways. The public-private collaboration is unique as all partners look to build a world-class health headquarters in the Inland Empire. It’s also special because it has its sights on achieving recent carbon-neutral targets set out by the state of Washington.

The campus is just breaking ground now, with target construction completion finishing in summer 2022. One of the keys to the carbon-neutral puzzle – essentially, no emissions from the campus – is an innovative heating and cooling system for the campus building. This system, which is being co-designed between Aspect and McKinstry, pumps groundwater from an aquifer beneath the property, runs the water through a mechanical device where heat energy in the water is used to heat or cool the building. This “Open-Loop Ground Source Heat Pump” system has been implemented elsewhere but is not done very often because the subsurface conditions have to be just right to both provide the energy and cost savings to make it viable.

Take a look at the celebratory video marking this milestone (see Aspect’s ‘congratulations’ at 19:25 of the video):

A Nod to the Mighty Spokane Valley-Rathdrum Prairie Aquifer

Aspect is the hydrogeologic lead on the ground-source heat pump piece of the project and, as a company founded by hydrogeologists, we’re excited to contribute to eliminating carbon-based fuels historically used to heat and cool buildings.

The Spokane Valley-Rathdrum Prairie (SVRP) aquifer in the project region is known as a highly productive one, pumping out the right temperature and volume to make the overall heating/cooling vision for the campus come to life. The final piece of the puzzle came together through a detailed characterization of the site to support water rights permitting.

There’s plenty of more work to do on this exciting project in the months to come and we look forward to helping other clients meet innovative and forward-looking energy goals with hydrogeologic science..

How Turning Off The Flare Helps Us Sleep at Night: Landfill Milestones

In the world of landfills, the transition from active to closed status is much like the transition from feast to bed. When a community is done “feeding” the landfill, i.e., finished actively adding waste to it, owners pull a cover from the toe to the crown of these giants and allow the necessary digestive processes to take place. The digestive process in this analogy equates to solid waste degrading over time until the landfill can move into a “post-closure” care step and, eventually, into productively reusing the land.

Often, the landfill flare – which is a controlled flame that burns off excess landfill gas – is the most conspicuous sign of the digestive process. Flares, in tandem with a landfill’s post-closure slumber, may go for several decades during which time owners diligently keep watch. Some landfills sleep soundly, while others may suffer indigestion – often in the manner of excess landfill methane and other contaminants impacting landfill area groundwater, soil, and gas -- and require special attention.

When the flare or “Night Light” goes out, landfill owners and operators can move on from active to passive landfill gas treatment, which means one step closer to post-closure finalization and closing the landfill.

After Nearly 30 Years, Jefferson County Celebrates a Rare Landfill Milestone

The flare at the Jefferson County landfill has run since 1993, until this year when owners, regulators, and Aspect partnered to turn it off – a rare milestone in the lifecycle of closed landfill operations.

Those responsible for watching and caring for these sleeping giants rarely see true milestone moments as the years roll on. Aspect has supported the team at Jefferson County for over 10 years with monitoring and reporting post-closure care at their landfill just outside Pt. Townsend. Over the last year, Aspect has guided the Jefferson County team toward ending post-closure care. As one of the final milestones, they finally turned off the flare installed in 1993, nearly 30 years ago, effectively turning out the “night light.”

Closed landfills don’t get new waste but still have active engineering controls and monitoring to ensure digestive byproducts, like gas and leachate, don’t impact air quality or groundwater quality. At enormous landfills, like the Cedar Hills Regional Landfill Facility in King County, landfill gas is often used as an alternative energy source. At smaller landfills, like the Jefferson County landfill, flares have been used to treat landfill gas to control odor, prevent air pollution, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Over time, the digestive processes slow down and less gas is created. Eventually, there is not enough landfill gas to directly fuel a flare, and supplemental fuel (like propane) may be used to keep the flare going—which erodes the value of using a flare for landfill gas treatment.

Switching Off the Night Light in Favor of 14 Biofilters

It takes a coordinated effort to turn off a flare. After years of operating the flare with supplemental fuel, Aspect coordinated with Jefferson County and regulatory agencies to help move to a better solution. The regional air quality authority, ORCAA, confirmed air quality would be protected without the flare. Jefferson County Public Health approved removing flare treatment from the closed landfill permit. The Jefferson County Public Works team built and installed 14 new biofilters and is now monitoring them to ensure they effectively do their job.

Landfill gas flares – like this one at the Port Angeles landfill, which Aspect also consults on — require both considerable operation and maintenance and constant care as landfill gas – i.e., their fuel – runs out.

Biofilters are increasingly used to treat landfill gas during the final stages of digestion and gas generation because they provide “polishing” treatment with little monitoring or maintenance. Landfill gas is directed from horizontal collectors below the cover system through perforated pipe, which is buried by wood mulch. Naturally occurring microbial communities break down landfill gas as it passes through. Barometric pressure changes will allow the landfill to breathe, inhaling atmospheric air during increasing pressure and exhaling landfill gas during decreasing pressure.

Safely Reducing Monitoring Costs and Seeing the End Goal

Turning off the flare brings the Jefferson County team one step closer to ending post-closure monitoring at the landfill. The next steps include showing:

  • There is little to no landfill gas generation. No subsurface landfill gas migration has been observed recently under intermittent operation of the flare. Compliance gas probes near the property boundary will be monitored during passive landfill gas collection to ensure explosive gases remain in very good control.

  • The cover system has good integrity with little to no settlement and is resilient to erosion. The cover system prevents rainfall from infiltrating through the landfill and creating leachate. Settlement surveys have begun, and the vegetated surface is in very good shape.

  • There is little to no leachate generation. Like most older landfills, the Jefferson County landfill started receiving waste before bottom liners were required. So, any leachate that is generated due to infiltration or during digestion will reach groundwater. A network of groundwater monitoring wells is being sampled for a wide range of potential contaminants and results look favorable.

Also, see Peter Bannister’s article on this topic in Municipal Solid Waste’s (MSW) magazine January/February 2021 issue.

Read more about Aspect’s full suite of services for landfill operators and owners.

Construction Begins on Aspect’s Innovative Affordable Housing Project

Construction is underway in Seattle’s Mt. Baker neighborhood on two buildings that will house over 150 affordable apartments for the Mt. Baker Housing Association (MBHA).

The first building, called Maddux North, is on the site of a former dry cleaners that released significant amounts of contaminants into the neighborhood soils and groundwater. The second, Maddux South, is across South McClellan Street on land with its own history of contamination from use as a gas station and auto repair shop. The costs to clean up these properties and similarly affected ones around the city usually leave the valuable land beyond the reach of nonprofits like MBHA. In the past few years, Aspect has partnered with the Washington State Department of Ecology and legal experts on the Healthy Housing Remediation Program to help organizations navigate regulatory pathways and fund cleanup efforts to get these urban sites ready for redevelopment as housing. You can learn more about this innovative funding model on our Affordable Housing page.

Aspect’s environmental and geotechnical teams will be on site in the coming months at both Maddux North and South to monitor the shoring and pile installations that will make way for the buildings’ foundations and make sure the excavated contaminated soils are being handled properly.



Community Water Supply Solutions: A Success Story

Since construction 30 years prior, yield in two of this rural town’s (in southern Washington state) drinking water wells has been in a steady, long-term decline.

At these problem wells, results of regular water-quality testing were showing increasing amounts of iron and silica, and concentrations of sodium were exceeding advisory levels. More recently, wellfield operators were reporting the sound of water cascading down the casing beneath the pumphouse, and could hear the hiss of air entrained in the discharge line. Utility managers with the town were growing concerned about the longevity of the wells and whether they could continue to meet demand.

The local PUD, who operates the wells for the town, wanted to get things back on track. But where to start? Which of the problems should they address first? And how would they know they were investing in the right fixes, and making the best decisions for their customer owners? The PUD brought in Aspect to problem solve and rehabilitate the wells to recover the lost supply.

Water pumped from one of the town’s water supply wells with high iron oxides and turbidity.

Well Rehabilitation Detective Work

For the PUD, our initial approach examined the usual suspects of declining wellfield performance: well construction records, changes in water quality, regional trends in aquifer levels, and the condition of the pump and motor. As part of our review, we also used a slimline downhole camera to observe the condition of the well screen and casing. Our “nano” camera is designed to be deployed without having to first pull the pump—a significant time and money saver for everyone involved—and provides real-time information to diagnose what’s happening underground.

Our investigation revealed that the water supply wells were suffering from both chemical and physical complications: poor well construction and high iron-sulfide content in the source aquifer was fueling a booming population of slime-forming bacteria. Although each of these problems could be addressed with short-term fixes, they represented long-term maintenance costs and perpetual service interruptions for the PUD. While nearly any drilling outfit is capable of clearing obstructions and replacing damaged casing, our hydrogeologists provided big-picture perspective of the subsurface. Instead of attacking the symptoms of well decline with temporary solutions, we looked to understand the root cause of water problems and make recommendations that will improve pumping capacity for the long-term.

Reducing Long-Term Cost and Gaining Higher-Quality Groundwater

As an alternative, Aspect recommended a phased approach to rehabilitate the water source. First, to address water needs today, we prescribed a series of well rehabilitation treatments to restore the well performance. Second, to address water needs in the years to come, we outlined steps for developing a new source in a higher-quality body of groundwater. In addition to reducing long-term cost, this approach is consistent with the PUD’s mission to serve their customer owners.

Water filtration system necessary to treat water prior to distribution.

Contact Aspect to Learn More About Well Rehabilitation Services

Successful well rehabilitation results from a methodical process.

Successful well rehabilitation results from a methodical process.

If you have questions or want to learn more about our well-rehabilitation services, please contact Jon Turk or Andrew Austreng in our Water Resources Practice.

Lake Crescent Roadway Stabilization Project Honored with ASCE Award

The American Society of Civil Engineers’ (ASCE) Seattle Section honored Aspect’s Lake Crescent Roadway Improvement Project at their recent Local Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement (LOCEA) Awards ceremony. The project won this year’s award for Geotechnical Engineering, recognizing Aspect’s innovative moment slab design that widened and stabilized a key stretch of Highway 101 along Lake Crescent in Olympic National Park.

The two-lane stretch of Highway 101 and its varying geologic conditions prior to moment slab construction.

The two-lane stretch of Highway 101 and its varying geologic conditions prior to moment slab construction.

Principal Geotechnical Engineer Erik Andersen walked the group of 60 people watching online through the project and how Aspect got involved. A 400-foot-long section of two-lane road on the shore of Lake Crescent was in need of a permanent solution to address ongoing instability and widen the road. The Federal Highway Administration’s Western Federal Lands Highway Division (FHWA), who have jurisdiction over this part of Highway 101, recommended the unstable shoulder fill be removed, and a mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) wall be constructed at or above the lake level.

Complex Geology + Unstable Shoreline = Great Engineering Challenge

This recommendation presented a host of challenges to an already complex site with varying geology and an unstable shoreline. Constructing the MSE wall would require blasting bedrock in some areas and constructing concrete beams in other areas where bedrock was below the lake elevation, which would be difficult to execute within the 4-hour windows they were permitted to have both lanes of the highway closed. Blasting the rock and construction near the lake would greatly disturb wildlife, fish, and the lake itself. Strider Construction, tasked with building the MSE wall, determined this concept was too difficult and risky. They turned to Aspect to develop a safer and more constructible alternative. Erik and Staff Engineer Henry N. Haselton brainstormed with Strider and FHWA to develop a moment slab design.

Rebar reinforces the moment slab that extends over the shoreline but doesn’t impact the water.

Rebar reinforces the moment slab that extends over the shoreline but doesn’t impact the water.

Henry and Ken Wilson from Integrity Structural Engineering joined the presentation to discuss the analysis and design for the slab. The heavily reinforced concrete slab was designed to be supported on the shore at one end and suspend (or cantilever) over the embankment. It required significantly less excavation and blasting from the site, eliminated the need for temporary shoring, and could be completed without disturbing the pristine waters of Lake Crescent. With the easier design in place, construction moved at a more predictable pace. Ultimately, work was completed three weeks earlier and saved the project over $100,000, as compared with the original MSE wall concept.

Bellingham Waterfront Project Also Honored

Aspect contributed to the success of another of the night’s honorees. Project Geologist Matthew von der Ahe provided hazardous material mitigation during construction of KPFF’s Granary Avenue and Laurel Street Project. This roadway/bike lane/sidewalk project for the City of Bellingham improved access into Waypoint Park (itself a winning project) on the former industrial site that housed the Georgia-Pacific Tissue Mill.

Photo from City of Bellingham website.

Photo from City of Bellingham website.

This year’s other LOCEA winners are:

  • Small Projects and Non-Construction Study: CSO 171 Outfall Project (HDR and team)

  • Transportation and Development Engineering:  NE 45th Street East Approach Seismic Retrofit Project (HDR and team)

  • Water Resources and Environmental Engineering: Meydenbauer Bay Park Project (Anchor QEA and team)

  • Ports and Waterways Engineering: WWPS043 Emergency Force Main Replacement Project (Staheli Trenchless Consultants and teams)

The Path to Professional License: Taylor Dayton

In the science and engineering industry, seeing a “PE”, “LG”, “PMP”, or other initials behind someone’s name shows that person went through years of work experience that culminated in a substantial test to confirm the right to practice their area of technical expertise. A professional license is a proof statement that communicates that the people charged with designing roads and buildings; solving water supply challenges; cleaning up contaminated soil and water; and successfully managing project quality are qualified and ethically accountable professionals. Many go through this licensing journey but few outside that group know what the process is really like.

We’re telling those stories here. Aspect’s professionals are writing a series of articles that capture the trials and successes of studying for and receiving these career-defining milestones.

Taylor Dayton, Professional Engineering License

October 2019 – Tested; January, 2020 – Awarded OR PE; May, 2020 – Reciprocity WA PE.

There comes a point in every engineer-in-training’s life where you have to face the music. Eight years into my field of practice, I had my own hardhat, leather-bound hydraulic flow data quick reference manual, and a fancy metal scale ruler sitting on the corner of my desk. I’d written hundreds of pages worth of technical reports and wiled away long afternoons in AutoCAD wondering why the newest version hid all the buttons I needed to pull together a construction plan set. I’d even replumbed part of my own home successfully after mistakenly spilling a can full of black beans down my garbage disposal – confirmation that my skills can fix real-world problems.

Eight years in, it seemed like my career was going well, but there was one specter looming. The state licensing board has chosen the eight-year mark as the best time for a casual spot check of your developing skillset through a 9-hour NCESS-administered examination of every engineering concept you’ve ever learned. If you are successful, you gain the privilege of ordering new business cards with two tiny letters at the end of your name.

Where did you start with your test prep?

I started studying in March 2019 in preparation to take the October 2019 exam. My goal was to hit 300 hours of dedicated study time. Because of my degrees (undergraduate in biochemistry and master’s in civil engineering, with water and wastewater focus) I knew I would be strong in chemistry, pumps, and pipes, but not have as much experience with air engineering or landfill design.

Knowing the test material is just one part of the experience. What should a person gearing up to do this know about the mental, physical, and social aspects of test prep?

This was my general approach to the exam. Season your preparation approach to taste.

  1. Philosophy: Failure was not an option. I was committed to temporarily sacrificing elements of my work/life balance to make sure I would nail this exam on the first try.

  2. Time Management: I evaluated my performance at work, talked to my manager, and adjusted my commitments to what was realistically possible knowing that I would need enough mental energy to hit the books just about every day before or after work. I minimized travel where possible and dialed down on my business development efforts while I was preparing for my exam.

  3. Friends and Family: I notified everyone in my life of my six-month commitment to a disgruntled hermit lifestyle. I set up a dedicated study space and committed up to two hours a day during the week and up to 12 hours on the weekends. If this sounds like a HUGE time commitment, it was. I’m not really geared for partial commitments to things.

  4. Mental/Physical Health: I blocked out and prioritized a time to hit the gym four times a week. This is absolutely critical. You will be consuming many study snacks and disappointing your daily step counter of choice during the study process and it’s easy to let that inertia get you down.

  5. A Pre-Test Reward: Plan a trip or mini-adventure for two weeks prior to your exam. Stop studying when you hit that point and do a lot of fun things in the two weeks leading up to your exam.

What was the best piece of advice you received as you started your PE journey?

I appreciated everyone who was humble enough to reveal that it took them two or three times to pass the exam. It was comforting to know that their lives didn’t fall apart immediately and that it didn’t hinder their journeys to becoming respected scientists and engineers. They just refocused, studied better, and got it done.

Walk us through the Big Test Day…

After months and months of preparation, test day approached in October. I recommend doing the following to help keep your peace of mind before/during/after the test:

  • Book a hotel as close to your testing location as possible. Take a half-day from work and travel to the hotel. Go pick some great snacks for your lunch break the next day, eat a good dinner, and watch a great movie.

  • Plan to take off work the day after the exam to de-stress and start getting your life back in order.

  • Reconnect with whatever friends and family will have you back, notice your pets are a little overweight from all the hikes you haven’t been taking them on, and go outside to see what season it is in nature now since you probably missed at least one while studying.

Ten days later, you will receive your results and can send them on to the State Engineering Board for verification.

Here I am repping my top of the line safety gear and the North Central Washington Beekeepers Association, cracking open the overwintered beehives for the first time this season.

How did you feel when you finally got the results?

“All right! Time to go after that beekeeper certification!”

Any parting advice?

In retrospect, was the amount of time I dedicated to this crazy? Could I have gotten away with only 150 hours of preparation or one quick scan of my old college binders the night before? It’s possible, but I think this approach was helpful on three levels.

  1. Preparing the PE is an introspective journey. You get to retread eight years of growth and affirm that you’re not the freshman barely treading water in differential equations anymore.

  2. The process reminded me of the breadth of the skillset I’ve built as a professional and encouraged me to reach out to PMs I don’t usually work with to utilize some of that skillset in new ways. Aspect does water system planning now!

  3. The (over) preparation made exam day a straightforward and easy experience. There were a few questions on topic areas I have never encountered in my day job, but they were a very small portion of the exam. I’d practiced 95% of the test in my review process and was familiar enough with the process that I didn’t have to waste time browsing the reference manual. That allowed plenty of time to make some educated guesses on the material I didn’t know and knock out the exam a couple of hours early.

Taylor Dayton is a Project Engineer at Aspect Consulting in Wenatchee, Washington. Contact her to share any test-taking tips you have.

Favorite Study Resources

PE exam-specific guides:

The NCEES reference manual – Free. This is your only lifeline to the outside world during the exam. Print it out and become familiar with every page and table.

The NCEES practice exam - $30. This is your bible and only insight from the test provider on the actual content of the exam. I recommend attempting this exam once at the start of your studying process and again near the end. Use this to gauge the difficulty of the problems you may encounter on the exam.

PE Environmental Review by Michael Lindburg - $290. The golden standard reference for PE preparation. I committed to reading a few sections of this book each study session. I found it helpful to recall the topics I was familiar with in graduate school, but have not encountered in my current practice. There are other resources available in this series of books if you need additional problem sets to work through (PE Practice, PE Practice Exams), but I did not find them very true to the actual questions on the exam.

School of PE On Demand Lectures and Problem Sets - $340 for one month. I highly recommend the School of PE course to help structure your study approach. They have a much more expensive live version of the course, but one month of the On Demand course was enough for me to review all the lecture video content, annotate the provided course notes, and make a binder of the practice problems they provide. I used the practice problems as the core of my study sessions and they prepared me very well for the test.

Textbooks to Flip Through:

Introduction to Environmental Engineering. Any variety of this kind of textbook will do, but I like the intro book by Gilbert Masters and Wendell Ela. You can find it for a cool $20. It includes great primers on climate change and ozone depletion, risk assessment, indoor air quality, source-reduction and recycling, and groundwater contamination.

Hazardous Waste Management by Michael LeGrega. Your one stop shop for landfill questions.

Water Quality and Treatment by James Edswald. The absolute best handbook for drinking water treatment.

Biological Wastewater Treatment: The golden standard is the Metcalf and Eddy textbook, but I found I preferred Biological Wastewater Treatment by Grady, Dalgger, Love, and Filipe. There are very good comprehensive chapter summaries that I read through that addressed every wastewater question I encountered on the exam.

Trusty Calculator Companion?

I brought along the same loyal TI-36X that I used on the FE exam. I even bought a second one to bring along as a backup, which the test proctor thought was very cool. I’m pretty sure that’s what her expression meant anyway.


Guiding Operators to Safe Design for 1,100+ Dams

The public perception of water supply dams may bring to mind huge reservoirs, such as the Hoover Dam in Nevada and, in the Pacific Northwest, the Grand Coulee dam. However, Washington state also is charged with regulating and monitoring over a thousand dams of varying sizes, most of them under 50 feet tall. These largely earthen dams are used for a variety of irrigation, water quality, and recreation purposes.

Grand Coulee Dam
Source: Bureau of Reclamation

Helping Dam Owners Plan for Storm and Precipitation Impacts on Dams

Washington’s Dam Safety Office conducts design, planning, and construction inspection and monitoring to ensure dams and owners (the majority of the dams they monitor are privately owned) operate in a safe manner. As part of the regulations, dams are required to meet specific risk-based design requirements during major storms, particularly anticipating heavy rain and or snow events.

Every 10 years, precipitation data is gathered across hundreds of weather stations throughout the state for storm event analysis to help determine safety design criteria. These data and analysis are used by dam owners and state dam safety engineers to ensure design requirements are met.

A Better Software Tool for Dam Safety Projects

“We are very happy with the updated calculator developed by the Aspect-MGS team. It will benefit many dam engineers for the next decade.”

- Dam Safety Office manager Joe Witczak.

Aspect’s software development team, in collaboration with Washington’s Dam Safety Office and MGS Engineering Consultants, co-designed and developed a more user intuitive application for both dam owners and dam safety engineers for risk-based design. The Precipitation Magnitude-Frequency Calculator application helps dam owners determine their requirements by dam location and storm duration event. Users can now more easily select their dam location, storm event durations (small, medium, large), and quickly see the safety design requirements for their particular location. The new calculator is available to download as a zip file on the state’s website.

Contact Chris Bellusci and Mike Mills for more information on Aspect’s software development services for science and engineering projects.

Inside Water Rights: Focusing on the Consumptive Use Principle

Washington state water rights law can be both complex and arcane. However, there are key fundamental principles that decide whether a project will get to use water the way they want to. One of these principles is not increasing consumptive use under a water right. This rule originates from the “no impairment” standard in Washington which says you can change your water right to a new use, but you can’t harm any other water right holder by doing so. One way you can impair another’s water right is by increasing the “consumptive use” as a result of your project.

How Spreading Acreage Policy Increased Focus on Consumptive Use

Before 1997, consumptive use was not a common term of art in water rights. That is because the law prohibited increasing the number of acres authorized on your right, even if you wouldn’t use any more water by doing so. This is still the case in Oregon. However, in 1997, the Legislature allowed increases in acreage (also called “spreading”) so long as the consumptive use was not increased.

For example, this allowed farmers to change from 40 acres of orchard to 80 acres of vineyard, which was not allowed before. In order to prevent impairment by an increase in consumptive use, the Legislature created a formula to quantify how much of your total use is divided into consumptive use (which is typically evapotranspired by plants) or return flow (which seeps into the ground and becomes available for others to use).

‘Use-it-or-Lose-it’ and The Loyal Pig Vineyard Story

Loyal Pig Vineyard case hinged on the consumptive use principle, a fundamental element of water rights projects and case law.

Photo Credit: Capital Press

Recently, there was an interesting case hinging on the consumptive use principle that was decided in the Court of Appeals (where it ultimately was denied after an earlier victory in Superior Court). The Loyal Pig case was arguing that it need not calculate consumptive use for its current transfer because it had already done so in a previous transfer less than 5 years earlier. Because the “use-it-or-lose-it” relinquishment standard is a 5-year standard, they sought to harmonize these two different elements of the water code and simplify later transfers. This was important to them because the final amount of acres they sought to spread was not known at the start of their project, but rather a function of how efficient they could be with their crops.

Ultimately, the Court decided that the plain language of the consumptive use test trumped any benefit to harmonize different elements of the water code, although that could be done legislatively. Now Loyal Pig can either appeal to the Supreme Court or start over and process their transfer with the proper calculations.

Knowing the Case Law is Key to Water Rights Permitting

While this case was procedural in nature, it shows that knowing and staying up to date in water rights case law is crucial to water rights permitting success. Aspect routinely works with farmers and agricultural clients on quantifying consumptive use of their water rights and has successfully processed numerous spreading transfers.

Key U.S. Supreme Court Decision on Groundwater and the Clean Water Act

Groundwater flow path from the County of Maui’s Wastewater Reclamation Facility to the Pacific Ocean. This facility is the subject of the U.S. Supreme Court case. An extensive hydrogeologic study was completed to map how pollutants travel through groundwater to the Ocean. Source: Lahaina Groundwater Tracer Study

On Thursday, April 23, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund, setting an important, but difficult to implement, precedent for determining when National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES)[1] permits are required for discharges to groundwater.

How this Case Came to Be

The County of Maui discharges treated municipal wastewater to the ground through four wells about a half-mile from the Pacific Ocean. Multiple environmental groups sued under the Clean Water Act, alleging that the discharge required an NPDES permit.

The U.S. District Court agreed with the environmental groups, concluding that a permit was required because the discharge was “functionally one into navigable water.” The Ninth Circuit Court affirmed, establishing a test that permits are required when “pollutants are fairly traceable from the point source to a navigable water.”

The County appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. EPA weighed in, offering an Interpretive Statement that concluded that all releases of pollutants to groundwater are excluded from the Clean Water Act’s permitting program, “regardless of a hydrologic connection between the groundwater and a jurisdictional surface water”.

The Supreme Court set aside the prior approaches by the District Court and Ninth Circuit, and did not give deference to EPA’s opinion, instead crafting their own solution that NPDES permits apply “to a discharge (from a point source) of pollutants that reach navigable water after traveling through groundwater if that discharge is the functional equivalent of a direct discharge from the point source into navigable waters.”

In a recent blog post, attorneys from Stoel Rives view the Court’s decision as taking the middle ground, resulting in the need for potentially difficult case-by-case evaluations based on the non-exclusive list of seven factors the Court defined as important for functional equivalence:

  1. Transit time

  2. Distance traveled

  3. The nature of the material through which the pollutant travels

  4. The extent to which the pollutant is diluted or chemically changed as it travels

  5. The amount of pollutant entering the navigable waters relative to the amount of the pollutant that leaves the point sources

  6. The manner by or area in which the pollutant enters the navigable waters,

  7. The degree to which the pollution (at that point) has maintained its specific identity

Hydrogeologic Science to Increase in Relevance

The opinion established time and distance as the most important factors in most, but not all, cases.

This emphasis will likely prove problematic, because time and distance, while important, are often not enough, by themselves, to resolve the question of whether pollutants are being transported to a surface water. Should it matter how close (in time or distance) a discharge is to a surface water, if the subsurface conditions provide adequate treatment? In many cases, the other factors identified by the court may prove more important. These questions will likely only be resolved through hydrogeologic studies, and in many cases litigation, at the expense of the individual dischargers.

Implications for Pacific Northwest Businesses and Municipalities

This decision has relevance to businesses and municipalities in the Pacific Northwest that discharge stormwater or wastewater to ground. We expect to see increased attention from regulatory agencies and environmental groups focused on discharges to groundwater. In particular, facilities that are currently exempt from the Industrial Stormwater General Permit because they only discharge to ground should carefully examine their discharge relative to this decision.

To learn more and discuss the relevance of this case further, contact Senior Associate Water Resources Engineer Owen Reese at oreese@aspectconsulting.com or 206-838-5844.

[1] NPDES is the federal program that regulates the discharge of pollutants to waters of the United States.

Ground Source Heat Pump: Saving Energy Costs and Reducing Carbon Footprints

Our new COVID-19 world has changed every part of work life, including for Aspect. But work does continue on at the same time, as long as it can be done safely, at a distance from others, and consistent with the intent of the current Governor’s Order. Because of the environmental work that we do, Aspect is used to working under strict health and safety procedures. One snapshot of Aspect’s work relates to what our water supply team has been doing for the state’s Public Health Lab in Shoreline, Washington.

Helping to Build a New Public Health Testing Facility

In another year, this may have been just another water supply project – bread-and-butter work for our geologists/hydrogeologists. However, this year finds Aspect’s team working on one of our state’s and the nation’s most unique sites – a Public Health lab that is analyzing COVID-19 tests, among others.

This project was in progress before the COVID-19 news hit—to help design and install a network of ground source heat pump injection and extraction wells to sustainably heat and cool their expanded laboratory efficiently and with a low carbon footprint (another Governor Initiative).

Groundwater to Sustainably Heat and Cool Facility Operations

Why is a ground source heating/cooling method more sustainable? We can use the constant groundwater temperature of about 55 degrees as a way to heat and cool buildings through a mechanical device called a heat pump. The groundwater and heat pump use very little mechanical energy compared to the conventional alternative: a fuel-based boiler and an electrical or water-intensive chiller/air conditioner to heat and cool the laboratory.

The open-loop ground source heat pump system starts with the extraction of groundwater from wells designed and installed by Aspect. The groundwater is then pumped through the heat exchanger then injected back to the ground. No water is lost. The 55 degree ambient temperature of groundwater provides a heat source to heat the lab in the winter and a heat sink to cool the lab in the summer. This system replaces the conventional carbon-based heating and cooling system to reduce carbon footprint and save money in energy costs over a system’s lifespan.

Developing a High-Yield Well in the Middle of the City

The complexities of local Seattle geology can sometimes make high-yield well (i.e., 100+ gallons per minute) development a challenge locally, yet the project team has seen encouraging initial results. Aspect oversaw drilling of a 300-foot-deep boring and conducted a series of tests to assess potential well yields and thermal properties of the ground. After wrapping up well drilling and testing recently, our water supply team is analyzing the hydraulic and thermal modeling, with the goal to have heating design recommendations done by June and delivered to our partner, McKinstry, the mechanical engineering leader of the project team.

Water Supply Testing of Well at the State’s Public Health Lab in April 2020

Meet Cleo Pineda and Baxter Call

Aspect recently welcomed Cleo Pineda and Baxter Call to our Seattle office. Here are Five Questions we asked to get to know them better…

Cleo Pineda, Stormwater Engineer, EIT

“I rode in a crystal cabin up to the Yao Yue Tea House in Taipei, Taiwan. The floor to ceiling windows provided scenic views of lush green mountains and tall skyscrapers as we approached Maokong mountain…2.5 miles all the way to the top”

1. Where are you from? If you’re not from the Pacific Northwest, what brought you here?

I was born in Pampanga, a province located on the largest island of the Philippines. After my grandpa retired from the Navy and received his U.S. citizenship, he settled down in Lacey, Washington, and petitioned for my family and I to come to America. In June of 2000, I flew to the PNW with my two older sisters and our dad. The immigration process for my mom and younger brother took longer than anticipated so they didn’t get to join us until six years later. During the time we were apart, I traveled back to the Philippines to visit them for extended periods of time. I haven’t been back to the Motherland since 2006, but I heard a lot has changed since my last visit and I’d love to go back there someday.

2. What inspired you to pursue stormwater engineering? What made you curious about it?

The deeper I got into my civil engineering major, the more I realized how much it is a service-driven profession as it is a technical profession. I took stormwater design as an elective during my junior year of college, and it was in that class where I first saw the connection between my personal strengths and their impact on serving a “real-world” purpose. Like many engineers, I went into this career to help solve problems—and protecting the health of our waterways was a goal that made the most sense to me.

3. What do you like best about your area of expertise? What excites you and keeps you motivated?

Every project will get rained on, especially here in the PNW. What’s cool about stormwater design is that each site will have its own unique set of solutions. The design process involves factoring in not only varying site conditions but also the far-reaching implications of stormwater pollution that inspire me to use inventive ways of implementing on-site stormwater management. The days of solely relying on traditional conveyance systems are over. Stormwater design keeps my mind open to new ideas, which is what I love most about engineering in general.

4. What do you like to do when you aren’t working?

Though I enjoy the “structure” involved in engineering (no pun intended), I make it a point to exercise the right side of my brain too whenever I get the chance. I was raised in a very creative household. My dad showed all my siblings and me how to play instruments, while my mom taught me how to cook Filipino dishes. Some form of art was always happening around me growing up. Now as an adult, I spend most of my free time painting, writing, trying new recipes, or building DIY home improvement projects. During the summer, I take advantage of the nice weather by going on new hikes and city day trips with my loved ones.

5. Anything else you’d like us to know about you?

Experiencing different cultures is one my life’s greatest pleasures. Last year, I got to explore different parts of Asia (Tokyo and Taipei). This year, I will be going to Europe for the first time. I’m excited to visit Paris with my boyfriend and family in October.

Baxter Call, EIT, Environmental Engineer

1. Where are you from? If you’re not from the Pacific Northwest, what brought you here?

I was born in Seattle and grew up living on Vashon Island. Being a kid on a small island, I feel like I had the quintessential PNW experience; sea kayaking and biking in the summers and skiing on the weekends in the winter were certainly the highlights! That love of the outdoors has kept me firmly planted in the PNW—I only got as far as the Willamette Valley in Oregon for any significant amount of time before moving back to Seattle. Corvallis, where I completed my undergraduate degree, feels a lot like Vashon in that it is content to exist a little removed from the hustle and bustle of city life. Living in Seattle has been a great new experience and offers a lot more variety than I am used to, although I have discovered that I have no patience for sitting in traffic and try to avoid it at every opportunity.

2. What inspired you to pursue environmental engineering? What made you curious about it?

I have to thank my parents for introducing the idea of environmentalism to me. They framed it as an effort to protect the things that we derive such enjoyment from and are so easy to take for granted. That idea has stuck with me and is certainly why I chose Environmental Engineering without hesitation when I started college, and I haven’t looked back since. My interest started to focus when I began taking more classes related to chemical fate and transport in the environment. I think that there is a really engaging problem-solving challenge to environmental engineering work, and that has always held my attention.

3. What do you like best about your area of expertise? What excites you and keeps you motivated?

Something I find very exciting about my area of expertise is the long-time scale that we work on. Environmental processes are slow, even considering all we do to accelerate them. While that does not sound conventionally exciting, it forces you to take a step back and consider the big picture. When you adopt that way of thinking the anxiety of day-to-day, minutia disappears and what you are left with is a body of work that you can be proud of. I really connect with that idea and it helps me work come to work every day with a purpose.

4. What do you like to do when you aren’t working?

Rowing has been a huge part of my life since I was 14 years old and continues to be something that I derive an immense amount of pleasure from. As I have gotten older, and the injuries have piled up, I have shifted my focus away from competing and towards coaching. Most weekday evenings and early weekend mornings you can find me barking at the Green Lake Crew high school guys team. I also enjoy running and biking, which have been a great way to familiarize myself with the city.  

5. Where in the world would you like to travel next?

I have not traveled nearly as much as I should, so I have a lot of ground to make up in this category. Madagascar is a destination that is on my radar right now. One of my best friends is in the middle of a Peace Corps deployment in Madagascar. The country sounds very interesting, and the opportunity to go and visit him makes it easy to justify traveling there when normally Madagascar might be forgotten with so many other cool places to visit.

Water Bank Pioneering at the Washington and Canada Border: Interview with Oroville-Tonasket Irrigation District

Oroville-Tonasket Irrigation District (OTID), located in north-central Washington State, enjoys senior water supplies from its sources in Lake Osoyoos and the Okanagan River. However, the region has undergone droughts in recent years, resulting in curtailment for junior water rights. In order to make use of its currently available water right and help those without reliable water supply, OTID – with technical and regulatory support from Aspect - set up a water bank that can lease a portion of its unused water to interested customers in the Okanogan River basin, and downstream along the mainstem Columbia River.

Water banking is a relatively newer concept to Washington state and this is the first time this model has been tried in the Upper Columbia Basin, which reaches the Canadian border. In this interview with OTID Secretary-Manager Jay O’Brien and the national magazine Irrigation Leader, Jay speaks about the inspiration for the district’s water banking system, how it works, and how the same concept can benefit other irrigation districts across the region.

Read the article here: http://irrigationleadermagazine.com/

The Rainy Season Part 1: When Geohazard and Stormwater Specialists Shine

The end of 2019 and the first months of 2020 brought unprecedented rainfall across the Pacific Northwest—as just two examples, January was the third wettest Seattle month ever; areas in Northeast Oregon received 10 inches of rain in 3 days. This even-rainier-than-usual season has inundated the region with flooding and landslides. These events are a threat to the safety of homes, businesses, and infrastructure. In this two-part series, we’re highlighting how Aspect professionals have been helping assess earth and water challenges caused by the rain and help communities and clients problem-solve.

Our first part of the series looks at some of the scientific tools we use to track hazardous conditions during wet weather and how we respond to help local communities assess and repair damage from earth movement.

Landslides: When Water and Steep Slopes Don’t Mix

Landslides lie dormant and unseen to the untrained eye for years, and even decades. However, intense short-term or persistent long-term rainfall can waterlog steep slopes and awaken landslides triggering widespread damage. In February 2020, following a period of heavy precipitation, a landslide six miles south of Bellingham shut down half of Washington State’s main business artery – Interstate 5 – for half a day. 

Location of landslide across Interstate 5 south of Bellingham in February 2020

Photo Credit: Whatcom County Weather

One Tool to Understand Landslide Risk: Cumulative Precipitation Threshold 

Among other monitoring approaches, Aspect’s geohazard team uses a public tool created by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) to help continuously assess the level of landslide risk in the Puget Sound region.

This tool was developed after reviewing data on historical conditions from 1933 through 1997, including several notable intense rain events that triggered multiple landslides in the Puget Sound area—notably those in 1986 and 1997, which are two of the biggest landslide “years” in Seattle history because of the amount of rainfall (and for 1997, the rain fell on top of snow during the winter, creating significant soil saturation conditions).

The tool uses monitoring points near Puget Sound coastal bluffs to give a snapshot of rainfall intensity and duration in the area. From these data, the USGS developed “rainfall thresholds” to forecast landslide potential and risk along rail corridors between SeaTac and Everett.

From this data, the USGS developed an intensity (I) and duration (D) relationship (shown above).

For example, on the left side, the graph shows that 1/10th (0.1) of an inch of rain per hour, falling steadily for about 22 hours, is enough to enter the high-risk threshold (yellow area over the blue line). Similarly, about 1/20th (0.05) of an inch per hour falling over 45 hours will enter the threshold. This means short-intense rain AND less intense, but long-duration rainfall can both oversaturate the ground and cause a landslide.

How Wet Has Winter 2020 Been in the Pacific Northwest?

Thanks to recent data from the USGS’ Mukilteo monitoring station, Winter 2020 in the Seattle area has been a season of unrelenting precipitation. We’ve had two different periods where the Seattle area has been over the cumulative landslide threshold for two straight weeks.

This is a snapshot of Jan 29, 2020, landslide threshold graph. Any symbols to the right of (or above) the red line indicates heightened landslide risk. Taking about a 2-month period, from Dec 1, 2019 – Feb 11, 2020, the Seattle area has been to the right of the line twice for significant, extended periods of time (for about two weeks straight each time—Dec 20, 2019, through about January 7, 2020, and from January 28, 2020, through Feb 11, 2020.) Special thanks to Rex Baum of the USGS for the recent Seattle-area 2020 data.

That is a substantial amount of time for soils to stay wet because, well, water is heavy. And when water saturates soil over longer-than-normal periods it adds enough weight that can cause the soil to move on steep slopes. Think about the difference between a box of feathers on a sloped bed of marbles versus a box of wet feathers on that same sloped bed of marbles. The heavier that box becomes it starts to move. Here are some additional technical factors involved in this kind of landslide:

  • A buildup of groundwater can pressurize the soil’s pore spaces, which reduces the strength of the soils causing the soils to fracture or slide.

  • Trees and their root structures can greatly reinforce shallow soils, but they have less ability to hold onto soils that have lost strength due to saturation, leading to loss of strength in the soil reinforced layer and toppling of shallow, rooted trees.

Responding to Geohazards

When active landslide hazard potential rises, Aspect’s geologists and geotechnical engineers prepare to support local agencies with whom we have on-call contracts. These contacts often include specific language that Aspect be ready to support public works staff as they respond to sudden or emergency geohazard events. During this last round of heavy precipitation, we were spurred to action with a call from the City of Kenmore—we provide geotechnical services as part of their team for an on-call contract—about a landslide impacting a roadway. We were on site to assess conditions within about one hour.

Result of a shallow surface landslide in Kenmore, which closed part of a road in the City.

Another view of the slide that resulted from heavy rains, which Aspect responded to within an hour.

The City wanted Aspect to assess potential risks. Are the residences atop the slope safe from further movement? How will removing the weight of the slide debris affect the slide? Our assessment concluded the slide posed a low risk to the residences and we were able to assure the City that removing the debris would not create further concerns for the slope.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of our Rainy Season series – where we learn how stormwater and water quality experts “storm chase” to track storms and perform water monitoring in wet conditions.

Robyn Pepin and Spencer Ambauen Talk Fish Habitat Solutions at River Restoration Northwest

The 19th annual River Restoration Northwest symposium is this week in Stevenson, Washington. Representatives from Aspect’s Seattle, Wenatchee, and Portland offices are attending to cheer on presentations by two of our colleagues focused on removing fish passage barriers in the Pacific Northwest.

Senior GIS Analyst Robyn Pepin’s presentation “Data-Driven Decision Making: An Innovative Prioritization Tool for Restoration (and more!)” showcases the methodology behind the GIS-based tool she created in partnership with the Upper Columbia Salmon Recovery Board that synthesizes and streamlines numerous data sets to prioritize what barriers are most need of removal in the Wenatchee Basin.

Spencer Ambauen is presenting his poster on the Geosynthetic Reinforced Soil-Integrated Bridge System (GRS-IBS). This bridge construction system is made from alternates layers of compacted structural fill soils and a mesh-like geosynthetic reinforcement that can be used in many subsurface and seismic conditions. For public agencies looking to replace hundreds of aging, undersized culverts and other structures hindering riparian habitat, GRS-IBS bridges are a less expensive option that are easier to construct and maintain. These bridges becoming more common across the east coast, but so far there have been only two constructed in Washington state. Spencer is well familiar with the GRS-IBS system; masters thesis involved numerical modeling to evaluate how these bridges behave under surcharge loading, and he completed design for an GRS-IBS bridge for the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife to enhance fish passage at Tolmie State Park near Olympia.