07/11/06 Funds for streams and water quality

Washington Ag July 11, 2006 Work was to begin this week on seven streams in eastern Washington which the Department of Ecology says will make them cleaner and healthier for fish. Seven eastern Washington counties or conservation districts received over 71 thousand dollars in grants for the work, which will restore stream banks, replant native vegetation and reduce cattle access. The money comes from the state's Coastal Protection Fund. Projects that include livestock exclusionary fencing or alternative watering facilities are being done on the Touchet River south of Dayton, Quilliasacut Creek in Stevens County and along Cow Creek in Adams County, three miles north of the Palouse River at Hooper. Ecology has also awarded more than 100-million dollars in grants and loans for water quality improvement projects from the state Centennial Clean Water Fund and other programs for water quality improvement projects. Those include another nearly 250-thousand dollars for the Cow Creek Watershed in Adams County and four-million for the Spokane County Conservation District to assist farmers in five counties with purchasing conservation tillage equipment. I'm Bob Hoff.