A message from Protect Our Water Jackson Hole:
JACKSON, Wyo. — Protect Our Water Jackson Hole (POWJH) has been dedicated to protecting and restoring Teton County’s surface and groundwater for a decade. We rely on three guiding principles to achieve our goal: Community Solutions, Advocacy, and Education & Outreach. Previously, we reflected on the history of our organization and ten years of notable accomplishments. We’ll now explore our recent efforts to achieve our vision of clean water now and for future generations.
Community Solutions are central to POWJH’s efforts. We’ve highlighted the importance of the newly adopted Teton County Water Quality Management Plan (WQMP). The WQMP came about with significant investment by our team over the last two years and will shape our work towards a future with clean water for our community. Another critical project we established is an E. coli water quality monitoring program on Fish and Flat Creeks. This data informs public health notices from the Teton County Health Department regarding the health risks from swimming, fishing, or floating and helps the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (WDEQ) to monitor the changing bacteria levels. This year, we are working toward expanding our reach and returning to the origins of our organization by exploring funding for the collection of water chemistry information on Fish Creek, which recently became the first waterbody in Wyoming to officially be impaired for nutrients causing excess algal growth. This new research will support future restoration efforts through the Fish Creek Watershed Plan.
Advocacy is another important pillar. We keep an eye on wastewater entering our watershed by providing comments to the WDEQ when permits for large-capacity septic systems or point-source discharges come up for renewal. A recent success was pushing for Teton County to hire a Water Resources Coordinator to implement the WQMP, an essential step toward enacting sound policy and infrastructure decisions. Decisions like these rely on resilient systems for financing and governance. Recognizing this challenge, POWJH organized the Jackson Hole Water Symposium last fall which brought together scientists, politicians, engineers, and financiers to catalyze community action on essential tasks like curtailing nonpoint pollution and improving management of wastewater.
Since then, we have organized several other presentations from professionals like Dr. Kristin Gardner, the Chief Executive and Science Officer for the Gallatin River Task Force (GRTF). GRTF and partners successfully expanded environmental monitoring, updated septic system regulations, and championed a new wastewater treatment facility for the community of Big Sky, MT, which has been dealing with the detrimental impacts of recurrent algal blooms on the Gallatin River. In addition, we recently hosted Jill Jamieson, a globally recognized expert with thirty years of experience in infrastructure finance and public-private partnerships, for a series of presentations and conversations with electeds, County and Town staff, and wastewater operators from across the valley. Her extensive knowledge and experience in infrastructure development will be an invaluable resource as we look to make significant and lasting improvements to how our community impacts our watershed.
The final pillar, Education & Outreach, is vital to ensure the community understands the importance of protecting the watershed. Not only is our watershed special – we have more designated Wild and Scenic River miles than any other county in the country – it’s fragile. Due to the cold, clear baseline conditions in our lakes, rivers, and creeks, it doesn’t take a large increase in temperature, nutrient levels, or other contaminants to impact the wildlife that draws millions of visitors to our valley every year. We live in a dynamic gravel-bed river floodplain ecosystem, in which the river sustains us because it sustains the connected biological community we reside within.
Another important component of where we live is our groundwater, which freely exchanges with surface waters through the porous cobbles that comprise our valley floor. We rely on a Sole Source Aquifer, which is a special Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) designation for a groundwater supply that provides the majority of drinking water to a community without a viable alternative source. It is much easier for us to protect our drinking water than it would be to restore the aquifer. It’s critical that everyone who lives in or visits Teton County understands these defining traits. Over the past four years, POWJH has been awarded two consecutive EPA Environmental Education grants, allowing us to reach more members of the public through in-class lessons with students, large Rally For Clean Water outreach events, a septic system maintenance cost-share rebate program, and free drinking water well testing opportunities throughout the year.
POWJH’s three guiding principles work in tandem to safeguard Teton County’s water resources. By educating and empowering the public and our leaders, we will continue to mobilize action to realize the clean water future that we, and future generations, deserve. We cannot do this work without your support. During the last days of Old Bill’s Fun Run, please consider a donation to Protect Our Water Jackson Hole. Together, we can achieve a future where clean water is a lasting legacy for our community. To learn more visit: powjh.org.
