SOAP LAKE — The Washington Department of Ecology has designated Soap Lake an “outstanding resource water,” effective Jan. 18. Under the new designation, any new or expanded source of pollution on the lake could not make a measurable change in water quality.

“This level of protection would place extra requirements on new or expanded point source discharges to ensure pollution from wastewater is kept to a minimum,” according to a press release from DOE. “For nonpoint sources, this designation would require that certain best management practices are used to limit pollution from runoff to below measurable levels where total elimination is not feasible.”

The process allows for waterways to be nominated for the designation, and Soap Lake was nominated by the Soap Lake Conservancy and the Colville Confederated Tribes in 2021. 

Judith Gorman of the Soap Lake Conservancy said there have been a number of studies of the waters along the corridor from Grand Coulee Dam to Soap Lake, but few of them actually include Soap Lake itself. 

“There are now pathways that are clear, that have to be paid attention to, for Soap Lake,” she said. 

Soap Lake has a unique mineral makeup, Gorman said, and the goal will be to work with DOE to establish rules to study Soap Lake and determine how best to maintain it. 

During the comment period, Roger Sonnichsen of the Quincy-Columbia Basin Irrigation District wrote that QCBID operates a system designed to minimize the impact of irrigation runoff water on the lake. 

“(The irrigation district) understands that the rule proposal, including the rule itself and the rule implementation plan, will not alter or otherwise impact QCBID’s ongoing operation of the Soap Lake Protective Works,” he wrote.

In a submitted comment Burr Beckwith expressed concern about the drilling of “interception wells,” which are part of the irrigation district’s strategy to keep water from running into the lake and possibly changing the composition of the lake water. The DOE response said the management of the QCBID project is outside the scope of the outstanding resource water designation. 

In answer to a question from Alex Kovach, DOE officials said the designation does not require the agency to sample the lake water. Gorman said she hopes that a method for measuring and eventually maintaining the mineral content of the lake can be established. 

Chery Schweizer may be reached via email at cschweizer@columbiabasinherald.com.