1/9 Floodplains, Burns Bog, Shell drill, Victoria sewer, BC LNG, warming record, rating Congress

Hamilton WA, Oct 2003 (Shore Woods Weather)

New blog: "It’s been a bit of a strange few days since the end of the old year and the beginning of the new-- being homebound because of an illness, watching our government turn itself inside out over a fiscal crisis, considering the usual constellation of resolutions to make myself a better person in the year to come.  A reflective period, as it were..." Bowl Alone, Die Alone

See mud on tree, build higher. This was the advice that Native Americans reportedly offered the pioneers that settled along a flood-prone stretch of the Skagit River in the present-day town of Hamilton. The immigrants were of hearty stock, but they weren’t good listeners. In the late 1890s, the two riverside settlements that neighbored Hamilton essentially floated away in the Skagit’s floodwaters. But the residents of Hamilton held on. Lisa Stiffler reports. How Salmon Could Save Us from Flood Damage

One of the world’s largest urban protected areas — Burns Bog — is getting 20 per cent bigger. And that is renewing calls for limited public access almost nine years after all levels of government paid $73 million to create the 2,042-hectare Burns Bog Ecological Conservancy Area in March 2004. Larry Pynn reports. Conservation society calls for public access to enlarged Burns Bog


The Obama Administration announced a sweeping inquiry into Shell Oil’s Arctic drilling program yesterday. The 60-day probe will look at the company’s mishaps in Alaska and here in Puget Sound. The announcement from Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar comes a week after a Shell oil rig ran aground in the Gulf of Alaska on New Year’s Eve. In a press release announcing the inquiry, Salazar said the Administration is fully committed to exploring for energy in the Arctic. But he also said the challenges posed by the Arctic environment demand a high level of scrutiny. John Ryan reports. Interior Dept. To Probe Shell’s Arctic Drilling Mishaps

A showdown between regional politicians and the B.C. government over authority to plan the new sewage treatment project will come to a head at a meeting Tuesday. Capital Regional District politicians have been fighting the government for months over language in a bylaw that would create a new commission of independent experts to manage the project.  Sewage project reaches another critical point

If you like to watch: Right near Skipjack Island (just north of Waldron) runs a gouge in the seafloor that marks an earthquake fault called, conveniently, the Skipjack Island fault. SeaDoc Society and Gary Greene examine examine the fault lines, upthrust sedimentary rocks, and evidence of drag along the fault-- and great rockfish habitat-- all revealed through high-resolution multi-beam bathymetry. Earthquakes and Rockfish Habitat -- What's the Connection?

If you like to watch: Beavers are destroying trees at a popular Seattle park, but not everyone agrees on how best to deal with the animals. Regulars at Ballard's Golden Gardens Park say beavers are taking down far too many trees and spoiling the park's natural beauty. Beavers wreaking havoc at Seattle park

Progress Energy has awarded a $5-billion natural gas infrastructure project across northern British Columbia to TransCanada Corp., the Calgary-based pipeline company. TransCanada will design, build, own and operate the proposed Prince Rupert Gas Transmission project for Progress. It will also extend an existing transmission line to connect with the Prince Rupert line to serve Progress and other gas suppliers. The Prince Rupert transmission line will carry gas from the North Montney region in northeastern British Columbia to a proposed export facility near Prince Rupert, B.C. Progress Energy picks TransCanada for $5B pipeline expansion  

The Port of Bremerton commissioners late Tuesday evening unanimously rejected both proposals from private entities to run the Bremerton Marina. Commissioners also closed the privatization process, for now. The marina is losing close to $400,000 a year. Port of Bremerton commissioners reject proposals to privatize marina

Facing low approval ratings after a historically unproductive 112th session and  a series of last-minute showdowns over fiscal matters, Congress is now less popular than root canals, NFL replacement referees, head lice, the rock band Nickelback, colonoscopies, carnies, traffic jams, cockroaches, Donald Trump, France, Genghis Khan, used-car salesmen and Brussel sprouts.  Congress less popular than cockroaches, traffic jams

According to NOAA scientists, 2012 marked the warmest year on record for the contiguous United States with the year consisting of a record warm spring, second warmest summer, fourth warmest winter and a warmer-than-average autumn. The average temperature for 2012 was 55.3°F, 3.2°F above the 20th century average, and 1.0°F above 1998, the previous warmest year.  2012 Was Warmest and Second Most Extreme Year On Record for the Contiguous U.S.

Los Angeles County got a reprieve in an ongoing dispute over who is responsible for pollution from storm water when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a ruling won by environmentalists. However, the court's 9-0 decision Tuesday did not deal with the larger question of how to regulate storm water and urban runoff flowing into the region's waterways. Last year, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the county was liable for pollution in the Los Angeles and San Gabriel rivers, and referred to the water flowing from the "concrete channels" into the natural part of the lower river as discharges of pollutants. The Supreme Court said the 9th Circuit's opinion rested on a mistaken premise and reversed it. The water flowing from one "concrete" section of the river to another section cannot be deemed a "discharge" of pollutants, the court said. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said "no pollutants are 'added' to a water body when water is merely transferred between different portions of that body." Abby Sewell and David Savage report. U.S. Supreme Court hands L.A. County a victory in water lawsuit  

Now, your tug weather--
WEST ENTRANCE U.S. WATERS STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA- 300 AM PST WED JAN 9 2013
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT THROUGH THIS EVENING
TODAY
W WIND 10 TO 20 KT...RISING TO 15 TO 25 KT. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT. W SWELL 12 FT AT 13 SECONDS...SUBSIDING TO 9 FT AT 12
 SECONDS. RAIN IN THE MORNING...THEN SHOWERS.
TONIGHT
W WIND 15 TO 25 KT...EASING TO 5 TO 15 KT. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT...SUBSIDING TO 2 FT OR LESS. W SWELL 9 FT AT 12 SECONDS.
 SHOWERS LIKELY IN THE EVENING...THEN A CHANCE OF SPRINKLES.
--
"Salish Sea News & Weather" is compiled as a community service by Mike Sato. To subscribe, send your name and email to msato@salishseacom.com. Your email information is never shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Salish Sea News: Communicate, Educate, Advocate

Follow on Twitter.

Salish Sea Communications: Truth Well Told