Puget Sound cleanup relies on the basics

Protecting the health of Puget Sound may have less to do with writing eye-popping checks than doing the complex, tedious work of updating water-quality standards and enforcing existing rules.

Three years ago, the federal Environmental Protection Agency, in no great odor with environmentalists, had even lost patience with the state Department of Ecology for its laggardly review of water-quality standards. The EPA refused to approve submitted standards and returned them for more work. Last week, Ecology announced it had revised and toughened a narrow range of water-quality regulations, including those related to temperature and dissolved oxygen, important to the health of salmon populations in dozens of watersheds across the state.

Instead of a low drumroll and a round of applause, the reception has been a roll of the eyes and a "what took you so long?" If the state is slow and haphazard about updating water-quality standards, then enormous tasks of cleaning up and protecting Puget Sound are much harder to accomplish and promote to the public.

A measure of the Sound's health is connected to those watersheds, and their health and resilience depend on the enforcement and implementation of existing laws.

The Puget Sound Partnership makes that point in its recommendations to Gov. Chris Gregoire.

The good news is the state made some progress. Too bad it came at the prodding of outside regulators. As Kathy Fletcher, executive director of People for Puget Sound, notes, "It's another example of how far behind we are in doing the most basic things."

Taxpayers already pay for an administrative infrastructure to protect Puget Sound. One of the governor's obligations is to ensure that what is in place, works.