LOFALL — Lofall Creek gurgles through a quiet Hood Canal neighborhood, inviting but off limits. Children can’t splash in its water. Shellfish can’t be harvested on the beach where it meets the canal.
For the fifth straight year, the Kitsap County Health District has issued a no-contact advisory for the North Kitsap creek. Levels of fecal coliform bacteria in the creek more than two times higher than the level the county considers “contaminated.” Fecal coliform bacteria can indicate viruses and other pathogens in water.
Lofall Creek remains the second-most contaminated stream in the county. It was one of six in Kitsap subjected to health advisories
this spring, including Little Scandia Creek in Poulsbo.
“It’s frustrating,” said longtime Lofall resident Deb Harrington, who can hear the creek from her backyard. “They’ve been working on it for years and they still can’t figure it out.”
The stream frustrates county environmental specialists as well.
Tests show the contamination stems from leaking septic systems and animal feces. But the health district has tested all but a handful of septic systems in the Lofall Creek watershed.
In many cases, district employees inject dye into the septic system — pouring it into toilets and sinks — then track the dye to determine if the system is handling sewage properly. If a system is malfunctioning, the county works with the homeowner to get it fixed. Specialists also give homeowners information about how to properly maintain their septic systems.
The county identified and corrected two faulty systems in the Lofall drainage. But bacteria levels have shown a slight improvement, said Environmental Health Specialist Newton Morgan, who leads water monitoring on the creek.
“Usually we’d see a near immediate beneficial result,” Morgan said.
With only a few systems left to test, the county may have to reassess its strategy.
Morgan said the district is researching alternative ways of testing septic systems. It may also retest systems at different times of the year to check for seasonal failures. A system functioning properly in the summer, for example, might be leaking during winter rains.
One of the challenges facing environmental specialists is the makeup of the neighborhood. Lofall is home to many old houses. Some have septic and stormwater systems that were installed before stricter modern building standards were imposed. The Health District’s work is complicated by intersecting pipes and drainages even homeowners didn’t know existed.
“It’s taken a lot of detective work to track down what all the sources are,” county Environmental Health Specialist Shawn Ultican said.
Lofall is far from the only Kitsap creek struggling with high bacteria counts, but it is among the worst. Only Phinney Bay Creek in West Bremerton has shown higher fecal coliform counts; Lofall is a close second.
“They’re vying for first, or worst, depending on how you look at it,” Ultican said.
Kinman Creek, to the north of Lofall Creek, has also shown high bacteria levels but hasn’t met the threshold for a health advisory.
A no-contact advisory was issued for Little Scandia Creek this spring for the fourth time. Like Lofall Creek, a combination of faulty septic systems and animal waste appear to be driving up fecal coliform levels. The county is working to track down pollution sources on Little Scandia as part of a broader effort to drive down bacteria levels in Poulsbo’s Liberty Bay.
Little Scandia is one of five creeks — Big Scandia, Bjorgen, Daniels and Dogfish — that feed into Liberty Bay and show high levels of fecal coliform.
Environmental Health Specialist Kimberly Jones said the county is testing septic systems in the Scandia area. Two failing systems have been identified and one has been corrected.
“It’s a work in progress,” she said.
For more information on stream advisories, see www.kitsapcountyhealth.com.
