​The City of Spokane will spend about $350 million in the next few years on projects to improve the health of the Spokane River. City Utilities Division Director Rick Romero recently provided an overview of this work, and his talk now is available on the City’s web site and is scheduled for replay on CityCable 5.

It's titled “The City’s Integrated Plan and the Role of Green Solutions.” The City is developing an Integrated Clean Water Plan that will prioritize projects based on their positive environmental impact to the river. The goal is to create a plan that is both environmentally and financially responsible.

In particular, the plan will include work to improve treatment at the City’s Riverside Park Water Reclamation Facility and reduce the amount of stormwater and wastewater entering the River without treatment. Projects to reduce untreated discharges to the river from both separated storm sewers and combined sanitary and stormwater sewers are a big part of the effort. The work will include new green technologies for managing stormwater on site as well as more traditional “gray” storage tanks.

Overall, some 54 million gallons of combined wastewater and stormwater enters the river through 20 discharge points from our combined sewer system annually. Another 1 billion gallons of untreated stormwater enters the river through separated storm drains, primarily located on the North Side.

Romero’s talk will be shown on CityCable 5 on:

Thursday, Nov. 14 – noon
Friday, Nov. 15 – 9 a.m.
Saturday, Nov. 16 – 6 p.m.
Thursday, Nov. 21 – noon
Friday, Nov. 22 – 9 a.m.
Saturday, Nov. 23 – 6 p.m.
Thursday, Nov. 28 – noon
Friday, Nov. 29 – 9 a.m.
Saturday, Nov. 30 – 6 p.m.

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The 35-minute video of Romero’s talk also can be found on the CityCable 5 online archive. Go to http://www.spokanecity.org/services/citycable5/streamingmedia/, select “Other Programs,” and then select “Green Solutions: The City’s Integrated Plan and the Role of Green Solutions.”

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