The report, Freshwater Fish Contaminant Monitoring Program: 2014 Results, is available at https://fortress.wa.gov/ecy/publications/SummaryPages/1603027.html

The Department of Ecology’s Freshwater Fish Contaminant Monitoring Program sampled fish from the Yakima River basin in 2014.  Results are highlighted for Keechelus Lake and three mainstem river sites: the canyon upstream of Roza Dam, the river near Prosser, and the Horn Rapids to Kiona reach.  Goals were to characterize: (1) contaminant concentrations in fish tissue and (2) spatial and temporal patterns.

Washington’s water quality standards for contaminants in fish tissue were met for most of the chemicals analyzed.  However, some samples from each site did not meet standards for one or more of: 4,4’-DDE, dieldrin, toxaphene, t-PCBs, and dioxins/furans.

Spatial and temporal trends in Yakima River fish were seen for some contaminants.  Spatially, concentrations of 4,4’-DDE increased in a downstream direction.  This was true to a lesser extent for many other organic chemicals.

Temporal trends were seen in concentrations of 4,4’-DDE and PCBs in whole largescale suckers, yet not for fillet tissue from other species.  Between the 1990s and the 2014, median levels of 4,4’-DDE in whole suckers from the Canyon, Prosser, and Horn Rapids-Kiona sites decreased by 73%, 56%, and 87%, respectively.  Decreases in median levels of PCBs in suckers from these same sites were 41%, 41%, and 85%, respectively.

If you have questions, contact Keith Seiders at 360-407-6689 or keith.seiders@ecy.wa.gov.

Diana Ruth Olegre

Web Coordinator and SharePoint Site Collection Administrator
Washington State Department of Ecology

Environmental Assessment Program 

diana.olegre@ecy.wa.gov
360-407-6696