Protecting the water

This is the plate we bought at the Salute to the Sound auction saturday night. 3 local NW artists ( Lynn Dinino, Dick Weiss and Cappy Thompson) collaborated on this plate commemorating Puget Soundkeepers 30 years of protecting and preserving Puget sound. I do love river otters and am delighted to have this work of art and know the $ helps protect their habitat.

A word about Puget Soundkeeper Alliance. They were one of the first 6 licensed “waterkeeper” organizations in the nation which had a similar mission : to protect and preserve a body of water by monitoring, cleaning up and preventing pollutants from entering its waters. The Clean Water Act empowers citizens to enforce the law and bring polluters (industries, including marine industries with wastewater.. and storm water pollutants) into compliance. They have taken legal actions against many polluters, and awarded the funds won to local groups to repair environmental damage. They are on the water every week documenting and reporting pollution to the Dept .of Ecology and the US Coast Guard. Storm water drains have been diverted and cleaned up. Volunteers clean up trash. It’s a good example of a NON governmental organization of citizens making a difference. And now they are getting involved with the larger pollution issue affecting our planet, Climate change, and the coal and oil carried on trains in this area which of course make their way into the water as well…

The health of our plant life and wildlife depend on clean water. This photo isn’t Puget Sound, but freshwater Lake Washington which connects to saltwater Puget Sound….(a freshwater marsh, lilypads and geese in the back of the photo taken on a morning row...)