Amelia AM Marchand, WRS CCT Environmental Trust Department

• Winter 2014/Spring 2015: Washington State snowpack 50% of normal in all 12 major river basins

• May 2015: Gov. Inslee declares a statewide drought • June 2015: CCT Water Administrator issues water use restriction

on Reservation, ceasing all surface water withdrawal (except IA during fire suppression)

• Expected impacts: increasing risk of dust storms (haboobs), reduced water availability, establishing intergovernmental partnerships for drought relief

326,266 total acres burned

• 3.5 days of intense smoke = reduced visibility for fire fighting assessments

• Summer heat + drought = temperature in the Okanogan River to reach 84°F at one point; reduced population of summer steelhead restoration in Omak Creek (a $9 million investment by CCT)

• Post-fire flooding, erosion and sediment loading downstream from some burned areas increases 1,000-2,000%

• Health evacuations: communities, Tribal Convalescent Center, Tribal Correctional Facility; respiratory problems from the smoke (within 1hr the PM2.5 monitor in Omak was clogged),

• 147 homes impacted (in Tunk Block Fire only, none lost in North Star): 30 destroyed, the rest had smoke or other damage

• Tribal government: 220 buildings assessed; 75 with smoke damage (insurance estimate over $2.4 million)

• Culture: 8 campgrounds in the fire area – reduction of traditional hunting and gathering use, need to manage hazard trees

• Economy: CCT government was shut down for 3.5 days due to air quality, Okanogan County Fair postponed, Ferry County Fair cancelled, closure of Hwy 155 reduced movement of goods across the state, reducing in fishing license sales

• Telecom infrastructure (SNOTEL, KSPS, AT&T, Verizon, CCT Tribal PD, CCT MTFC): Moses Mountain, Mission Ridge, Omak Mountain

• Education: postponed all school start dates within 50-mile radius back two weeks; 4-H camp at Bonaparte Lake evacuated (including Japanese exchange students)

• Over 300mi of dozerline on fires • Over 100mi of fencing impacted • Numbers for livestock (primarily cattle) are unknown, possibly 500 still not back; grazing days and

forage lost • High potential of flooding, landslide, debris flow events

Social Media Outreach

• CCT IT backhaul was down, bandwidth was exhausted with Centurylink, satellite latency causes timeouts

• Coordinating generator fuel-ups for back up power to cell towers on Omak Mtn. • Communicating events, notices and activities in real time – limited to no TV

coverage • Frequently, those being evacuated, those doing critical gov’t services, and those

doing emergency response were the same people – high levels of stress • Actual looting and fear of looting prohibited people from evacuating • Assessing fire and fire suppression impacts to the natural and built environment • Coordinating with IMTs, EOCs and State/County agencies difficult; roles &

responsibility of CCT unclear to outside agencies • Map production for evacuation and transportation difficult to coordinate with

EOC • High winds during fire additional hazardous conditions • Extremely hazardous driving conditions for days due to intense smoke

• No loss of human life • CCT Correctional Facility safely coordinated evacuation of all inmates, CCT Convalescent Center

safely coordinated evacuation of all patients • CCT Tribal Health and Air Quality Program coordinated with Medical Reserve Corps, Air Resource

Advisors • CCT IT: one person was assigned to track IT trouble tickets (i.e. work orders) • CCT IT coordinated with Hughes Net and installed 4 satellites for internet access within 3 days • Started a CCT Emergency Operations Center Facebook page, linked it with all county EOCs • CIHA placed four families displaced by the fires in available homes, first 30 days are rent-free • CCT and Okanogan County coordinating post-fire recovery meetings and events • CCT Tribal Health coordinating with Okanogan and Ferry Counties on ESF-8 • Coordinate potable water resources, evacuation sites, medication deliveries, waste and spoiled food

disposal • CCT BAER team activated, called national BAER team in to assist • Area gas stations put signs on pumps and reader boards asking drivers to keep their lights on

• IMT teams come in with different communication systems than what are available (ATT vs Verizon) • CCT IT recommends restricting casual and nonessential use of internet and cell services during emergencies • CCT IT working with Verizon for emergency response system • More control of telecom infrastructure during emergencies • Okanogan County PUD now coordinating with CCT MTFC to revive and coordinate a Firewise Public Education

Program • Tribal/BIA employees with roles on emergency response should not be re-assigned • Tribally-owned fee properties off the reservation are a jurisdictional grey area for emergency response – still

working out kinks • Recognize that stress, trauma and depression from these incidents are long lasting • Essential social services should remain available during emergencies: WIC, behavioral health, Tribal health, etc. • Establish communication with other jurisdictions via a liaison as early as possible and participate in every meeting • Activate a BAER team as soon as possible to begin natural resource damage assessments • State or national EOC and BAER teams provide training opportunity and establish positive relationships with other

agencies • Financial assistance available for rental or mortgage assistance with NEWRA and CWRA • Re-evaluate critical roles & responsibilities during emergencies – training tracks must include disaster/emergency

response • CCT AQP can handle air quality forecasting for fires 30,000 acres or less, but larger fires/complexes would need the

assistance of an Air Resource Advisor. • Wearing N-95 masks helps to breath clean air, but people don’t like to wear them

Amelia Marchand Water Regulatory Specialist CCT Environmental Trust Department [p] 509.634.2585 [e] amelia.marchand@colvilletribes.com