WSU students help clean up Illia Dunes

The Walla Walla District U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began reopening the Illia Dunes beach and adjacent shallow waters on Monday after crews cleaned up the area that morning.

The dunes had been closed to the public since Sept. 7 because of environmental damage and potential public health and safety concerns after an unexpected crowd of about 1,800 people on Sept. 6 left significant amounts of trash and human waste.

The corps received offers of volunteer cleanup assistance. The Corps’ Natural Resources Management staff coordinated with two organized groups of volunteers, the Associated Students of Washington State University and WSU’s Center for Civic Engagement, using a limited number of people during the cleanup to maintain safety and efficiently manage work efforts.

Student groups for WSU also assisted the corps two years ago when the dunes were trashed at the beginning of the school year.

Following completion of trash cleanup and a safety inspection of the area, Illia Dunes was reopened.

The corps is reviewing the incident and management policies with an eye toward preventing future similar problems.

Corps staff plans to monitor visitors’ use of Illia Dunes and encourage them to enjoy their visit without breaking laws or offending other visitors.

Illia Dune parking is restricted to two nearby corps parking lots. Because of the size, configuration of available space and limited maneuverability for larger vehicles, no busses are allowed to park in these lots. The two parking lots hold about 120 cars. Although not a new requirement, it should be noted that tour and school buses must contact the dam at least 24 hours in advance for crossing authorization.

Public parking is not allowed on the adjacent 50-mph Almota Ferry Road. No Parking signs have been placed along the roadway.

The corps has the option of banning alcohol consumption on corps lands at any time and such bans are in place at several locations in the region. While alcohol consumption at Illia Dunes is not banned at this time, underage drinking is not allowed. State laws prohibit driving or boating under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Drugs are prohibited on federal lands.

Operation or use of any sound-producing equipment in such a manner as to unreasonably annoy other visitors is prohibited.

Glass containers are not allowed on the dunes and the corps provides free trash bags for visitors to use for “pack it in, pack it out” trash removal.

Before Monday’s cleanup water elevation was lowered between three and four feet on Lake Bryan, the reservoir upstream of Little Goose Lock and Dam on the Snake River to facilitate in-water and shoreline trash cleanup.

Terri Haas, who operates Boyer Park and Marina with her husband Leo, said lowering the lake won’t affect the marina because the water level is very high now.

“We’re probably three feet higher than normal,” she said, adding that the higher water level has been affecting the lake since Labor Day weekend. She said the level is so high that some of the beaches have disappeared.

Lake Bryan is 37.2 miles long and has 565,200 acre feet of water at full reservoir level, 638 feet.