For the first time in recorded history, a stretch of the Spokane River ran completely dry this summer, leaving a mile-and-a-half gap in Spokane Valley between Barker and Sullivan Road. Jule Schultz, the waterkeeper for nonprofit environmental protection organization Spokane Riverkeeper, said the sight was devastating.
“There were dead fish, dead crawdads everywhere,” Schultz said. “It was an environmental catastrophe and tragedy for our river.”
It is one of many environmental issues the Spokane area has faced in recent years, which included hotter summers, recurring drought and smoke-filled skies from nearby wildfires…