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Water
Supply and Restrictions Where
does the District get its water supply? Where does the District get its water supply? The
District currently gets its water from several groundwater
wells. The wells are located throughout the District.
The District is not connected to the Regional Water
System (Seattle’s system) at this time. What are water rights and why are they important? Water
rights represent permission to use water and are issued
by the State Department of Ecology. Each well has an
associated water right that sets two limits to the amount
of water the District may draw from that specific well.
There is an annual amount, representing the maximum
volume of water that may be drawn over the course of
a calendar year, and an instantaneous amount, representing
the maximum rate at which the water can be taken from
the aquifer at any given time. If there is not a water
right associated with a well, the District may not use
the well for water supply. How did the District get its water rights? The
District gets water rights by making application to
the State Department of Ecology for permission to pump
water from wells it has drilled. The quantity of water
available to the District has increased over the years
since the District initially formed in 1948. The District
drilled additional wells and acquired associated water
rights as the District grew. The most recent water rights
were obtained in 1995. The Department of Ecology has
recently indicated that it is unlikely any more new
water rights will be issued to the District. How does the District decide the number of customers that can be served? The
District determines the number of customers that may
be served based on the total annual water right granted
to the District and the amount of water an average customer
uses over a year. The water allocation, through which
new water service is obtained, considers the total number
of customers the District could serve versus the number
of actual customers and potential customers that have
been promised water service. If the District has enough water rights for its existing customers, why was there a water shortage in the summer of 2001? The water shortage issue in 2001 had to do with peak season water demand. During the summer an average single-family residential customer may use three times the amount of water they would normally use in the winter. The District does not have instantaneous water rights that would allow us to pump water at a rate to meet the instantaneous peak demand.
The
peak season demand is met through a combination of instantaneous
water rights and storage. The condition of each well
and the condition of the aquifers affect the ability
of the District to use each well to the limits set by
the water rights. The dry winter and operational situations
affected the District’s ability to utilize the
instantaneous water rights to their maximum levels. Did the drought really affect the District’s groundwater supplies? Yes, the dry winter did affect the amount of water available to the District. The aquifer levels within the District are monitored, but predicting the aquifers’ response to each year’s changing climate conditions is still an inexact science. The District wells tap several aquifer systems, and each system responds differently to rainfall events.
The
Shallow Plateau Aquifer is the aquifer that is particularly
stressed this summer due to the dry winter. The rainfall
over the past spring will help to recharge this aquifer,
but these effects will not be seen in time to provide
water during the 2001 peak use season. The District
did augment the shallow plateau aquifer with water from
the Issaquah Valley Aquifer, however, this did not bring
the levels up substantially. What steps has the District taken to meet the peak water season demand? Additional Storage The District has been adding water storage capacity within the District through construction of additional storage tanks. The construction projects included two storage tanks holding four million gallons each in the Plateau Zone of the District, and one storage tank holding six hundred thousand gallons in the Cascade View Zone. One or the four million gallon tanks was put into service in June.
Management of Wells The District has been working for several years to address the operational problems associated with a few wells in the Plateau Zone. The District has requested permission from the Department of Ecology to pump the water from newer wells that do not have operational limitations. For instance, requests associated with Wells 5 and 6 were made in 1994, but the District has not been able to compel the Department of Ecology to make a decision, although they have had the requests for over 7 years. The alternative to transferring these water rights to a newer well is to re-drill the existing wells. The District will be considering this course of action if the Department of Ecology indicates they will not act on the District’s request.
New Supply Sources The
District is also moving forward with project planning
to allow a connection to the Regional Water Supply system. Can the District stop new development? The
District is not a land use agency, but is here to provide
water and sewer service to customers within the District’s
service area. Land use agencies have the power to set
zoning and review applications for new development.
Land use agencies within the District’s boundaries
include the City of Sammamish, City of Issaquah and
King County. If however, the District does not have
water supply to support a request for additional customer
connections, an application for development would probably
not be approved by the land use agency. This applies
to building a single home, as well as subdivisions and
multi-family developments. Did the District implement water use restrictions in 2001? Yes.
The District implemented the Water Shortage Response
Plan in the Advisory Stage in February 2001. The Voluntary
Stage of the plan was put into effect in early April.
The move to Mandatory Restrictions was made on July
16, 2001. The District moved out of its plan on October
8, 2001. Were customers able to reduce their water consumption during the summer of 2001? Yes.
District customers reduced consumption by 16% in June,
25% in July, and 39.5% in August. The District needed
at least a 20 percent reduction in order to ensure adequate
water for public health and safety. How did the District choose the water use restrictions for 2001? The District had previously developed a Water Shortage Response Plan. This Plan includes a list of restrictions that could be used to save water. The District selected four restrictions from this list based on the amount of water they could potentially save, the ease with which the restriction could be understood and followed, and the ability of the District to enforce the restriction. The
selected options focused on where the largest increase
in water use during the summer occurred, where there
were options available, trying to implement restrictions
that would not have a long-lasting effect. What is the District expecting to do in future years? The District will evaluate the system’s condition at the beginning of next year before any decisions are made. At a minimum, the regular District Conservation Plan will continue to be implemented. The Conservation Plan includes many educational programs, provision of speakers to community groups, garden seminars, low water use appliance rebate programs, and use of the Lawn Watering Calendar on a voluntary basis.
The Water Shortage Response Plan will only be implemented if necessary.
The
District is listening to our customers and noting suggestions
for changes or modifications to this year’s restrictions
and programs. Changes that could work better for our
customers, while still saving water will be considered
for inclusion in the Plan. |