East Orcas
Watershed
Planning
There is a tremendous amount of information available about water in
San Juan County.
Sadly, there is also a significant
amount of misinformation, misunderstandings, and often it is very
difficult to find information.
This web page is intended to share sources
of information, links and notes in an attempt to clear up
misunderstandings.
Bibliography
Strategic Long Term Drought
Planning? Or Just Plain Common Sense?
Does it make any sense for Rosario to run a hydro generator using our
drinking
water reservoirs during
a state wide drought?
Here is simple plan that would
save over one hundred million of gallons of drinking water each year,
while keeping Rosario's water rights more secure than they are now:
Please take
time to review the Mountain
Lake Conservation Plan
The East Orcas Watershed is complicated and has been significantly
altered from it's natural state.
Click
here
is
a diagram that shows the flow of water and has links to many of the
details
click for a larger picture
Here is the overflow from the Cascade Lake Dam on its way to Puget
Sound (Apr 8,2005), during the statewide drought.
Mountain lake did not reach capacity
(top of the stop logs in the spillway) in the 2005 rainy season.
During this time while Cascade Lake
was already overflowing from natural recharge,
water was being dumped out of Mountain Lake without any beneficial use.
The diversion from Cascade Creek to Cascade Lake is know to have leaks
and substantial return flow, but to find that none
of water "diverted" was reaching Cascade Lake,
even when the flow was
increased to 3 CFS in Nov 2005 (picture below) the ditch is dry::
The Rosario hydro generator was reported as running normally (separate
flow from above, through a penstock.)
Please follow the Mountain Lake Conservation Plan link above the
picture for more details on how this precious resource can be conserved.
Historical graphs of the water
level in Mountain Lake and other information on the Mountain Lake Dam.
Who has water
rights in the Mountain Lake/Cascade Creek Watershed?
Here is page of the Rosario
owned water rights in Cascade Lake. This list may not be complete,
I will check with DOE.
A section on water district proposals on Orcas Island will be
inserted here.
The June 2004 draft of the San
Juan County Water
Resource Management Plan
continues to assume that each exempt
well consumes 5000 gallons per day, 365 days per year. I do not think this assumption is not
reasonable!
Much better data is
available from
the state stating that 334 gpd is typical, of which only 85 gpd
is consumptive (does not get back into the aquifer.)
Such spins on data will lead
to incorrect decisions that will end up costing taxpayers money.
If you do not agree with the assumption that every exempt well is using
5000 gpd 365 days per year, contact:
Vicki Heater or Mark Tomkins with San Juan Health
and Community Services (360) 378 4474
There is a great deal of very informative information in the Water
Resource Management Plan, it is worth reading.
San Juan County sites related
to water: Health
and Community Services Drinking Water Program and Environmental Health
Services
The East Orcas Water Supply
Committee:
How many well
owners or water right applicants in the Eastsound
area have been invited to
participate in the Eastsound
Aquifer abbreviated coordinated water system plan?
(date, time, and location tbd)
Originally this group was called the "East Orcas Watershed
Management committee."
The focus was then reduced to "Water
Supply."
I do not see how one could contemplate managing water supply without
coordinating with
the rest of the watershed issues.
The meetings are supposed to be open
to the public, but most of the
meeting notices were not announced
in the paper this year - since the notice was regularly sent to
the publisher the same day
the paper came out that it had to be in.
After pointing this out several times to the committee, I concluded
that this as a decision,
rather than an oversight.
One explanation offered was that the public was notified about
the
meeting the previous year
(although the day, time
and location have since changed.)
The meetings should be open to the
public, with proper meeting notices and agendas published before the
meeting,
so that interested parties can participate in the process.
I have offered to maintain a web site to post the minutes, links and
announcements on behalf of the East Orcas Water Supply Committee.
The chairperson described me as "computer hyper"
and blew off yet another
good idea. Too bad, his loss,.
Here is a link to my notes, published agendas, and minutes:
There are several agendas and minutes not included, if anyone has
copies,
please forward them.
I'll include them (with or without credits,
your choice) The more information we can share the better.
For additional information, upcoming agendas or meeting times, contact:
Vicki Heater or Mark Tomkins with San Juan Health
and Community Services (360) 378 4474
The East Orcas Water Supply Committee was formed by the BOCC is a sub
committee of the San
Juan
County Watershed Management Committee.
They came up with The
San Juan County Watershed Management Action Plan and a draft Water
Resource Management Plan.
Both very useful information and are essential
reading for
anyone interested in the unique water
issues in this county.
There are errors such as the continued use of 5000 gpd, 365 days/yr for
exempt wells, but in general the information is very useful.
The Water Resource Management Committee holds regular monthly meetings
in Friday Harbor.
If anyone knows
where the minutes are published, I would like to include a link, as I
have
only one or two of
them.
The East Orcas Water Supply Committee has no authority, it can only
pass "recommendations" to the Watershed Management Committee, which
reports to the San Juan County BOCC. But all too often it is
clear to me that the
Watershed Management Committee has already reached a final conclusion
before the East Orcas Water Supply Committee has even gathered data!
The
last meeting in the spring of 2005 was a good example where a "final
report" was distributed for comments before the data had
been gathered. Grudgingly, the word final was taken out of the report,
and it will be reviewed over the summer after the data the conclusions
depend on has been gathered. When the final report was submitted to the
BOCC, it contained factual errors and did not include significant
dissenting opinions that have merit.
I believe that if more people on Orcas Island knew about the water
issues they would be interested in participating in the planning
meetings,
or at least holding our county officials accountable to publish meeting
notices and minutes in a timely fashion.
On Nov 29, 2005, the BOCC did not accept the East Orcas Water Supply
Committee's report. We should take this opportunity to conduct open
public meetings with published agendas, complete minutes and follow the
general guidelines for open public meetings, even though this is not
required by the law.
The issue of a moratorium on exempt
wells has come up several times,
as well as other significant issues that would affect existing well
owners and water right applicants.
Maybe the state DOE can provide a list of water right applicants
in the
Eastsound area? Then they could be invited.
Island County has a
concise seawater intrusion policy that is scientifically based
that should be used on Orcas Island as a model to avoid the appearance
of forcing a moratorium for the financial benefit of EWUA.
Here is (3.7 MB) Power
Point presentation on Sea Water Intrusion
presented by Doug Kelly to the BOCC.
Wells in areas where the fresh water level is greater than 8.4 ft ASL
have little risk of sea water intrusion.
In his presentation to the BOCC on sea water intrusion, the hydrologist
consultant (Vicki: Can you provide his name and an electronic copy
please) stated that a detailed study in Island County demonstrates that
if the water table is 8.4' ASL, then sea water intrusion is highly
unlikely. He also stated that exempt wells have virtually no impact.
An exempt well user with a private septic field consumes on average
about 85 GPD (more is pumped, but seeps back into the aquifer as
recharge).
It is significant to note that if this user is converted over to EWUA
and the Eastsound Sewer, the recharge is eliminated and the consumptive
use increases to about 300 GPD. EWUA is openly seeking a moratorium on
exempt wells, both directly and via the back door by blocking building
permits. It is hard to understand how the same party can argue that
there is not enough water available for an exempt well, but the water
is there if EWUA pumps it from the same body of water.
If EWUA's motive for the moratorium on exempt wells is simply to gain
another customer and eliminate an alternative, then the county should
not back the financial motive. As long as legal setbacks are met and
the well is properly maintained, it should be left to the home owner to
decide if they wish to use an exempt well as allowed by the State Dept
of Ecology.
The Eastsound Aquifer and the
Crisis
Is the water shortage in Eastsound due to the GMA?
Click
here for my opinion.
If you don't live in Eastsound, why
should you care about their water problem?
Is the water shortage a
problem or a crisis?
The June 2004 draft of the San Juan County Water
Resource Management Plan
continues to assume that each exempt
well consumes 5000 gallons per day, 365 days per year. This is a
gross
exaggeration.
Much better data is available from
the state stating that 334 gpd is typical, of which only 85 gpd
is consumptive (does not get back into the aquifer.)
Such exaggerations will certainly lead
to incorrect decisions that will end up costing taxpayers money.
Should exempt wells be
allowed
in the Eastsound area?
Wa State Dept. of
Ecology statement on Mountain Front Recharge of the Eastsound Aquifer.
Surface
Water Storage Assessment (San Juan County)
$13,000,000
to get water to Eastsound? Aug. 2004 BOCC minutes
Is there a critical shortage of
water in the Eastsound Aquifer? Or not?
Destruction
to estuarine wetland on Cascade Creek
due to the culvert "temporary repair" as it flows into Buck Bay
Any suggestions on how to obtain funding to replace the culvert
where Cascade Creek goes under Pt Lawrence Rd would be greatly
appreciated.
Shoreline
photo (before flooding)
Useful links and
other water shed planning sites and related information:
The Friends of the San Juans
published
a
great educational newsletter on our island water issues and wetlands
(Summer 2005)
San
Juan Islander articles on Eastsound water
Wa State Dept. of Health,
Office
of Drinking Water
Dept. of Ecology
Watershed planning
Chapter
90.82 RCW Watershed planning
MRSC
Watershed planning
Dept. of Fish and Wildlife
USGS water
issues
Chehalis River Council
(Good watershed planning example)
MRSC Local government news and
resources
Salmon in Cascade Creek
Wildlife and plants in the Cascade
Creek,
Mountain Lake watershed
Minutes, letters and other stuff:
BOCC
1/27/2003 meeting
minutes on the proposed moratorium on exempt wells in Eastsound
Sandy's
response to the Islands'
Sounder article on a proposed
moratorium on wells in Eastsound
Letter
to the Board of County Commissioners about Eastsound ground water
modeling
Ecology
guidelines that allow us to use estimated use for exempt wells and
recharge of the ground water due to septic systems
Estimates of Ground
Water Recharge by Laura A. Orr, Henry H. Bauer, and J.A. Wayenberg
Letter from
Susan Key to the San Juan BOCC, May 23, 2000
East Orcas Water
Supply Committee (almost) Final Report (updated by SJWMC)
Return to Olga Water Users Inc. home
page
Diagram of
water flow from Mountain Lake to Cascade Creek and Cascade Lake
East Orcas Watershed
Planning
These pages are intended to include relevant public information
for the benefit of those who care about these remarkable watersheds on
Orcas Island. The ideas and opinions presented here do not
necessarily represent the
policies, procedures or opinions of Olga Water Users Inc. or it's
board. My thanks to Olga Water Users for allowing this to be posted
under their web site.
If you have information to add, or corrections, please call Sandy
Taylor at 376 3815.
Or email:
I hope this information useful to the community.
click for a larger picture