Is there a Critical Shortage of Water in
Eastsound, or the Eastsound Aquifer?
Eastsound Water Users Association (EWUA) claims there is a critical
problem with the recharge of the Eastsound.
The EWUA claim is that The Dept. of Ecology has already issued water
rights that exceed the sustainable recharge of the aquifer by a factor
of two.
However when DOE reviewed EWUA's data, they allowed wells to be moved
around in the Eastsound aquifer and made the observation
that significant sources of recharge were not taken into account by
EWUA's analysis.
EWUA has paid a great deal for several engineering reports that they
waive around as proof of the shortage.
The reports are stamped by professional engineers and impressively
thick (passing the "poundage test" as one county commissioner
described.)
How could such impressively thick
reports not be correct?
The State
Dept. of Ecology review of EWUA's request for a moratorium on
exempt wells in Eastsound and reported:
"This
data shows that the
aquifer is not being mined and suggests that
the current ground water
withdrawals in the area are sustainable at least at their current rates.
"
There are several shortcomings of the model EWUA is touting:
- When the state Dept. of
Ecology examined the EWUA applications, they
pointed out that significant components of recharge have been omitted,
such as "Mountain Front
Recharge." If you download the DOE word document, search for the
word "sustainable".
- The above DOE report of examination clearly states the existing
rates of withdrawal are sustainable.
- Only excerpts of the EWUA reports are available to the public,
some
times only 10 pages from a document more than an inch thick, this has
to make you wonder if the author expressed some reservations in the
other 90% of the document.
- To use 5000 gallons per day, 365 days per year for each exempt
well is a gross exaggeration. This is a very
significant error. Much better data is available from the
state stating that on average an exempt well pumps only 334 gallons
per day , of which only 85 GPD is consumptive.
- In chapter 2 of the county Water
Resource Management Plan, read footnote 1 carefully, the county has
used 5000 gpd for every exempt well!
- What little information has been made public contains significant
omissions and errors such as assuming that rain falling on an
impervious surface never has a chance to percolate into the ground. For
example if there is a rock outcropping in the middle of a field the
EWUA model assumes that the runoff somehow gets to the ocean without
crossing the gravel field. A more accurate model would use the higher
permeability of the surrounding field.
- Roughly half of the water EWUA delivers to its customers ends up
going to Eastsound Sewer. The other half ends up in gardens, in
residential septic systems, or somewhere on the property. A large
fraction of this ends up percolating into the soil and ultimately
recharging the aquifer.
- The EWUA model assumes that the only source of water in the
Eastsound Basin is rainfall.
While this assumption is correct for the island as a whole, when you
look at a basin with hills on two sides, you must take into account the
fact that their is water coming down from those hills!
- The EWUA model can not explain the presence of the 5 or more
artesian wells known to exist in the Eastsound area.
The first symptom of inadequate recharge is the static level in wells
begins to drop. The Dept. of Ecology monitors independent wells.
Their reports show that the water level is stable over the years, or
even rising in the last half decade! This contradicts the assertion
that too much water is being drawn from the aquifer.
When the water levels drop, then the perimeter of the aquifer is
vulnerable to salt water intrusion.
This is very easy to detect, the water tastes salty!
A simple test in your own home with a $20 ohm meter
from Radio Shack. can detect concentrations way below levels of
concern.
There are no known cases of salt water intrusion in the Eastsound Area.
There have been problems in the Lopez village area, but that is not
connected to Eastsound.
Salt water intrusion does not contaminate the entire aquifer as some
people have quipped. The problem usually first appears near the shore.
Once there is a concern, the pumping rate is reduced and the fresh
water flowing underground from the annual rainfall flushes out the
salt. This is done on a regular basis in California where large wells
are used to pump water down into the ground to reverse salt water
intrusion and maintain the water levels. I'm not suggesting that here,
but it is a known science.
This page will be updated to point out more inadequacies in the EWUA
model and in most cases simple inexpensive improvements will be
proposed.
There could indeed be a problem in the distant future, but the rumors
or the demise of the Eastsound Aquifer are grossly exaggerated.
Return to East Orcas Watershed
Planning
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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.
Last updated Feb 7, 2005