Norm

I had thought of this
also - and furthermore have posted to all WRIA 16 members - that PT (and all
UGAs) should be forced to super purify waste water and return it to aquifers -
instead of dumping it into waterways. These people are not paying their share,
but they turn around and batter the owners of on site
systems all the time!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am sick of the injustice, and we should
seek equal treatment under the 14th amendment.

The water coming out
of the Big Quil should run at max flow all Winter and
Spring, and the extra be placed directly in the Quimper and Chimacum
aquifers - the the fish huggers should be told to
STFU (shut the f#*k up) - people come first and aren't we paying their fricking salaries anyway !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Support STATE's RIGHTS
- Push back the FEDERALES including National Marine Fisheries
Service. These people should be forced to dine on Summer Chum for a couple
weeks - you would never hear from them again!

Ken Shock

http://brinnonprosperity.org

On Fri, Feb 20, 2009 at 5:12 PM,
Norman MacLeod  wrote:

The following article appeared in the February
20, 2009 Jefferson County edition of the Peninsula Daily News.

Jefferson PUD eyes
city water

By Erik Hidle

Peninsula Daily News

The Jefferson County
Public Utility District wants to buy some of the city of Port Townsend's water,
but city officials aren't sure they want to sell.

Jefferson County PUD
Commissioner Wayne King has long said that the utility, as the provider of
water and sewer services to county residents, is interested in the city's
seemingly abundant water supply.

The city operates its
own water and sewer utility, separate from the PUD.

"Our deal is to
look for water for the people," King said.  "That's what we do.

"We are working
to find more water by raising the levels of lakes and investigating reverse
osmosis [from sea water].

"One thing
we want to do is to purchase city water and test an aquifer
storage and recharge in the area."

King explained that an
aquifer storage and recharge meant pumping water back into the ground of a
watershed in an effort to improve long-term water availability.

"What we're
trying to do with the study is see if it will work and if it is feasible,"
King said.

"This would not
just help the county.  This could help the city residents as well."

King said the city's
water supply is  the obvious place to get the
water from because of the availability.

Difficulties

Port Townsend Mayor
Michelle Sandoval said that the city was willing to discuss such an idea, but
that the city's water asset comes with a few twists that might make such a deal
difficult.

"Our water comes
from the Big Quilcene and Little Quilcene
rivers," Sandoval said.  "It has forever — since the town
first got water."

Sandoval said the supply
has been abundant in the past, but that the situation could change because
withdrawals of the water are being monitored by federal agencies.

Historically, the city
has operated under a special use easement from the U.S. Forest Service to run
pipes across the forest land from the rivers to the city.

However, when the
agreement was up for renegotiation 10 years ago, the Forest Service and
National Marine Fisheries Service became concerned about summer-run chum
habitat.

The fisheries service
issued an opinion in 2006 recommending water withdrawals be cut off between
August and October each year to help the chum.

"If this shutdown
were implemented, it would lead to the closure of the Port Townsend Paper Corp.
mill," Sandoval said.

The city takes
approximately two million gallons of water from the system daily and the mill
— Jefferson County's largest employer with about 300 workers —
takes between 11 million and 15 million each day, she said.

The city and the mill
pull water from different lakes, but the water is from the same source.

"The mill helped
with getting the pipes in for that, and so they too get a part of that
water," Sandoval said.

"The problem is
if we lose the rights to the water, then we're in trouble."

Temporary solution

As a way of
temporarily solving the problem, an agreement was reached between the city and
the federal agencies in May 2008 that the city and the mill could continue to
withdraw water from the rivers for five years while the situation was monitored.

After the five-year
period, the situation would be re-evaluated.

Sandoval said that
because the city's water withdrawal is being monitored so closely, any deals
could potentially put the city — and the mill — in a dangerous
position.

"At this point we
don't have the full permit yet," Sandoval said.

"We have to
continually monitor our water usage for five years to make sure there is enough
water coming out of the stream for the fish.

"We want to keep
the same level as we're at right now, because if they say we are creating
biological issues for the chum, they might pull our permit.

"They will be
looking at the data and we have to be very cautious."

Still, Sandoval said,
she would like to hear the PUD's proposal for an aquifer recharge and was
willing to discuss other possible partnerships with the PUD.

"This discussion
will continue," she said.

"The council will
continue to be briefed about the water issues."

Joint meet coming up

Water in Jefferson
County — including the PUD's interest in city water — was the topic
of a Jan. 29 meeting at the Olympia office of Rep. Lynn Kessler, D-Hoquiam,
House majority leader and a representative of the 24th District, which includes
Jefferson, Clallam and part of Grays Harbor counties.

Attending were
Sandoval, King, Jefferson County Commissioner David Sullivan and private
citizen Norm MacLeod.

King and Sandoval said
they will discuss it again at a joint meeting between the City Council and the
PUD commissioners some time in the next month.

"We will continue
talking," Sandoval said, "but we're going to be cautious to protect
the city's interests."

__________________________

Reporter Erik Hidle can be reached at 360-385-2335 or
at

[email-masked]