What are our options for meeting our community water needs?
We have many options, actually. the first problem, as always, involves getting agreement on what our needs are.
For example, one of our options may well turn out to be ASR - taking our surplus surface water (during the winter we really do have surplus water) and injecting it into the ground and storing it in gravel deposits or other suitable geological structures for retrieval during the dry months.
In the early days, Port Townsend drew its water from wells and cisterns. Dozens of windmills pumped water uphill. Port Townsend's original steel-banded wood pipeline was installed to bring water from Snow Creek in 1905. It was built by H.L. Tibbals, and the cost of labor amounted to over $6000. This system, franchised as the Spring Valley Water Co. apparently provided less than 1 mgd, but was reputedly planned to support the needs a City of 20,000 souls in the days before dishwashers and garbage disposals. Taps were eventually condemned by the military to provide up to 50,000 gpd of water to each of the Forts: Townsend, Worden and Flagler, and these taps provide the historical basis for the current layout of the system.
How do we manage water for future growth and the needs of fish?
The following is a list of potential options for managing future water supply that appeared in an article by Tom Anderson in the Port Townsend and Jefferson County Leader on April 11, 2007 entitled “How do we manage water for future growth?”
Whatever actions we take to meet our future water needs while not jeopardizing the integrity of the ecosystem upon which we all depend, the process will take participation from all users and all managers. Below are some possible actions that warrant discussion among all user groups as to their feasibility and appropriateness for the Quilcene-Snow (WRIA 17) watershed.
-- Surface Storage - Building additional reservoir capacity to store winter high streamflows for use later in the year.
-- Aquifer Storage and Recovery - Storing water in the ground for use later. The water could come from winter high streamflows or from treated wastewater.
-- Reusing/Recycling Water - Treating and redistributing water that has previously been used, such as the effluent from sewage treatment plants or the paper mill.
-- Desalination of Salt Water - Converting salt water into drinking water.
-- Conservation and Efficiency - Looking at ways to use less water and
how to make the most of what we do use.
-- Sharing or Pooling of Water Rights - Reallocating existing water rights in order to leave more water in the stream.
-- Trust Water Program - Purchasing or leasing valid water rights.
-- Water Right Exchange - Selling and purchasing water rights in a
market-based system.
-- Closure or Restrictions on Access to Groundwater - Not permitting
future withdrawals, or limiting the amount of withdrawals by placing a
cap on future allocations.