INSIDE

Businesses bemoan water woes

By Meg Olson

Water commissioners and the community they represent are still waiting for an official plan for allocating the limited number of water connections available until a new source is secured.

“We need to have the resolution drafted, to review the allotment,” said commissioner Renee Coe at the district’s June 8 meeting. Those documents are still being reviewed by district legal counsel. “We can ask them to give us an idea of a timeline,” Coe said. “It’s critical. We need to get moving on this.”

District manager Dan Bourks said a revised general facilities fee, reflecting the cost of new source development, needed to be adopted by amendment to the comprehensive plan prior to releasing the approximately 140 connections the district has left. District engineers are still working on a final figure that will reflect the capital the system would need to add storage and wells enabling it to serve approximately 700 additional customers. “I think that will last us six to eight years,” Bourks said after the meeting.

The water district continues to come up against a growing public perception that there will be no more connections for five years. “We’ll release those 140 I hope by the end of July,” Bourks said. “Then we’ll have to go back into moratorium.”

The five-year figure, Bourks speculated, may come from estimates on how long it would take to get more water connections available following the upcoming allotment. It will likely take a year for comprehensive plan approval by the state, necessary for funding, one or two years to secure funding, and one to two for construction. “That’s close to five there,” Bourks said. During this period he said the district would also pursue negotiations with Canada for additional water.

The district retains water rights that allow them to pump 192 gallons per minute. “That’s good for 691 connections,” Bourks said. The water would need to be treated, especially if it was pumped from the higher producing but low quality wells at lower elevations. Additional storage is also being designed that could increase the number of available connections.

The current subarea plan in 2001 predicted that without public sewers zoning would permit an additional 1,000 homes on the Point, which Bourks said could be served with the package now being put together.
If a public sewer is developed 4,200 additional dwelling units could be built, requiring the district to find additional water. “Sewers really jump it up quite a bit,” Bourks said. ”We might start looking at desalinating seawater again depending on the growth. The district stopped considering a desalination plant because of the high price.”