HomeMy WebLinkAboutWater Resources March 12 1991WATER RESOURCES COMMITTEE MINUTES
Tuesday, March 12, 1991
The meeting was called to order at 12:10 in the Council Conference Room, 2nd floor, 1000
North Forest St. by Chairperson Don Hansey.
Also present:
Emily Jackson, late
Absent:
Bob Imhof
1. OVERVIEW OF THE COORDINATED WATER SYSTEM PLAN,
ADMINISTERED BY THE PUBLIC UTILITY DISTRICT (PUD) (TOM
ANDERSON, PUD MANAGER, AND DEBORAH KINGSLEY, PROJECT
MANAGER) (AB91 -112) no ppr
Deborah Kingsley, Project Manager of PUD, gave a presentation on what the PUD is doing
and how it is organized. Basically PUD wants growth to be planned and coordinated, and
the public to be educated on water issues such as water quality, water resources, individual
water plan development, etc.
With Jackson's arrival, a quorum was present and the meeting became official. An accident
on the Guide had held her up.
Tom Anderson, PUD Manager, presented an overview of the local water districts and
answered questions. One of the goals is to get the systems coordinated so that, by
encouraging people to work together on systems and incorporating new residents and
developments close by, the County doesn't have thousands of wells to monitor. If the well
is less than 50 feet deep, the water is considered surface water and will not be allowed; the
responsibility to hire the geological survey done for proving a well belongs to the well's
owner, not the County. The 50 feet is an arbitrary figure.
Jackson asked how we could help people to bring their wells up to standards, a concern of
the Health Dept. Anderson said that the only way the County could handle a proliferation
of wells is to pass a law forbidding new wells. Jackson pointed out that eventually the public
is going to have to pick up the tab; is sooner better than later? As five and ten acre parcels
develop in the County, some sort of water system plan needs to be in place, and the Council
needs to be informed so that they can make adequate decisions.
Anderson said that current studies are being done in the Nooksack area and other areas,
and that still other studies need to be done so that the areas can be judged about adequacy
and inadequacy of wells and other water sources.
Haney asked about the water for the Lummi tribes; those lands are within the boundaries
for the water utility district. Kingsley said that currently the Indian don't want to be
included in the coordinated water system plan; they consider themselves as a sovereign
nation and are doing their own water studies. The problem arises among those who are not
Indians but who live on tribal lands and want to be part of the County's water study. There
are a number of ways that this can be handled; a meeting is being scheduled in the near
future to explore these with those who live in the area and with the Indian leaders. The
Indians do have water rights, and at this time they are water purveyors.
Anderson said that it will ultimately be the Council's decision on what the boundaries are
for the County's water plan and the Council's responsibility to deal with the political
ramifications of those decisions.
The PUD has been asked to add the Water Resources Committee members to their mailing
lists so that they will be informed of meetings and hearings. Minutes are available to
members of the Committee so they can keep up with what's happening.
Haney pointed out that although Pt. Roberts was originally excluded from the study
boundaries, it was included at the last meeting. Kingsley said that this was done because,
although they get their water from Canada, they need to be subject to the same laws as the
rest of the county.
After thanking the PUD for coming, Haney adjourned the meeting.
ATTESTED:
Ramona Reeves, County Clerk
nc
WATER RESOURCES COMMITTEE:
;7,' , ...
[NOTE: Because the tape of this meeting is of such poor quality, these minutes are more detailed than usual.