Puget Sound Boating-How to Live Lightly on the Water

I love boating. Nothing is better than cruising on a clear sunny day with our kayaks on top of the boat heading up to enjoy the island waters. According to the Washington Department of Ecology, 450,000 boats are joining us in Washington waters. It seems that we all love the Puget Sound. As an environmentally concerned person I do want to make sure I am not loving it to death! Hopefully, all 450,000 of us are pumping out our sewage at pump out stations that are easily accessed.My concerns are about less straightforward matters: fueling, gray water, bilge water and cleaning and painting boats. Luckily, this trip, on one of my forays into town in my ongoing search for the best cinnamon roll ever, I ran across a free packet put together by Puget Soundkeeper Alliance. The packet contained an absorbent pad, plastic gloves, and a variety of printed information including Keep our waters clean! a booklet published by Washington State Parks. This is what I learned:

Fueling
Even small overboard spills are illegal and can harm fish and marine life. Always use an absorbent pad to catch drips while fueling. At some of the docks that we visit, the dock attendant automatically hands one to you. We use a no spill fuel recovery system, which is a bottle that slips over the fuel vents and stays there with suction cups. Any overflow of gas goes into the bottle. Docks usually have a gas can for the collected gas. I am usually alarmed by the one or two teaspoons collected in the bottle. That amount could have to do with our filling technique. The booklet says to fuel cautiously, don't top off your tank, fill up the tank to only 90% full and test if the tank is nearly full by feeling for air flow from the vent. If there is a spill, soak it up with an absorbent pad, don't wash it into the water. If the spill occurs in the water, don't apply detergent to the oil or gas. The detergent will just break it up and make it harder to clean up. The only proven way to clean up oil is by absorbing it.

Gray water discharge
This I don't get. If I was camping in a motor home or camper - my gray water would be caught in a tank along with the black water water from the toilet. Not so on a boat. The gray water goes directly into the Sound! This means that dish water, shower water even water from brushing my teeth goes over the side. Biodegradable non-toxic soaps are a must! Minimizing the gray water discharge is just as important. I use the wash room at the marina when possible.

Bilge water
I wasn't even aware that our 29 foot boat had a bilge pump until our raw water pump went crazy therefore kicking our automatic bilge pump into action, spewing salt water out of the engine compartment. Fortunately our boat is new and pretty clean, but I can imagine that oil, transmission and other nasty fluids could accumulate there and be blown out into the Sound. I learned that an absorbent bilge pad, looking a lot like a giant tampon, should be placed in the bilge area and replaced at least once a year. Don't use bilge cleaning compounds; they simply spread the oil out.

Boat cleaning
Everyone likes a clean boat. Clean gently. Use only phosphate-free, biodegradable and non-toxic cleaners. Although much less harmful, these cleaners can still cause damage to marine life so consider washing the boat with plain water and a sponge. I also learned that if you have "soft bottom paint", you should never clean the bottom while the boat is still in the water.

Which brings me to bottom paint
Boats, especially if they are kept in the water need antifouling paint in order to limit the growth of algae and other sea life on the bottom of the boat.These paints often contain copper.Bottom paint seems to be in two categories: hard and soft. Bottom paints are made to erode in order to expose organisms to the biocides that they contain. The soft bottom paint is most soluble. The biocides in hard bottom paint are suspended in a harder type of resin and are less soluble.
Long story short - all boats need to be taken out of the water to be cleaned and painted! New, safer for the environment paints are available. Paint containing copper will be illegal by 2014.

Boats in the water like cars on the road will pollute. I now feel a little more educated about our boat and what I can do to live a little lighter on the water. More tips at Washington State Parks.

Tips for Lawn watering-July is Smart Irrigation Month

The month of July reminds me why I love living on the Puget Sound! Clear blue skies and sparkles on the water - the best place in the world. Temperatures in the 80's are a treat; but, when I returned home last night from my 4th of July mini-vacation, the first nagging thought I had was about by plants needing water. I think everyone shares this unease when the temperatures rise a bit. This is why July is designated as Smart Irrigation Month.

Some people eliminate the watering chore by putting in automatic irrigation systems. Perfect scenario if the system is scheduled correctly - a real water waster if not. Automatic sprinkler systems increase water use by 50%, especially if lawns are being irrigated.

• Watering lawns every two or three days if plenty. Your veggie garden probably needs watering daily, but your lawn does not.
• Learn about your irrigation system. Read the manual.
  
• There is a powerful button on most irrigation controllers. It's called the percent button. Your irrigation system is most likely set for the hottest time of year. When the weather is a little cooler, turn the system down by decreasing the percent of irrigation to 50% or lower.
• Please, don't be one of those people who have their system running in the rain or drizzle. It is embarrassing. Attach a rain sensor to your system. If you are a KPUD customer, they are free!
• Set your system to drench the roots and then let the soil dry out. This will result in a lawn with healthy roots.
• If you hire an irrigation contractor, ask if he or she is trained in efficient irrigation. Professional training is available through your Kitsap water purveyor association, WaterPAK.
  

Enjoy the hot weather without watering guilt, but make sure you are using watering technology efficiently.

Students teach their parents to care for the environment

If you are a parent of a CK fourth grader, you may have to start cleaning up your act. Yesterday at the Kitsap Science Connections teachers workshop, teachers reported feedback from parents that tells us that students are bringing what they learn from their new science kit home. Kitsap Science Connections is a science kit containing lessons that teach about our local Kitsap County environment. The fourth and final teacher kit training was held yesterday. Lessons were reviewed and edited by the twelve enthusiastic teachers that are piloting the kit.

The final segment of the year long kit focused on pollution, solid waste and recycling. Resulting from what the students learned, the fourth graders are making sure that parents wash cars on the grass to avoid soap entering storm drains and that dog poop is disposed of properly. Kids are even looking at what mom and dad are using to clean the house. These are examples of the real life connections that are being made between school and home.

This kind of learning is what is being called for by the state learning standards for science. One of the four Essential Academic Learning Requirements (EALRs) for science is - Application, which is explained as. . . . "the ability for people to apply what they learn in school to meet challenges in their own lives, to understand and help solve societal problems involving science and technology, and contribute to the prosperity of their community, state, and nation."*

Proudly, the science kit, cooperatively built by Kitsap PUD, Kitsap County Public Works and the CK School district is bringing learning home into the real world.

* from Washington State K-12 Science Learning Standards prepared by Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, June 2009.

How to Water your Lawn Less and Still Have Plenty of Green

Picture a neighborhood of expansive green manicured lawns. Listen, in your mind, to the sprinklers hissing on an early summer’s morning. This scene conjures up a feeling of prosperity and security. But wait . . . is this ideal lawn realistic or even desirable? Think about what it takes to keep this green monster picture perfect. In the summer growing season, lawns suck up over half of the potable water used. While green lawns make our neighborhoods more livable – a little green can go a long way. Remember, pertaining to grass – less is more.

Let’s do the numbers. The average lawn needs one inch of water per week. If you have a 1/5 of an acre of lawn, as the average American does, you have almost 9,000 square feet to water. We know that it takes .62 gallons of water to cover one square foot of turf with one inch of water. This means that your 9,000 square foot lawn is using 55,000 gallons of water per week. This is 34,000 toilet flushes, 2,200 loads of laundry and 110,000 cool glasses of water. This is if you are only watering one inch per week. If you have an automatic irrigation system – you may water twice this amount and not even realize it.

Why not keep some green and let the rest of your lawn go brown? Pick out a small section of lawn that you and your family use daily and apply your one inch a week rule to this area. Bordering this small lawn with a perennial bed of drought tolerant plants is a plus! Since our maritime climate allows our lawns to stay green most of the year, the rest of the lawn can take a siesta during the summer months. Here are some hints:

Make sure your lawn is in good shape. Newly seeded lawns should not be allowed to go dormant. Make sure your lawn is established. Aerate the lawn to rid it of thatch build up. Check with the WSU extension office, www.extension.org/horticulture, to determine the needs of your particular variety of grass.

Raise your mower blade. When the grass is still green and growing, mow with a sharp blade set at a height of 3 – 3 1/2 inches. Longer grass will increase its drought tolerance and may allow the grass to stay greener longer.

Allow your grass to go dormant. When precipitation decreases in the summer, allow the lawn to go dormant. It may turn brown, but it will perk up to green with cooler fall temperature and rainfall.

Water enough to keep the grass alive. The rule of thumb is ½ inch of water every 2 – 3 weeks. Don’t forget to add in precipitation! Set up an inexpensive rain gauge to measure the rainfall your lawn is naturally getting. Don’t expect your grass to turn green.

Control weeds without herbicides. Dandelions may be awake while the lawn is sleeping. Pull weeds, roots and all, by hand. Dormant lawns don’t tolerate herbicides well.

Water deeply to jump start your lawn. The first rains will green up your lawn, but you can jump start this process by applying enough water to penetrate the root zone when temperatures cool down.

Enjoy some green lawn this summer, but let the rest take a nap. You may be able to enjoy some extra time in the hammock, too.

Toilet Rebates Available for Kitsap PUD Customers

Toilets are the main source of water use in the home accounting for 30% of residential indoor water consumption. Many times, older toilets leak and are inefficient. Although the plumbing code requires low flow toilets, many homes are still using older toilets that use 3-5 gallons per flush. High Efficiency Toilets (HETs) flush using at least 20% less water than the current federal standard of 1.6 gallons per flush. Replacing older toilets with newer HET toilets could save 4,000 gallons of water per year per customer.

Buying an EPA WaterSense toilet takes the homework out of shopping for a toilet. The WaterSense label tells the buyer that the toilet is a high-performance, water efficient model. The toilets come in a variety of prices and styles. Design advances enable WaterSense labeled toilets to save water with no trade-off of flushing power. According to the EPA, many perform better than standard models during consumer testing.

Here’s how to qualify to receive a $50.00 rebate check

1. Purchase a new toilet that bears the WaterSense® label—no exceptions. The new toilet must be replacing an existing toilet in a single-family residence. No new construction, please. Limit three per residence.

2. Include a copy of the receipt with a completed rebate application form. The form can be found at www.kpud.org. If the receipt doesn’t indicate the specific model of the toilet, provide other documentation, such as the WaterSense label or model number.

3. Send the application, receipt and the WaterSense® verification to: Kitsap PUD, P. O. box 1989, Poulsbo, WA 98370.

4.Receive a $50.00 rebate check in approximately 3-4 weeks.

Old toilets must be disposed of; they may not be resold or reused. Visit http://www.kitsapgov.com/sw/recycle.asp to learn about where to dispose of old toilets in Kitsap County.

Replace that old toilet to save to reduce your water consumption and your water bill.

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CK School District Field Trips Get New Volunteers

Have you visited the historic Red Barn on the Clear Creek Trail? It sits on the estuary in the middle of the Silverdale commercial district off Bucklin Hill Road. The downstairs is full of interesting information about the Clear Creek Trail and the Puget Sound. The upstairs, a former hayloft, houses artifacts from Silverdale's good old days - including school desks with holes for ink bottles! Last night the tiny loft was crammed with thirty potential volunteers for the Salmon in the Classroom field trips in March. Central Kitsap students are raising Chum salmon in their classrooms. The field trips are built around the release of the fingerlings into the Clear Creek system. Nearly a thousand students will go on the field trips; last night was a training and pep rally to get more volunteers! I think it was a success.

The field trips are broken up into four stations: tree planting, Salmon release, water quality testing and stream "bugs". (Guess who leads the bug station)

Tex Lewis, long time Clear Creek Trail organizer and tree planter extraordinaire, told the volunteers how to get the kids to plant trees without bludgeoning each other with shovels and strangling the plants. Tex is about six feet four and lives up to his name, wearing a ten gallon hat that sported a lively feather. He is witty and obviously dedicated to getting students out to the trail learning about the value of our environment and getting a few (thousand) trees in the ground. What would we do without Tex?

Sam Hoakem came next. Salmon in the Classroom was his brainchild enlisting his Kiwanis group to help. He talked about the salmon release. If you ever get an opportunity hear his salmon tales, do it. I certainly learned a lot.

Pat Kirschbaum from Kitsap SSWM program let the group learn about the water quality station by doing it. Everyone joined in by being a shaker, "piller", or water gatherer to test creek water for pH. Pat, by the way, schedules ALL of the teachers for their field trips. Yes, she herds cats. Pat is a gem of a resource. She does a mountain of outreach and education in the county and does it all as a part time employee. She deserves a medal.

I ended the evening by having everyone push their chairs to the side of the room. Some of the brave participants played a rousing game of Macroinvertebrate Mayhem. Yes, we had a running game in the loft of the red barn! The players became stream bugs, stonefly larvae, mayfly larvae and caddis fly larvae. Their goal was to get down the stream before they were caught by an environmental stresser. It is always fun to pose as a fourth grader!

At the end of the night we had volunteers sign up for the field trips. If you would like to join us, let me know.

Science Kits piloted in CK fourth grades

Science is alive and well in the CK school district. Last week 13 fourth grade teachers crammed into the CK Science kit center to work on the science kits that they are piloting in their classrooms. This kit, Kitsap Watershed Connections, teaches about water and the environment in the student's backyard. It is replacing a science kit that, while good, doesn't have the personal engagement with the students that this kit accomplishes. This district-wide kit is being provided to the School District by Kitsap PUD and Kitsap County Public Works. The lessons are written by CK science gurus Doug Dowell and Kim San Felipe, SSWM's Pat Kirschbaum, Jo Meints from Solid Waste and me, from Kitsap PUD.

These lessons helps teachers give their students the solid background in the scientific process that they will need while continuing their education at higher levels. Just as important, it gives teachers and their students an opportunity to learn that science is fun. The teachers are now using science as a springboard toward learning in other subjects like reading, math and writing.

The kit is a large one that teachers work on all year long. The science kit is delivered to them in three boxes: one in the fall, one after Christmas and one after Spring Break. Three workshops coincide with the delivery of the boxes. An introductory workshop in August introduced lessons from the first box. During last week's workshop, teachers critiqued the first lessons and were introduced to Box 2. Another workshop introducing box 3 will be held in the Spring. A final recap will happen in June to finalize the kit to get ready for wider distribution next year.

The new lessons introduced are about Salmon, Wetlands and Streams. Many teachers in CK School district are raising salmon in their classrooms so these lessons help to make that experience more meaningful for their students. I got to lead many of these lessons as I authored much of this portion of the kit. The teachers created salmon art and healthy stream collages. They played Macroinvertebrate Mayhem and created a Web of Life. They dissected owl pellets. and pulled mystery articles out of a bag that explained the importance of wetlands. They journeyed on a trail of wetland plants learning about the plants and teaching about those plants to the rest of the group. The day ended with building their own wetland models.

These teachers' talents of creative teaching are so inspiring. They enthusiastically embrace new activities to get their students out of their seats to learn in many different ways. Yes, science is happening in CK 4th grades which benefits our whole community now and into the future.

Washer Rebate Extended for 2011

Did you know that if you are a Kitsap PUD customer, you may receive a rebate check when purchasing a high efficiency washing machine? We are extending our $50 rebate for 2011. Kitsap PUD has mailed over $9,000 worth of checks to customers during the last five years. We do this to encourage customers to invest in efficient models when replacing their washers. These models generally use half of the water that older style washers use. Our customers have collectively saved over a million and a half gallons of water!

All you have to do is:

1. Purchase a qualifying efficient residential clothes washer.
2. Install the clothes washer in a residence served by Kitsap PUD.
3. Complete the application and mail it along with a copy of the sales receipt.

How do you know which washer to choose? When at the appliance store, many washers will be labeled "Energy Star". While this is great, it doesn't necessarily mean that the machine is water efficient. Our $50 rebate applies to machines that have a MEF (Modified Energy Factor) of 2.2 or above AND a WF (water factor) of 4.5 and below. Your appliance dealer should be able to look that up. You can also tell by the price. You will pay more for a highly efficient washer but the savings of energy, water and wear and and tear on clothing make up for it.

Go to www.kpud.org for a list of qualified washers. You will also find the rebate application there.

Don't forget to check on other rebates that are offered. While the Washington State Cash for Appliance Program is depleted of funds, PSE still rebates energy efficient washers. You can probably pick up that application form at the store.

Don't miss out on getting a rebate for saving water!

Prepare your Pipes for Freezing Weather

Thinking about Spring? Now that the Fa-la-la is over and the light is slowly returning, we want to be done with winter. However, it isn't done with us. Temperatures are dipping this week.
Make sure that you are prepared for freezing weather:

1. Learn how to shut off the water supply to your house. If you have a pipe break, you will really be happy to know where to go.
   
2. Insulate all exposed pipes including outside faucets. Don’t forget pipes in unheated outbuildings, garages and pump houses. Cozy pipes mean having water available when it thaws.
3. Disconnect all garden hoses. Shut off and drain any outdoor water features or irrigation systems. If you washed the car during the warmer weather, don't forget about the hose!
   
4. Keep temperatures in the house to at least 55 degrees F. It won't hurt to make a plan, just in case the power goes out . . .again.
   
5. In extended cold weather let an indoor faucet drip slightly. Select a faucet that is on an outside wall furthest from the water meter. Of course, do this prudently. A dripping faucet can raise your water bill.

Don't be caught again by a deep freeze.

Public Hearing To Increase Noxious Weed Fee

Tonight, December 6 is a public hearing for the Kitsap County Commissioners to decide if the noxious weed fee assessed on homeowners is to be increased to a whopping $2.00 per parcel. That is, what, a half of a latte per year? Knowing that we love our lattes, even during the recession, what do we get for our buck (s)?

Kitsap County's Noxious Weed Program is run through WSU extension.We have our own six member noxious weed board and more importantly we have Dana Coggin as staff. Dana is weed warrior extraordinaire. She is out there chopping, pulling and poisoning noxious weeds everywhere. Since the mission of the program is to educate citizens and encourage citizens to protect the county against invasives, she shares the wealth. You too can be a Weed Warrior with Dana. She holds organized eradication "parties" with homeowners all across the county

What is the big deal about these weeds? These plants have accidentally found a home here and are overpowering our native species. These exotics cause mayhem in the environment. They reduce habitat for animals and birds, reduce property values and recreational opportunities. They clog waterways and even poison humans and animals. The noxious weed board determines which weeds are part of the "dirty dozen". These plants are aggressive and, well, noxious, but there is a glimmer of hope that they can be eradicated. For example, dandelions and Himalayan blackberry aren't on the list because they are so widespread that they are definitely part of our landscape for good.

WSU is soliciting your comments at tonight's hearing. To find out more visit: kitsap.wsu.edu/noxious_weed/index.htm

Join the Washington Green Schools Team

Is your child attending a Washington Green School? If she attends Armin Jahr, Breidablik, Orchard Heights, Silverwood or the Island School in Kitsap she does!

Washington Green Schools is a web based program offered to K- 12 schools to help them reduce their carbon footprint. This program is not only educational - it really makes a difference. Green School students learn, take action and act as leaders in their community.

The web site, www.wagreenschools.org, gives step by step instructions about how to get involved. Schools concentrate their main efforts on one environmental area for an entire school year. Choices are:

• Energy Efficiency
• Recycling & Waste Reduction
• Toxic Reduction and Indoor Air Quality
• Transportation and Outdoor Air Quality
• Water Quality & Water Conservation

To be certified, schools must earn 100 total points in their chosen category. Schools get 10 points for just signing up! Upon completion, the whole school celebrates by unfurling a Washington Green Schools Flag. Schools choosing, say, water conservation (my favorite), will complete an assessment to find out about their water source, how much water their school uses and who tests the health of their drinking water. After that they take action that makes a lasting change in water use at their school. The students then act as cheerleaders, inspiring their community to follow their example. Schools can continue in the same category in subsequent school years or choose a new focus.

Kitsap PUD is a sponsor of Washington Green Schools beginning in 2011. Part of this sponsorship is co-hosting a workshop to help teachers and other Green School team members learn more about the program. Urge your child's school to join other certified Washington Green Schools in Kitsap County. Consider being a Green Schools team member. A great learning experience with lasting results.

Six ThingsTo Do If Your Water Pipes Freeze

One thing you can predict about Pacific Northwest weather - it will be unusual. A stretch of hot dry weather in summer – unusual. A white Christmas – unusual. A week of temperatures below freezing the week before Thanksgiving – unusual. It would also be unusual to have more than one big winter storm. However, don’t be surprised if there is more winter weather to come. Our phones at KPUD were ringing last week with tales of woe about frozen pipes. It’s time now to think ahead to our next deep freeze. Here are some tips:

Prepare For Freezing Temperatures

1. Learn how to shut off the water supply to your house.
2. Insulate all exposed pipes including outside faucets. Don’t forget pipes in unheated outbuildings, garages and pump houses.
3. Disconnect all garden hoses. Shut off and drain any outdoor water features or irrigation systems.
4. Cover footing and foundations vents. Keep temperatures in the house to at least 55 degrees F.
5. Open cabinet doors to allow heat to reach pipes beneath sinks.
6. In extended cold weather let an indoor faucet drip slightly. Select a faucet that is on an outside wall furthest from the water meter.

IF Your Pipes Freeze

1. Be ready to turn off your water supply if the pipes are cracked a broken.
2. Do not use an open flame on a frozen water pipe.
3. Turn on a faucet that is fed by the frozen pipe so you can tell when it begins to thaw out.
4. Arrange a sheet of tin foil behind the frozen pipe to reflect heat back onto the pipe.
5. Blow hot air evenly onto the pipe using a hair dryer or heat gun. You can also wrap a heating pad around the pipe. Begin thawing close to the open faucet and work backwards.
6. When the faucet begins to drip – check for cracks or small leaks and get them repaired immediately.

Privately owned water system? Read this!

I wrote recently about the Municipal Water Law being upheld by the Washington State Supreme Court. Just looking at the word "municipal" in the title may make you hit delete. But wait. Adjust your radar. Do you have a community drinking water well? Are there 15 or more homes sharing this water source? If so, you have a privately owned water system which has the same water use efficiency requirements as a public water system.

By upholding this law, you as a "group A" water system are responsible for submitting an annual report to the Washington Department of Health by July 1, 2011. Now that I have your attention, don't panic. Your first report will let DOH know that you are working toward compliance with the WUE requirements. Mike Dexel at DOH is there to help you through this process. He's a nice guy, really! He has come up with three things that you need to prepare for your report:

1. Start collecting metered data. You are responsible for reporting on how much water is pumped from your source and how much was consumed. Your well should have a source meter already. Assign someone to record this data! What you probably don't have are meters at individual homes. When you do have those meters they will have to be read and compared to the source meter to make sure that you do not have leaks on the system.
2. Hold a public meeting to establish water efficiency goals. This means getting the people sharing the water source together, maybe in a living room over coffee. If you don't have meters yet, you can establish a goal based on your source meter. ex: "Reduce annual source meter production by 5% by 2015". Giving information to your customers is not a goal . . .that is a conservation measure which is also a requirement.
   
3. Develop a plan to install meters. You will need to explain your plan on you July 1 online report.You need to develop a plan to get every residence metered by January 22, 2017.

There are many ways to get your water conservation goal. EPA sponsored website http://www.epa.gov/WaterSense/ has many tips on water saving appliances and fixtures that will help your community save water.

Visit Washington Department of Health Office of Drinking Water at http://www.doh.wa.gov/ehp/dw/default.htm to find out what will be required from your water system. If you have a privately owned water system, find out your responsibilities today.

Seven Groundwater Facts You Need To Know

Do you know where your water comes from? Pipes? The Puget Sound? Amazingly, I have received these answers more than once and not from little kids either. In Kitsap County we get our drinking water from the sky. Yes, bless these drippy winters because eighty percent of us here in Kitsap use groundwater that is the result of rain percolating through the topsoil into the ground. Here are a bundle of facts about groundwater you need to know.

1. There is not an underground river that we tap into. Our groundwater is stored in between the spaces of rocks and gravel which comprise our aquifers. Picture pouring water into a cup of gravel.
2. We do not get any recharge from snow pack in the Olympic or Cascade Mountains. The water we have falls on our peninsula. What you see is what you get.
3. Groundwater will not recharge through impervious surfaces. We need vegetated areas to allow rainwater to soak into the ground. Native vegetation is the best. Grass can actually cause rainwater to run off similar to a parking lot.
4. Our wells don't all pump water from the same aquifer. Separate glacial events formed our aquifers over hundreds of thousands of years. Some aquifers are shallower than others. Some are even what we call perched aquifers.
5. Most of our wells are artesian. This means they are under the pressure of impermeable confining layers separating our aquifers. Some of this water is under such pressure that it bubbles up to the surface. Think of a spring fed lake.
6. Groundwater feeds our streams. Groundwater is always moving to the surface. How fast depends on the materials it is moving through. You can see groundwater seeping out through cliffs at the beach.
7. Anything that is put onto the ground has the potential of winding up in our water supply. Think about that before applying herbicides to your lawn!

Most of us drink groundwater. Now you know.

Muni Law Confirmed Constitutional

The Washington Supreme Court decided on the side of water utilities by unanimously confirming the constitutionality of the Municipal Water Law on 10-28-10.

In 2003 utilities saw the need for a law that would give utilities more flexibility with water rights in order to plan better for the future. A 1998 ruling had stated that water rights holders must use the water they had rights to or lose them. The legislature enacted the Municipal Water Law that enables water suppliers to retain their rights to the water that their pumps and pipes are capable of delivering not just the water that they are using at the present time. Saving for a rainy day – or dry day – as in this case makes sense. The law removes a lot of uncertainty to municipal water suppliers across the state.

When dealing with water – nothing, however, is simple. Some people have problems with the definition of a municipal water supplier. The law defines a municipal water suppliers as any group A system, that is a water system with 15 or greater connections. Environmental groups, some individuals and several tribes feel that this law encourages sprawl and water speculation. They feel that there will be greater development in the rural area by developers who will have rights to water that would have been allocated elsewhere in the past. They also are concerned with the possibility of individuals selling these water rights at will. This was the basis for the law suit filed in 2006, Lummi Tribe v State.

The municipal water law also stipulates that municipal water suppliers must conserve water. So since all parts of the law has been upheld, all municipal water systems, even those run by a local neighborhood associations must follow the law. This law states that these systems must:

· Provide the department of health with a conservation plan.

· Make conservation goals in a public forum.

· Report the progress of these goals to the department of health.

· Maintain system leakage to below 10%.

· Install water meters on each connection of the system.

This law is good for utility planning and good for water conservation. The legislature has left the door open for further clarification of this law by individual law suits, of which there will likely be plenty. For more info visit http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/wr/rights/muni_wtr.html.