CHIMACUM — Jefferson County Public Utility District’s ongoing effort to deliver water to Marrowstone Island hit a state Ecology Department “bump in the road” that could delay the project for an undetermined amount of time, a district official said.
“It’s another hiccup, but it’s not insurmountable,” district Manager Jim Parker told commissioners Wednesday at the district office meeting room while about 20 Marrowstone residents listened.
Parker said he was unsure how long the latest “in a continuing series of bumps in the road” would delay the project that would deliver water through lines to replace septic systems and wells fouled by salt water intrusion.
Another review requested
Parker said that the state Department of Ecology is requiring another review after the PUD requested transferring part of its water rights from the Sparling Well at Rhody Drive and Kennedy Street in Port Hadlock to a second well being drilled at Jefferson County International Airport.
The Sparling Well has water rights for 2,000 gallons per minute and the PUD wants to transfer 300 gallons per minute, or 200 acre-feet, to the new airport well.
The proposal has been approved by the airport’s owners, the Port of Port Townsend.
“They’re saying now we need to drill near where the Sparling Well is now located,” Parker said.
Parker said Sparling Well water is not as high in quality as the airport well and would require more treatment and more district dollars to do so.
Pumping water evenly
Parker said another issue is that the district prefers to pump water evenly from around the aquifer that extends from Chimacum Valley to north of Port Hadlock.
An attempt to obtain comment from a Department of Ecology spokeswoman was unsuccessful on Wednesday.
About 300 Marrowstone Island homes would be served by the water system that was originally planned to begin construction early this fall.