The new water rights for the three cities – more than 15 years in the making – have received draft approval from Ecology and could be final before the end of the year, barring appeals.
The cities have convinced Ecology they can pump thousands of acre-feet of water from the groundwater in the Nisqually and Deschutes watersheds without further damaging stream flows and fish by adopting a shared mitigation plan that includes:
• Buying a 197-acre farm on the Deschutes River south of Yelm where existing water rights will be retired and a major habitat-restoration project will be implemented to improve stream flows and water quality.
• Using highly treated reclaimed water from the LOTT Clean Water Alliance to boost the water budget in the Woodland Creek and Hawks Prairie areas.
• Conducting other habitat-restoration projects in the Woodland Creek and Nisqually basins.
The draft recommendation grants Lacey just two of the six water rights it has requested, totaling about 1,666 acre-feet of the 7,500 acre-feet of water the city sought. It takes about 500 acre-feet of water to serve 1,500 water customers.
Two other water rights are likely to be approved in the months ahead once the city and Ecology agree on a monitoring plan for early detection of potential saltwater intrusion due to their proximity of the proposed wells to the Puget Sound shoreline. The final two water rights also are on schedule to be approved, said Mike Gallagher, an Ecology regional water-resources manager.
Without expansion of its water system, Lacey could have faced a building moratorium or other development restrictions. The city water system, including water purchased from Olympia, currently totals about 6,726 acre-feet.
The expanded system would allow full build-out within the city’s urban-growth area, Lacey water-resources manager Peter Brooks said.
In Olympia’s case, the new water right allows the city to move from McAllister and Abbott springs to a wellfield less prone to pollution. It also allows the city to avoid spending about $8 million next year on a water-treatment system required by the state to keep using the springs, which are a surface water supply subjected to stricter operation rules than a groundwater supply, noted Rich Hoey, Olympia interim public works director.
The Nisqually Tribe also will benefit from the new Olympia wells, allowing the tribe to eventually decommission shallow wells vulnerable to pollution, Gallagher said.
For Yelm, the new water right allows the city to expand its water supply by 942 acre-feet and avoid a building moratorium.
