Olympia, tribe agreement aims to ease water worries

By Christian Hill | The Olympian • Published May 15, 2008

• Documents

The water agreement signed Wednesday between the city of Olympia and the Nisqually tribe is the first concrete step on a path to ease the water crunch for Thurston County's population center.

In the coming weeks, Lacey will become a partner as Olympia and the tribe work to jointly develop a new wellfield and retire McAllister Springs as a municipal water source after 60 years of use.

"It is very intricately linked together," Lacey City Manager Greg Cuoio said. "What we are trying to do with this cooperative effort is meet our jurisdictions' water needs while improving stream flow."

The agreement also calls for Olympia and the tribe to form a coalition to fund water-conservation projects throughout the watershed. It is thought to be the first agreement of its kind between a city and an American Indian tribe.

Olympia is required under federal law to either treat McAllister Springs with a costly ultraviolet disinfection system or find a replacement water source by October 2012. The springs are exposed and vulnerable to contamination, particularly from spills of railcars running on the nearby line. Wells used by the Nisqually tribe are low-producing, according to the tribe.

The city and tribe estimate that moving to a protected, high-producing wellfield will increase water production by up to a combined 10 million gallons a day for both partners.

Olympia requires a 50-year reserve of available water to serve future residents and businesses and needs about 15.6 million additional gallons a day for days of "peak demand" by 2050, according to court records filed in the bankruptcy case involving the former Olympia brewery.

The cities of Lacey, Olympia and Tumwater recently acquired water owned by the brewery, although the exact amount isn't known. They have offered to pay $4.5 million for the water rights and associated property.

But pumping groundwater out of the new well field would capture water that otherwise would maintain stream flows of creeks for fish and other wildlife during summer, said Tom Loranger, the state Department of Ecology's water-resources manager for its southwest region.