Will Lacey sell its brewery water rights? Council votes to take next step
The city of Lacey is moving closer to possibly selling its brewery water rights after the Lacey City Council on Thursday approved a memorandum of agreement with Olympia and Tumwater.
The Tumwater brewery that produced Olympia beer closed in June 2003. Five years later the three cities snapped up the brewery water rights, paying $4.5 million: $3 million for the land and other assets and $1.5 million for the water rights, water resources manager Peter Brooks told the council on Thursday.
Why sell those water rights? For Lacey, it’s a question of geography and how expensive the infrastructure might be to treat and bring that water to the city. Lacey is about six miles from Tumwater Valley.
Some provisions of the memorandum of agreement:
▪ Provides a means for any brewery partner to transfer assets to any other partner.
▪ Specifies an appraisal of tangible assets and valuation of water rights.
▪ The MOA doesn’t obligate any party to actually transfer assets.
“If the appraisal comes back and we don’t like it, we are under no obligation to have a purchase and sales agreement,” Brooks said.
Council member Carolyn Cox wanted to know what impact a sale of those water rights would have on Lacey’s overall water rights.
Brooks said the brewery water rights represent a little less than 5 percent of the city’s total water rights portfolio. It’s most immediate options for additional water will be expensive, but not as expensive as moving water from Tumwater, he said.
Cox also asked about the city’s long-term water needs.
It depends on rates of growth, Brooks said, but the city currently has enough water rights for the next 25-40 years. One idea to augment that supply is to work with the city’s partners, such as the LOTT Clean Water Alliance, to come up with reclaimed water for future water needs.
This story was originally published January 20, 2023 at 5:00 AM.
