This is the tenth in a monthly series of guest blog posts about island groundwater topics by Mary Bruno, Vashon-Maury Island Groundwater Protection Committee.

In my July post, a Q&A with longtime Westside Water Association manager, Doug Dolstad, we learned that the State Department of Health (DOH) had just approved Westside’s request for 24 new water shares. I had planned to use this October post for Part 2 of my conversation with Doug. But I changed my mind when reactions to Westside’s imminent growth spurt started coming in. 

The expansion is historic, Westside’s first in more than 30 years. It represents the culmination of a two-year process that began with the purchase of a productive new well, the Back 40. The 24-share build out will take several years. When it’s complete the Westside Water Association (WWA) will be 10 percent larger, serving a total of 259 households.

The Westside board had hoped to start issuing a few new shares this year. It held an informational meeting on August 5 to brief current members on proposed bylaw changes. If approved, the changes would update and clarify portions of the current bylaws that dictate how and when new shares are awarded. A small committee of members and board members had been working on the bylaw changes for months. But when Association members raised multiple questions and concerns during and after the August 5 gathering, the board wisely tapped the brake.

WWA members expressed curiosity about the principles and priorities that would guide the process; skepticism about the new well’s long-term reliability; and unease about potential downsides of growth, like new shares sparking real estate speculation or over-taxing the water supply.

Responding to the feedback, a four-member group (including me) polled the membership at large and worked with the board to draft a new-shares FAQ. Fifty-five percent of Westside’s current membership (124 households) responded to the Google poll. The results, while by no means scientific, support the need for more information.

Comments ran the gamut from fully supportive (“If we have the water, let’s sell some shares.”) to wildly opposed (“This was an astoundingly bad proposal foisted upon us.”). But most respondents  just wanted more details, more discussion, more time. (“Would want to understand the process for awarding shares prior to moving forward.” And “I would prefer to see WWA function for two years with the existing shares and existing wells . . . followed by a report from the board regarding the success of that experience and a recommendation regarding the number of new shares that could be safely issued based on that experience. Why rush into a risky decision?”)

The WWA board will share the FAQ and poll comments with Westside members. The package should help inform the important discussions and decisions to come. Hot topics will include the Back 40 Well, speculation, and a big-picture look at priorities and process. 

Back 40

Professionals at DOH and King County both gave the new well their blessing. But Back 40 skeptics have a point. The well is only two years old—drilled in August 2019—and has been  brought online only recently. It wouldn’t be the first powerhouse performer to flag over time. A well is only as productive as the aquifer it draws from. If the well’s pump rate exceeds the aquifer’s recharge (or refill) rate, well, consider this report on WWA’s own Anderson Well from the Association’s 2020 Annual Meeting: “We had hoped to add an additional Anderson well, but those plans have been tabled after an analysis showed that we are drawing the aquifer down. Currently we . . . have reduced the Anderson well use substantially.” Water District 19 (WD19) suffered a similar fail in 2006. Well 2, a 250 gallons-per-minute champion, lasted one year before its “capacity began to decrease,” according to WD19’s 2008 Comprehensive Plan. After several failed attempts at “rehabilitation” WD19 finally “terminated” Well 2, concluding that it was “incapable of any production.” Westside’s new Back 40 Well shows great promise, but will it go the distance? And what happens if it doesn’t?

Speculation

A recent WWA analysis determined that 90 of the roughly 367 parcels in Westside’s Service Area, though currently empty, could become candidates for development down the road. That finding begged this question in the new-shares FAQ: “Are there now or will there be provisions in the bylaws to discourage a member from, say, buying a water share for a property that they currently own, then flipping the now more valuable property?” The board’s response was sobering or satisfying, depending on your appetite for development: “The Board has discussed this topic at length and doesn’t believe that it can reasonably prevent this situation from happening.”

Priorities and Process

How should Westside Water go about awarding these historic new shares? Current bylaws give members first dibs. If member demand is high, Westside could see all its new shares snapped up by existing members. Does the Association support that approach, or are there strongly held values or looming threats that a more strategic distribution of water shares could honor or mitigate? The Municipal Water Law’s Duty to Serve clause has been cited as a driver behind Westside’s expansion: “If you can serve more parcels you have to,” in Doug Dolstad’s (disputed by some) interpretation. But what about the duty to serve your non-member neighbor whose private well is failing? What about the duty to serve nature? To preserve groundwater stores and summertime flows in Shinglemill Creek? Should these be core operating principles? Or are such considerations beyond the scope of a non-profit, community-owned water provider?

The board has been wrestling with these questions for two years now. Most members are late to the game. But both seem open to the debate. Stay tuned.

Expanding a water system is complicated. It’s not just about having enough water. It’s about who  gets the water, and how those decisions get made. These are rich and vexing questions with long-term ramifications for the Westside community and for the Island as a whole. They deserve a thorough, open-minded examination by all Westside members. Doug Dolstad has called Vashon’s community-owned water utilities, “the last meaningful vestige of local participatory democracy.” Westside Water’s debate over expansion is putting that description on display.

Note: Part 2 of my conversation with Doug Dolstad is coming soon.

Featured photo: At its heart, Westside Water’s debate over expansion is about protecting the water supply. Photo by Mary Bruno