Subject: Water system status report, pertinent information, and plans

At the Mid-year meeting of our association on October 2, 2004 the members agreed to designate our Board of Directors (four officers and three directors) as also our Water Commissioners. All of the members of the board accepted this additional responsibility. This establishment of designated Water Commissioners conformed to the Washington Administrative Code and the preferences of the State and County departments of health. Henceforth, the association's Chairman for Water System Operations will report to the body of water commissioners (and coincidently to the Board of Directors).

The status of our community water system is sound. The external preservation of our pump house (with new roof shingles and painting) was completed on October 2, 2004. A simultaneous inspection of the interior of the reservoir tank revealed only a normal accumulation of muddy deposits and no algae. The next scheduled annual draining and cleaning of the tank will be in May, 2005. The number 3 pressure pump that had failed due to a power surge was replaced on September 30, 2005 and is functioning normally. The media was replenished in all four MacClean filters in September, 2004 and should last for six months. Flushing of our distribution lines was placed on a regular quarterly basis beginning in 2004. Our state certified water system manager, King Water Company, has been responsive to our requirements and criticisms. Although we must always closely monitor the efficiency of our filters in removing Iron and Manganese, our well water has consistently tested pure of pathogens, nitrates, arsenic and other organic and inorganic contaminates. Tests for chlorides continue to show that we are not experiencing any salt water intrusion.

The King Water Company is providing the data and statistics that we will need to determine the performance of our water system in meeting our needs. At present, our pumping system provides a sufficient quantity of water at a rapid (1000 gallons per hour) recovery rate and meets our needs in all seasons. Our simple oxidization filtration system maintains the Iron and Manganese content at acceptably low levels. The costs of operating and maintaining our water system is on par with the most modern and efficient systems in Island County. This "stable" situation should exist at least until homes are built on the remaining four undeveloped parcels in our community. We will use our statistical information to monitor the ability of our water system to cope with expansion as it occurs.

At the Mid-year meeting our members agreed to increase the water fee from $0.0035 per gallon to $0.0055 per gallon, beginning on October 1, 2004. Analysis presented at the meeting showed that this increase will provide for anticipated fixed and variable costs as well as the creation of a water system recapitalization fund. The members also agreed to amend our bylaws to include legal authority to enforce the cross connection control program required by state law. When all the resident members complete survey forms the Chairman for Water System Operations will confer with the cross connection control specialists at King Water Company to determine whether further action is required regarding the installation and / or inspection of backflow prevention devices.

The state has delegated the task of inspecting Group A water systems every five years to county health departments. Island County's inspector, Vincent Sherman, was briefed on October 6, 2004 on the status of our water system and it's readiness for inspection. We were last inspected in September, 1999. All the discrepancies found then have been corrected. Mr. Sherman said that we will be inspected "sometime" in 2005, and that the state had mandated a fee of $250 for the inspections. That amount will be included in our water system budget that will be submitted at the annual meeting of our association in March, 2005.

Although the President, Vice President and Secretary of our association all have the keys to our pump house, and the King Water Company is always on call to remedy problems, it would be prudent to provide a deputy to the Chairman for Water System Operations. That deputy would undergo the same state-sponsored basic training in water systems operations and administration as the Chairman has, develop familiarity with our equipment, and provide a "back-up" in the event of an absence of the Chairman. Volunteers will be solicited in the next month and proposed to our Water Commissioners.

The Washington State Department of Health has initiated an outreach education program for Water Commissioners. The first transmittals Ð a 22 minute video tape and a briefing packet Ð will be circulated to our Water Commissioners. The Small Water System Management Program Guide included in the packet is the same one used to develop the program document that was shown to our members at the Mid-year meeting. The Chairman for Water System Operations will maintain the document and keep it up to date.

The Island County Water Resources Advisory Committee (WRAC) has continued its fine professional work and has prepared an excellent paper on the subject of Groundwater Recharge. This paper is the product of research into the rate at which rainwater replenishes our local aquifer. The paper discusses the threats to this replenishment and to the purity of the water that accumulates in the aquifer, and includes the results of a recently completed US Geodetic Survey four year study in Island County. Our well draws water from an aquifer located in an area with a slow (3 Ð 9 inches per year) recharge rate, but is deep enough to be safe from contaminates. A copy of this paper will be circulated to our Water Commissioners. The WRAC will soon complete a paper on the danger of salt water intrusion. A copy of this paper will be circulated as soon as it becomes available.

Last year the WRAC recommended that a Water Systems Association be formed on Whidbey Island. Camano Island has such an association and the small water systems there have profited from it. The Whidbey Island Water Systems Association is now chartered as a Washington state non-profit corporation. As a purveyor of water to our members, our association has been invited to join. One possible benefit of membership would be a "collective bargaining" advantage in securing insurance at a lower rate. The Chairman for Water System Operations will attend the next meeting of this new association on October 25, 2004 and will report to our Water Commissioners / Board of Directors with a recommendation on whether our association should join.

James M. Patton
Chairman for Water System Operations and President, WBRA