Public Utility District No. 1 of Clallam County would like to respond to the article on the water and sewer needs for the Sequim Valley Airport that appeared in the Jan. 26 Sequim Gazette (“Owner and county commissioners push for water, sewer hookups,” page A-1).

Mr. Andy Sallee and several other members of airport ownership group have contacted the district several times since 2019. They expressed their interest in having the district provide water service to the airport. The last time the district contacted Mr. Sallee was in June 2021 in response to his request for the district to provide fire flow to the airport.

The district is willing to provide domestic, commercial and fire flow water supplies once new water rights and the funds for the necessary infrastructure improvements are secured.

The article suggests that the District could provide sewer service. Clallam County — not the district — owns and operates the sewer system in Carlsborg. The airport ownership group has not requested the district to provide sewer service.

The article indicates that the extension of the Carlsborg Urban Growth Area (UGA) to include the airport is necessary for the district to provide water service. While this may be necessary for the county to provide sewer service, it is not necessary for the district to provide water service.

The County Commissioners mailed a letter dated Nov. 9, 2021, to the district’s general manager. The letter showed support for inclusion of the airport into the UGA, and expressed hope that a path may be forged to allow for a water connection (from the district). As discussed above, this path must include securing new water rights and funds for infrastructure improvements.

County commissioners have previously been included in discussion that new water rights are needed for the District to expand their water service area. The district has been clear regarding its long-standing policy to dedicate existing water rights to the build-out of its existing retail water service area. This area covers portions of the UGA and some adjacent neighborhoods.

The pioneers of the Carlsborg water system — those who paid for water rights and infrastructure — should be assured that these water rights will always be available to them and not given away elsewhere (for example, the airport). In collaboration with the county, the district commissioners formally adopted this policy by resolution in 2017.

Water rights are very difficult and expensive to acquire. The county and district entered into an agreement in 2013 regarding water rights for the UGA. The agreement essentially assigned to the county the responsibility for acquiring for the district new water rights for the build-out of the existing Carlsborg UGA. The county has been working on this since 2013 without yet gaining the approval from the Department of Ecology — the state agency that manages water rights. This has been an extremely challenging endeavor for both the county and the district.

The article included a quote from the county commissioners’ letter to the district saying, “We are uncertain as to why this facility was not included in the Carlsborg UGA boundary when it was originally created.”

Counties have land use jurisdiction. Per the Growth Management Act (GMA), the county was responsible for UGA designation. Their records should show the public process toward the establishment of the Carlsborg UGA boundaries. These records may clarify why certain properties were included in the UGA and others, like the airport, were not.

The district has worked with the airport ownership group to plan for airport expansion noting that the ownership group must address the water rights and funding issues. The ownership group provided information on their wells and their water rights. Also, they provided preliminary engineering drawings for a commercial and residential development surrounding the airport. They have yet to provide how much water they would need for their planned development.

During the last 12 months, the discussion has focused on providing fire flow. The county fire marshal specifies the fire flow requirements, which depend on the size of buildings and their type of construction. Without knowing these specifics, the fire marshal assumed a high fire flow of 3,000 gallons-per-minute for 60 minutes.

In the past, the district has been able to provide fire flow, but to a much lesser amount, to a few businesses that are located outside, but adjacent to, our retail service area. The district and the ownership group have discussed a similar arrangement for the airport. This was last discussed in June 2021.

The article states “Access to large volumes of water would benefit emergency vehicles during a catastrophic event, such as a major forest fire in the Olympics.” Adding this fire flow to the fire flow required for future buildings in and around the airport would require even more water rights and funding for infrastructure improvements. The district policy comes into play again. Should the fire flow capacity of the existing water system be used for the airport and/or forest fires, which would leave no capacity to fight fires in the existing retail service area, such as a fire in Greywolf Elementary School?

The district would need to collaborate with Clallam County, state departments of Ecology and Health, and local water managers to develop a plan moving forward for water connection for the airport. Pumping water from wells impact streamflow and fish habitat. A plan to mitigate these impacts must be approved by the Department of Ecology before they would make a decision on a new water right.

Ecology must also be assured that water is physically and legally available, senior water rights are not impaired (such as in-stream flows in the Dungeness River), water is being put to beneficial use, and the water use is in the public interest. The Department of Health would approve (and provide loans for) infrastructure improvements only if Ecology approves water rights first.

The county should lead a public process that supports new water acquisition for the district to provide water service to the airport — a process that includes local water managers such as the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe, the Dungeness Water Users Association and the Dungeness Water Exchange.

For more about Public Utility District No. 1 of Clallam County, visit clallampud.net.