AWWA ACE56221

Sammanish Plateau and Sewer District (District) supplies water to the rapidly growing population from groundwater sources located both on the plateau and in the adjacent Issaquah Creek Valley. The location of the District's fifteen wells that provide about 21 million gallons per day (mgd) to the system is given. Three District wells are located in a satellite system outside the artificial recharge area. In the state of Washington, the Department of Ecology issues and regulates water rights. Over the last 10 years, the Department's water rights processing of new applications has virtually stopped due to conflicting laws, strict interpretation of instream flow requirements, and concerns regarding Endangered Species Act requirements for maintaining slamon habitat. Today, the Department holds a backlog of more than 7,000 water right applications with little hope for prompt relief. The inability to obtain new water rights has forced the District to enforce mandatory water restrictions, impose temporary building moratoria, and hold quarterly lotteries for new water allocations. The District has also searched for means to optimize the available water resources and its existing water rights. This slide presentation presents information on one of the more promising solutions that involves augmentation of the Plateau Aquifer System with seasonal surplus water from the Issaquah Valley Aquifer.

Product Details

Edition:

Vol. - No.

Published:

06/16/2002

Number of Pages:

31

File Size:

1 file , 3.5 MB