City taps third plan for water

Published 1:16 pm Thursday, October 2, 2008

NORTH BEND – The state Department of Ecology (DOE) has ruled out two options for North Bend to obtain additional water rights. But with the same hand it used to take those options away it is presenting a third alternative that could allow development to resume in the city.

The new plan would have North Bend acquire water from the Tolt Watershed, which is managed by Seattle Public Utilities (SPU). The untreated water would be piped to Deep Creek, which flows into the North Fork of the Snoqualmie River.

The city could then build a well, tapping into an aquifer near the North Fork. The SPU water would ensure that what is taken from the aquifer for North Bend residents and businesses would not diminish flows in the North Fork and the Snoqualmie River downstream of where its three forks converge.

The plan is in its formative stages, and it could take the next few years to hammer out all the details and complete the project. There is no estimate yet on how much it would cost.

Less than a year on the job, North Bend Public Works Director Ron Garrow has already adopted the wait-and-see attitude of veteran city officials who have worked on the issue since it was discovered in 1999 that North Bend was using more water than what it was allowed under its state permit.

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