Sallal exits water moratorium as situation in North Bend remains murky

Sallal Water Association votes to end moratorium on new water connections after a six month pause

The Sallal Water Association lifted its temporary moratorium on new water connections last week, ending a months-long pause that raised concerns about future development projects in eastern North Bend.

Sallal, an independent, member-owned water district, halted new connections last June to prevent overreach on its limited supply. At the time, Sallal reported using nearly all of its allotted water rights and acknowledged few options to immediately add to its stock.

But six months later Sallal found additional water and its board of directors voted to exit its moratorium on Dec. 20, Daylin Baker, board vice president, told the Valley Record.

A number of mechanical errors from water meters led Sallal to significantly overestimate its consumption and the amount that leaked through its pipes between 2020 and early 2021, according to a consultants report released by Sallal on Dec. 27. With corrections to those metrics, Sallal “appears to have water capacity to serve new and additional connections,” the report said.

Exactly how much additional water Sallal has is unclear. The report’s author declined to provide an estimate of how many connections Sallal can now undertake, but did urge caution.

“We would recommend that Sallal be cautious with the allocations of the remaining water connections,” the report said.

Entering the moratorium earlier this year came as an abrupt about-face for Sallal, which claimed in its 2020 Water Systems Plan to have more than enough water for the foreseeable future.

“The [Sallal Water] Association claimed to have enough water to provide connections for the next ten years,” Jae Hill, chair of the King County Utilities Technical Review Committee, wrote in a prior email to the Valley Record.

In a letter to the Utilities Technical Review Committee, Sallal cited excess leakage through its pipes and a greater-than-expected pace of development as the primary reasons for needing the pause on connections. The report released Dec. 27 found Sallal’s leakage over the last few years has been much lower than previously thought.

Exiting the moratorium this month comes with a similar level of surprise. It remains unclear what the exit means for developments in North Bend or the city’s ongoing negotiations with Sallal.

In an email prior to the release of the consultants’ report, North Bend Public Works Director Mark Rigos said the city was still trying to understand how Sallal went from a moratorium to now having an unknown water supply just months later.

“The information being provided to the city [by Sallal] has been a yo-yo in 2022,” he said. “It has been confusing.”

Rigos said the city wants a better certainty on water availability to ensure all residents have access. Much of North Bend’s future growth is expected to happen in the eastern portion of the city, an area that while in city limits is served by Sallal.

According to city documents, Sallal has failed to serve multiple development projects within North Bend over the last few years, dating back to a housing development in 2017.

The most recent shortfall happened this summer. When Sallal entered its moratorium, several commercial development projects along East North Bend Way were left without access to water. That prompted the city council to re-prioritize how it awards water certificates, giving developers in Sallal’s district the option to come to the city for water.

The quickest solution to address water challenges for Sallal and the city would be striking a deal with each other, something the two parties have been negotiating, unsuccessfully, for over a decade. The city could provide Sallal with water for future service and Sallal, in return, would provide the city a needed mitigation source.

North Bend’s primary water source is heavily connected to the Snoqualmie River and requires that additional water be available to mitigate potential damage to the river. While the city has a primary mitigation source, Sallal could provide a required back-up to act as a fail-safe.

Negotiations over a similar deal reached new territory following the moratorium. During an August Sallal meeting, North Bend Mayor Rob McFarland surprised the Sallal board with an offer from the city to purchase the independent water district.

“This is a big step, absolutely, but I believe it’s ultimately the correct answer,” McFarland told the Valley Record last summer.

But Sallal’s board has appeared reluctant to a merger, accusing the mayor in previous comments of “political theater,” and making false statements about the board’s willingness to cooperate and the strength of its water system.

Sallal’s membership appears to hold a similar opinion. A Sallal survey of its customers released this month found nearly 97% of the 604 respondents — roughly a quarter of Sallal’s members — opposed the sale.

The city has yet to formally submit an offer to Sallal, but has been working with an appraiser and hopes to have an offer ready by the end of next month, Rigos said. He added that Sallal’s board has been uncooperative in the appraisal.

“The Sallal Board has been unwilling to share financial statements and records,” he said. “[That] will be key to reaching a full, fair, appraised value and offer price.”

Any proposed sale would ultimately be up to Sallal’s 2,200 customers, two-thirds of which would need to vote in favor of the transaction.

Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly said that development projects in Eastern North Bend had been left without water. That has statement has been removed. We regret the error.