Tag Archives: water supply

The future of the island’s water supply

The city will present the preliminary results from a four-year groundwater modeling project tonight at City Hall.

The aim of the project is to predict how various factors, including population growth and climate change, will affect the island’s aquifers.

The presentation is at 5:30 p.m.

Below is the city’s press release.

Members of the public will have the opportunity next week to learn how the island’s groundwater might be affected by different land use, population growth and climate change scenarios. Staff of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), which has been working with the City to develop a hydrogeologic model of the island’s groundwater, will present the results at a public meeting at Council Chambers from 5:30-7 pm on Tuesday, July 27.

“Since groundwater is the sole source of drinking water for island residents, it’s imperative that we have a thorough understanding of our aquifer system in order to make sound, knowledgeable management and planning decisions,” said Cami Apfelbeck, Water Resources Specialist and Groundwater Monitoring Program Manager for the City. “This model will give us a better understanding of the way in which changing conditions may impact our ground water resource.”

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Council finally passes ordinance for green + affordable housing

Rendering of the Ferncliff housing project
Rendering of the Ferncliff housing project
The two most politicized words on Bainbridge Island are “density” and “water.” *

Having those two words attached to a proposed ordinance aimed at encouraging sustainable design and affordable housing ensured it would go through the wringer of staff revisions, several City Council-ordered rewrites and intense public scrutiny.

After about a year of work, the version that arrived before the council on Wednesday was trimmed and polished enough for unanimous approval.

Some supporters still worry that the ordinance, which establishes density bonuses and flexible design standards to encourage the construction of earth-friendly housing affordable for to middle-income people, may now have limited appeal to developers.

And critics say the ordinance may alter the island’s small town feel with high-density developments that draw down limited groundwater supplies.

The ordinance is likely to achieve one of it’s key goals: allow the Housing Resources Board to move forward with its planned 48-unit project on Ferncliff Avenue.

For more, read my story here.


*There’s also “Winslow Way,” but that’s a combination of two words.

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Group taking shape to watch island’s groundwater supply

The Association of Bainbridge Communities is forming a water resources committee to look at the problem of declining groundwater reserves and make planning recommendations to the city.

ABC was founded 30 years ago by residents concerned about the island’s finite water supply.

To learn participate in the group, contact ABC member Arnie Kubiak at biabc2000@yahoo.com

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Groundwater supply declining, study says

Islanders may want to keep a closer tab on their taps.

A city-commissioned study indicates that the island’s finite water supply is declining in some areas.

The island’s deepest groundwater supplier, the Fletcher Bay aquifer, showed some of study’s steepest declines, especially in the Eagledale and Sands Road areas. Linked in recent years to high-capacity wells, the aquifer meets about 30 percent of the growing population’s water needs. Another large portion of the island’s water supply is generated by several small wells linked to a sea level aquifer, which in recent years has had instances of saltwater intrusion due to over-pumping.

Bainbridge’s water supply has become a top concern for residents, dominating community priority surveys and City Council campaigns.  Despite widespread public interest, the island has lacked a comprehensive analysis of whether it can satisfy its increasing thirst.

“There’s a lot of concern on the part of Bainbridge citizens about the state of their aquifers and what they can do about it,” said Joseph Lubischer, an engineer who helped lead the study for Bainbridge-based Aspect Consulting.

While the study’s limited scope prevents it from offering definitive answers, it does indicate that the concerns were well-founded.

“The last 20 years have seen some big, deep wells go in,” Lubischer said. “So, we’ve seen some changes recently, and we have a limited amount (of water).”

Of particular interest is Island Utilities Well 1, which supplies much of the Eagledale neighborhood on Eagle Harbor’s south shore. The high-capacity well registered the study’s steepest drop, declining from about 40 feet in 1988 to 25 feet last year.

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