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.
