Water woes
Imagine utility rates doubling overnight. Some residents living in eastern Clallam County won't need to imagine paying more for water after June 1st, because it will be a reality.
Whidbey Island-based Cascadia Water is acquiring an increasing number of small water companies in Clallam County and, according to a recent letter sent to customers, rates are about to jump. Cascadia Water is a subsidiary of NW Natural Water Company, a subsidiary of publicly-traded Northwest Natural Holding Company (NYSE: NWN). The biggest individual shareholders of NWN are BlackRock and Vanguard, so there are investors to satisfy, dividends to pay, and a Cascadia Water CEO’s $4.3 million annual salary to sustain.
Residents in several neighborhoods including Monterra, Blue Ribbon Farms, and Diamond Point received a letter warning of an "incremental increase of 75%" which, according to Cascadia, is needed to fund improvement projects. However, most improvements in the letter aren't for Cascadia's systems on the Olympic Peninsula and customers are worried that they are subsidizing infrastructure in Island, Kitsap, and Mason counties.
Concerned ratepayers have testified before the Utilities and Transportation Commission (UTC) requesting that increases be made gradually and that Cascadia provide transparency. However, Cascadia is not a public agency, so the company isn't obligated to show how ratepayers' dollars are being used.
Now, Cascadia customers may get help from elected leaders. The County Commissioners will review a draft letter to the UTC at Monday's work session urging the state agency to ensure that Cascadia’s Clallam County ratepayers are treated fairly.
Residents looking for independence from skyrocketing rate increases could drill a well on their property, but that presents complications. Eastern Clallam County residents residing (roughly) between Morse Creek and Sequim Bay are subject to the Dungeness Water Rule.
Adopted in 2013 to protect critical water flows in the Dungeness River and its tributary Matriotti Creek, the water rule can be traced back to 1855's Point No Point treaty which ensured the S'Klallam Tribes' right "of taking fish at usual and accustomed grounds and stations..." These treaty rights were reinforced 50 years ago in the Boldt Decision which ruled that S'Klallam Tribes have rights to half the catch of fish and that the State and Tribes will manage fish populations together.
The Dungeness Water Rule determined that wells drawing from underground aquifers lower the entire prairie's water table. This groundwater reduction depletes flows in the Dungeness River and surrounding streams. The decreased flow disrupts salmon habitat and infringes on the treaty rights of the Jamestown Tribe who played a significant role in creating the Dungeness Water Rule.
New homeowners building in the water rule area, and current residents being priced out by rate hikes, are allowed to drill wells. However, they must apply for a $5,250 water mitigation permit which covers indoor water use only. Permit seekers who wish to water their yards can apply for an additional $5,250 certificate. Residents with livestock — up to 15 cows, horses, sheep, etc. — can pay another $5,250. For some, that's nearly $16,000 before drilling a well has even begun.
The rule also requires that a water meter be installed on the wellhead. The mandated meter sends daily usage data to the Department of Ecology (DOE) and Washington Water Trust. For now, the stated purpose of the meters is data collection only. Meters are complimentary and provided by the Clallam Conservation District.
On April 16th, while people were still heating their homes in the lowlands and snow was falling in the highlands, Washington's DOE declared a statewide drought emergency. The declaration releases millions in grant funding to help mitigate low water supplies. It allows the DOE to control water right permits. In other words, requests to drill wells within the Dungeness Water Rule Area may be denied because drawing less from the water table will protect flows in the Dungeness River and help the salmon.
Traditionally, the biggest water consumers are golf courses. Maintaining a green 18-hole golf course in Sequim can draw hundreds of thousands of gallons of water from an aquifer daily — that’s enough to support indoor water use for over 1,000 homes. The Cedars at Dungeness, owned and operated by the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe, is an award-winning 18-hole golf course with salmon-bearing Matriotti Creek meandering through its 100-plus acres of irrigated fairways. This year's drawdown of the aquifer could diminish flows in Matriotti Creek and, subsequently, decrease flows in the Dungeness River.
Drought emergencies are being declared earlier and more frequently. Private homeowners are being mandated to measure water usage and supply that data to the government. A finite natural resource is being controlled, so it's only natural that a price tag has been attached to that resource attracting profiteers who are seeking opportunity.
The path forward for water users in Clallam County may be unclear, but the realization that a small, personal well can decrease a river’s flow miles away makes one thing certain…
We're all in this together.
[File a complaint with the UTC by clicking here.]
Two important updates
Towne Road bids
Bids for completing Towne Road are due to be opened at this Tuesday’s Commissioner meeting on May 7th. If bids are within the project budget, they will be given to the Road Department and Towne Road will have passed another important milestone.
Podcaster Brandi Kruse is coming to Sequim
Brandi Kruse will be at the Clallam County Watchdog meetup this Saturday, May 11th at the Elks Club. Details will be finalized and announced this week. If you missed Brandi’s commentary on a public defender’s attire, you're in for a treat:
This is bad. I lived on Whidbey Island for 3 1/2 years in an area water serviced by Cascadia. They ARE horrible. They continually raise rates saying (like they do here) costly infrastructure improvements are needed. Well, they aren't doing them. Thus, they have money to buy into other system and continue the scam. Very sad to see them coming over here.
So someone declares a "drought" and the first order of business is to "Save the Salmon"! Next, a global corporation swoops in to save Clallam County from the drought by offering improvements that never materialize, but residents still get hosed by the exorbitant utility bills. It's a man-made crisis designed by a globalist faction to take total control of CC. The question is never answered: What does CC have that these leeches want? Stay alert everyone!