Reporter ISSAQUAH | SAMMAMISH
Friday, May 10, 2013
www.issaquahreporter.com
Squak saved
Sammamish Plateau Water & Sewer District general manager Jay Krauss stands near a retention pond in the Issaquah Highlands. His agency is trying to stop Issaquah from injecting contaminated water 600 feet from wells that serve 54,000 residents in Issaquah, Sammamish and unincorporated King County.
Trust for Public Land to rescue Squak Mountain BY LINDA BALL LBALL@ISSAQUAHREPORTER.COM
ground discharge as needed based on results. Ecology said it is considering the permit because results obtained over the last two years show “typical levels seen in residential and commercial areas” similar to the Highlands. In 2008, Ecology forced Issaquah to stop injecting stormwater into the LRIG after a SPWSD monitoring well detected high levels of bacteria — largely from the waste of geese, dogs, ducks and other animals. Since the stoppage, stormwater has been diverted into the north fork of the Issaquah Creek, which flows into Lake Sammamish. Ecology and Issaquah are eager to return to a more natural flow — a trend they say is widely adopted nationwide as a method of low impact development. “Groundwater infiltration replenishes not only the aquifer, but maintains creek flow more steadily,” Altose said. Krauss remains cautious, stating the aquifer likely is not as deep as Ecology thinks. “Our boundary and testing evidence indicates that it will degrade the aquifer,” he said. SPSWD consultant Gail Twelves said when injection was brought to a halt five years ago, bacteria levels were at an unacceptable level.
Just in the nick of time, King County executive Dow Constantine and the Trust for Public Land have signed a conditional agreement to purchase the 216-acres owned by Erickson Logging, Inc. on Squak Mountain, saving the pristine forest from logging. This news could not have come any sooner since the Washington State department of natural resources had approved the revised forest practices permit for Kurt Erickson late last week, giving him the green light to log 95 percent of the 95 acres he proposed to log in his second application. The approval was troubling to members of the grass roots organization Save Squak, because the state DNR did not consider comments from the King County Department of Permitting and Environmental Review regarding flooding in the May Creek basin. According to Bruce McDonald with the DNR, harvesting timber is not considered to cause the creation of an impervious surface. The May Creek drainage basin has been the subject of recent study and concern by King County due to drainage complaints and flooding of private property. Some argue that without the forest, the flooding would be worse. “This welcome and welltimed agreement helps us save this valued forestland,” Constantine said. “Thanks to The Trust for Public Land we can now work to acquire the property at a fair price, and secure the funding to preserve this land in perpetuity.” The Trust for Public Land’s initial agreement with Erick-
SEE STORMWATER, 2
SEE SAVED, 8
KEVIN ENDEJAN, Issaquah & Sammamish Reporter
WATER WAR
Agencies clash over what to do with Issaquah Highland’s stormwater BY KEVIN ENDEJAN KENDEJAN@ISSAQUAHREPORTER.COM
A
debate regarding what should be done with stormwater is boiling over at the foot of the Issaquah Highlands.
Within weeks, the state Department of Ecology could give the city of Issaquah approval to inject runoff into an aquifer 600 yards uphill from three wells serving 54,000 people in Sammamish, parts of Issaquah and unincorporated King County. The Sammamish Plateau Water & Sewer District, which owns and operates the wells, said various stormwater pollutants would be a danger to its customers. “Unfortunately, the stormwater that’s being injected has high fecal coliform bacteria, bad things — things that carry illness and metals — primarily lead, but there’s also manganese and arsenic in it as well,” said Jay Krauss, general manager for SPWSD. “Our hydraulic modeling shows that anything that goes in the (aquifer) can migrate into our well within six to eight weeks.” Officials at Ecology and Issaquah argue the
“Our boundary and testing evidence indicates that it will degrade the aquifer.” - Jay Krauss water, which would settle in an area called the Lower Reid Infiltration Gallery (LRIG), will be safely treated through filtration of sand and gravel before it reaches any wells. Keith Niven, Issaquah’s director of economic development, said the city has been monitoring the water that it has been infiltrating into the LRIG for two years. “We believe it’s pretty clean,” Niven said. Ecology spokesman Larry Altose said any permit drafted for Issaquah will follow strict guidelines, including limits for bacteria, oil, metals and other contaminants; establishing a monitoring schedule of these pollutants; a monthly report to Ecology and the stoppage of