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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - Oct. 13, 1999
99-214
Contact: Joye Redfield-Wilder, public information manager, (509) 575-2610
YAKIMA - The city of White Salmon is one step closer to being able to convert its drinking water supply from Buck Creek, which is plagued by contamination problems, to groundwater wells.
Two requests to change surface-water rights have been approved by the Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology). The changes will help the city obtain higher-quality municipal water.
The city has a history of chronic drinking-water contamination due to increased land-use activity in the watershed and contamination by parasites that can make people sick.
A "boil water" advisory was issued in July when tests indicated the city's water supply was at increased risk from cryptosporidum and giardia, single-celled organisms that are excreted in the feces of infected animals or humans.
"Based on test results from an exploratory well drilled about five miles downstream from the city's current diversion and other considerations, there should be plenty of water available to meet the city's needs without impairing other water rights," said Dan Weis, a water manager for Ecology.
Ecology's approval of the water-right transfers follows an order by the state Department of Health that the city improve water treatment or replace its existing surface-water source. In recent years, system patrons have faced increasingly frequent boil-water notices for the city and its environs, including the town of Bingen.
Ecology was able to address the applications in a timely manner under state code that allows emergency change requests to be made for replacing an at-risk water supply. The decision authorizes the city to construct up to four wells under its surface-water right. The decision does not allow the city to increase its annual consumption nor does it allow allocations for growth.
The water-right change approvals may be appealed to the Pollution Control Hearings Board.
Copyright © Washington State Department of Ecology. See http://www.ecy.wa.gov/copyright.html.
