The change would clarify when a satellite management agency is needed to ensure safe drinking water. As reported in the Saturday, January 4, 2025 edition of the South Whidbey Record, the current issues with limited and costly SMA coverage affecting … Continue reading Changes proposed in water system management
PFAS Statewide Funding Strategy: Four-Year Plan for Prevention, Reduction, and Mitigation in Washington State The legislature asked Dept of Ecology, in consultation with Dept of Health, to develop a funding strategy. The current state budget forecast shows a shortfall, so this big budget need arrives in a belt-tightening moment. It doesn’t mean it won’t get funded. The legislature will need to hear from impacted communities about whether they support these strategies, what is most important to do first, and if you think they should do something else instead. Continue reading Ecology releases four-year statewide funding strategy for PFAS
This news update is part of a series on PFAS (per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances, “Forever Chemicals”) in drinking water. You can read all the previous posts here. Continue reading Stone, meet water
A one-day class from Whidbey Environmental Action Network From now through December 2025, Island County is going through a comprehensive planning process that will shape the local code and policy for the next twenty years. We need your voice in the room — especially if public speaking doesn’t come naturally to you. We recognize that it is a cultivated skill and are offering community members an opportunity to build that skill at our first Finding Your Civic Voice Workshop. When: December 8 from 9 am to 4 pm (with a break for lunch) Where: Bayview Cash Store Front Room, Second … Continue reading Finding your Civic Voice
Climate Resiliency Sub Element – call for comments Over the last two weeks, Island County Planning Department held a series on three Stakeholder Workshops to discuss the Climate Resiliency Sub Element for the Comprehensive Plan. Stakeholders from a variety of … Continue reading Island County Comprehensive Plan
This month, I found myself on a stakeholder panel for a series of three workshops on the Climate Resiliency Sub Element of the Comprehensive Plan, required by the State Department of Commerce as part of the county’s comprehensive plan update. The first workshop was on sea level rise. For a primer on the sea level rise issues our island is facing, you can read An Imperfect Storm. Continue reading A Gray Tsunami
At the end of the last update, we were left with three open issues: the Military’s response to the EPA’s new National Drinking Water Standard for PFAS; lawsuits challenging that standard; and testing of private wells with non-military sources of PFAS contamination. The last few months have brought us positive developments on two of these, and negative on the other. I’ll slide the bad news in between two slices of good. Continue reading A PFAS Sandwich
The county issued a request to all water systems to check the Island County Hydrogeology Dashboard for your water system’s seawater intrusion risk. When a water system is connected to more than 2 homes and the well is in an … Continue reading Drinking Water: Seawater Intrusion Monitoring
The Department of Health and the Department of Ecology have updated their Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and Joint Review Procedures for coordinating and reviewing water system planning and engineering documents. The MOU and Joint Review Procedures outline the roles and … Continue reading MOU and Joint Review Process Update
Last week, the WA Department of Health released the latest isntallement of PFAS Basics Videos on YouTube. From their email release: Some news to share…we launched our next three PFAS Basics Videos on YouTube today! These three videos cover steps you … Continue reading PFAS Basics Videos from DOH
A new issue of DOH’s ODW Now newsletter is available for September 2024 LINK Continue reading ODW Now — September 2024 Edition
Adventures in Water System Consolidation Last week, I gave a talk at the Evergreen Rural Water of Washington (ERWoW) Fall Conference in Yakima, Washington, on water system consolidation. I spent some time on the nuts and bolts, but more on … Continue reading “You might want to move your wells”
A PFAS Diary It’s been a minute since we did a PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances or “Forever Chemicals”) in drinking water roundup. If you’d like to start at the beginning of the PFAS saga, you can find all my … Continue reading Deference
EPA’s Lead and Copper Rule Revisions – New Requirements On January 15, 2021, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued Lead and Copper Rule Revisions (LCRR) that went into effect on December 16, 2021. Group A Community and non-transient non-community … Continue reading Lead Service Line Inventory
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is proposing a Water System Restructuring Assessment Rule, which outlines a framework for states, public water systems, and the communities they serve to evaluate options for restructuring to help ensure safe, reliable drinking water. Water … Continue reading The Water System Restructuring Assessment Rule