Opponents block bid for Marrowstone water project

By Stuart Eskenazi
Seattle Times staff reporter

	HARLEY SOLTES / THE SEATTLE TIMES Water is such a problem on Marrowstone Island that residents have incorporated a water-conservation message on the sign that welcomes visitors to the island.
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Residents of Marrowstone Island have underscored their affection for being marooned, defeating a proposal to build a public-water system many feared would bring more homes and people, spoiling the island's bucolic nature.

For all the scarcity of water on Marrowstone, the passion among many islanders to retain their lifestyle proved more abundant.

"When we talked to people who were on the fence, at first they would say it was matter of dollars and cents to pay for the system," said Wayne Chimenti, who helped to gather signatures of opponents.

"But during the last week or so, people started saying, 'I want this island to stay the same.' That's what it really came down to."

Water is precious on the six-mile-long island, which lies within the rain shadow southeast of Port Townsend. Exacerbating the shortage, saltwater has infiltrated the island's aquifer, tainting some wells, especially those close to shore.

Conservation is a way of life on Marrowstone, where many residents trap rainwater or haul water in from the mainland, especially in the summer when the island can get parched.

At the request of some Marrowstone residents, the Jefferson County PUD No. 1 had proposed a $4.4 million system to serve the entire island with water piped in from the mainland. But close to half of the island's property owners notified the PUD by Tuesday's deadline that they did not want the system.

Dana Roberts, president of the PUD board of commissioners, said yesterday the plan is probably dead, as it now makes little sense financially or politically. PUD director Jim Parker said yesterday that by his count, the owners of 410 of Marrowstone's 918 parcels opposed the system, though opponents contend that the numbers may even be higher.

"The numbers are amazingly high," said Parker, who predicted less opposition. "It's definitely a strong vote against public water. If we build anything, it clearly won't be on the whole island."

Scott Cassill, a public-water proponent, criticized the PUD for drawing out its decision, which he believes gave opponents more time to rally their forces. The vote against public water does not change the reality that islanders with tainted wells remain in desperate need of safe water, he said.

Roberts said commissioners will consider alternatives to an island-wide system, which could include servicing only those areas where supporters appreciably outnumber opponents. Cassill said he expects residents in those areas to formally ask the PUD for a system confined to those boundaries.

But Chimenti said there will be strong opposition to such a plan, as it runs counter to conservation and probably would promote abuse of the aquifer — a resource that islanders without public water would continue to rely on.

The water fight in Marrowstone hurt feelings and, in a few cases, turned friends into enemies. Cassill, in explaining why some areas of the island favored public water while other areas didn't, said:

"There are smarter people here where we are for it and there are a lot of dumb people on this island where they voted against it."

Chimenti said the PUD would make a mistake to let Marrowstone residents solve the area's water problems by themselves.

"The opponents don't want that," he said. "We want to work on solutions as a community."

He suggested alternatives, such as the PUD hauling water into Marrowstone during particularly dry summers. The water could be transported from the mainland in a tanker truck and islanders could tap in for a fee.

Chimenti also said the PUD could help to promote water conservation by providing no-interest loans to property owners who construct rain-catchment systems.

A frustrated Cassill countered: "Conserving water doesn't make bad water good, does it?"

Stuart Eskenazi: 206-464-2293 or seskenazi@seattletimes.com

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