The statewide drought has Lewis County employees from multiple departments planning and working toward making sure residents will have water through the drought.
Lewis County Public Health was recently approved for a $36,000 grant from the Washington State Department of Health to check well levels, said Sue Kennedy, senior environmental health specialist for the county’s water program.
The county hopes to hire a consultant for the project in the next two weeks.
The contractor will be gathering well logs and historic water level information for each water system considered at risk, measuring water levels on a monthly basis in each source and tracking changes in the aquifers.
If water systems are tracking their own levels, the contractor will use that data instead of measuring the levels as well. The contractor will also identify systems that may need to modify their water sources by making adjustments like lowering pumps deeper into wells or finding new sources.
The contractor will find systems that have adequate supplies of water that might be able to help nearby, struggling systems, and educate owners and operators about how to measure their own water levels.
Using state criteria, Public Health has identified systems it is concerned about, Kennedy said, which are wells 100 feet deep or less. The project will focus on those community systems and those that serve schools, medical clinics and other essential entities.
Public health is planning for the project to last through November, Kennedy said, because aquifers typically start dropping in July and August with noticeable effects in September and October and possibly into November.
“People should not panic. They should just be conservative, be thinking about their water and start implementing their own behaviors that will help conserve water,” Kennedy said.
Lewis County Public Works Director Tim Elsea said his department has not received any drought relief money, yet.
“We’re still applying for funds,” Elsea said. The funding, if approved, would likely come from the Washington State Department of Ecology, not the health department as originally thought.
If public works is awarded grant money, the funds will go toward setting up free emergency water stations at area shops, if the Board of County Commissioners declares an emergency.
Elsea said they would want to limit the amount of water residents could take, if the stations are implemented, to make sure there is enough for everyone who needs it.
Lewis County Emergency Management Director Steve Mansfield is working on a drought plan focusing on education with representatives from multiple agencies, including other county departments, fire districts and well drillers, to address systems in unincorporated areas of the county.
“I think the direction I’m heading now is really encouraging conservation,” he said. “... How we’re going to get through this is really about people conserving and knowing what’s going on.”
A Washington State Department of Health brochure about water saving provides multiple conservation ideas, including: irrigating plants with rainwater, fixing leaky faucets, taking shorter showers, watering lawns in the morning or evening and washing cars at car washes that recycle water, among other tips.
“The people are what’s going to make a difference here as far as us having enough water until this winter,” Mansfield said.
He is working to form a drought committee and, with the different agencies, is trying to figure out which ones can provide water if people need it.
Mansfield is also looking to find out what areas of Lewis County are seeing low levels and wants to make emergency management a “clearinghouse” for the information and to map stressed systems.
He said some people likely aren’t reporting issues, but the county is encouraging reporting any problems to better track impacts from the drought.
“We’re a month ahead of time as far as the dryness and everything else,” Mansfield said. “This should be end of August, first part of September, weather and conditions we’re having.”
