Gary Stamper one of Lewis County’s Board of Commissioners stated the purchase of over 81 acres of land in Lewis County by Crystal Geyser may produce 20 jobs. A sale price of $724,950.00 was cheap. In terms of the loss of aquifer water to the public, the land was priceless.
What could go wrong? Privatization of public water, in particular local aquifers, has some clear intended and unintended consequences. It has been tried elsewhere with negative results. Aquifer resources are not limitless and while they can recharge, it takes a variable amount of time depending on soil conditions.
Environmental crisis is occurring right now. Currently, 27 watersheds in Washington State are suffering from drought, many of which are on the Western side of the Cascades, typically considered less prone to drought, including the higher elevations in Lewis County.
We are experiencing record breaking snow melt due to warmer than usual temperatures. After all, there have been prior attempts which failed to get residents in Lewis County off of well systems or to meter water usage. Residents may have no choice if the groundwater is not amply protected.
Domestic or private use is exempt from permit requirements at up to 5,000 gallons per day. Stamper fails to mention if there would be similar requirements and a cap on Crystal Geyser’s use. Domestic use is unlikely to reach the daily limit. On the other hand, Crystal Geyser is in the business of selling water and will have a greater impact with 24/7 production capabilities.
With the push to expand development and population in Lewis County generally “for jobs,” aquifer stability and adequacy to provide for homeowners’ water needs will become less certain. Stamper may be excited about 20 jobs which will pay at least $13.50 per hour in 2020 thanks to a Washington state voter initiative and Governor Jay Inslee, but at what cost to the public? Lewis County Code 8.55 requires water planning, reliability studies and disclosure. If a corporation provides the information and it seems too good to be true, it really is up to the county to double check.
Planning should occur first before allowing a company whose focus is to bottle public water resources to purchase over 81 acres within the county. In other words, the corporation should have to ask permission and provide tentative, mutually beneficial terms before buying property when the focus of the purchase is to extract water.
Does Stamper want to be known as the Republican commissioner who sold out the public and forced his constituents to buy water they were once able to pump out of their own well?
In case that day should come, is Crystal Geyser posting an environmental bond to provide mitigation and compensation to the local population? Over-pumping groundwater leads to many problems including risks to public health.
The time it may take for a crisis to be seen as a crisis is time wasted. Children in places like Detroit or Flint know all too well the devastation of unsafe water supplies. Bottled water quickly becomes expensive and trucking water into a community isn’t practical in the long run. What it invariably will mean is reduced property values if wells are non-functional. It will eventually produce substantial expense to the public to upgrade infrastructure, force everyone to upgrade to water transferred through pipelines (and charged for connection and a monthly bill).
What does Stamper thinks he knows to say, “It’s a good project…” that the rest of us don’t?
Helen Nowlin
Glenoma
