As part of the more than $81 million in investments across the 20th Legislative District in the 2025-27 Washington state capital budget, the Legislature approved $5 million for the City of Centralia’s nitrates project to improve drinking water safety.
The capital budget awaits approval by Gov. Bob Ferguson after clearing the House and the Senate.
State Rep. Peter Abbarno, R-Centralia, included the $5 million in the capital budget as he worked with the City of Centralia to discuss a plan to address dangerously high nitrate levels in a city aquifer impacting about 70 homes in the Fords Prairie area surrounding Centralia High School.
Local officials, citing early testing of the water, believe the source of the high nitrates to be the Bok Oke Game Farm, which is managed by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife as a site for raising pheasants.
The city and Lewis County worked together to come up with a plan to hook up the affected homes to sewer systems, and the cost came out to around $5 million. Once Ferguson signs the budget, it will go to the Department of Commerce, which will work with the city and the county to get a contract to implement the plan.
Centralia Mayor Kelly Smith Johnston described the $5 million allocation for the project as “invaluable” to take care of a fundamental safety issue for residents. While she said the funding will provide safe drinking water, it doesn’t solve the issue of the nitrate leaking into the critical aquifer.
“Now, we need to move into design and get solid cost estimates, but our initial cost estimates indicate that that is sufficient to get that in there and that we wouldn’t need additional funding,” Smith Johnston said of the long-term water and sewer infrastructure.
The $5 million will support permanent water and sewer connections and continued protection and management of the critical aquifer, according to Lewis County Public Health and Social Services.
In an email to Smith Johnston and members of the Centralia City Council, Lewis County Public Health and Social Services Director Meja Handlen said the county is moving forward with the installation of under-sink water filtration systems for affected households. While the operating budget passed by the Legislature reduced the Alternative Drinking Water Program’s allocation from $811,000 to $345,000 through June 30, the county is still able to continue with installation for the project.
The area of concern is in the urban growth area, technically outside Centralia limits, but it is contiguous with city limits and is managed through an interlocal agreement between Centralia and Lewis County. According to county officials, the main areas of concern are residences located on Mayberry, Rancho, Eshom, Prill, Mt. Vista, Cowlitz and Pheasant roads, along with some residences on Borst Avenue, about 70 homes in total. Centralia High School is connected to the city’s water and is not facing concerns over nitrates.
With funding likely on the way for safe drinking water, the city and 20th Legislative District lawmakers are keeping their focus on the Bob Oke Game Farm, which was largely determined to be the leading suspect for the high nitrate levels in wells in the Fords Prairie area. A groundwater study indicated that the highest concentration of nitrates was found in the monitoring well on the game farm property, with levels reaching 39.4 milligrams per liter — nearly four times the maximum allowable limit of 10 milligrams per liter.
The Bob Oke Game Farm will reduce the number of birds raised at its facility by approximately 40% and will move all adult birds located over the most productive part of the aquifer. During a recent visit to the farm, no birds were visible on the property.
Smith Johnston and lawmakers said during a March 24 town hall with WDFW representatives in attendance that mitigation efforts must be more comprehensive and took offense to WDFW officials continuing to prioritize providing hunting services despite the contaminated aquifer. The WDFW also was hesitant to consider a land swap in conversations with lawmakers, Abbarno said.
In a recent email from the WDFW to Smith Johnston, the agency appeared to double down on its stance.
“We remain committed to owning and addressing our part in the nitrate issue. Our priority remains short-term reductions in any potential contributions and long-term understanding of the system,” the agency stated. “Moving the game farm would be tremendously expensive and would just shift the work of best management practices to a different location. We did produce a preliminary list of potential properties that could serve as a starting point for potential relocation, but there’s no discussion about taking that relocation concept further.”
Abbarno told The Chronicle that he and Sen. John Braun, R-Centralia, have had several meetings with the WDFW since the March 24 town hall to discuss different locations around the state.
“Those discussions have been fruitful and moving forward, obviously never fast enough for our citizens who have contaminated water,” Abbarno said. “But I feel like it’s moving in a direction, and hopefully we can get some resolution this summer and we can start working on a plan for that game site. If they ultimately decide they’re going to do a land swap, they’re going to move or they’re going to try to do some mitigating factors on site, that would be in next year’s supplemental capital budget, and we’ll be working with them on that as well.”
To read more about the nitrate contamination issue, visit https://tinyurl.com/4x4dm87v.
