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09/19/2008: "Public Right-Of-Way For Public Good?"

Anyone who has lived in San Juan County is aware of the two part argument that “we are running out of water,” but “transporting water is the problem, not the lack of it.”

A public hearing on Orcas will be held September 29, 10:40 AM, at the Orcas Senior Center” to take testimony on a proposal to withdraw and transport up to 10 gallons of water a minute for multiple domestic use.

For the most part the argument has been a hypothetical one that has more to do with allowing development by providing water where there is none, then it has to do with how much water really is available if we are willing to pay to move it from where it is, to where it is not.

For years private water systems have used portions of the public right-of-way to route water, electrical and communication lines, but the old arguments have now surfaced as a reality after a private company applied for a franchise to use the public right-of-way for a water line that will move water nearly three and a half miles (map above) from one part of Orcas to another part.

Those against development have not liked the idea of an island wide network of water lines, or -God forbid- a county wide system -regardless of who pays for it- but so far the argument against the new proposal has to do with the use of the water. The water will be taken from a well located in agricultural land, and used for residential development.

For Orcas resident Dana N. Kinsey, the proposal “reminds me of what Mulholland did before removing water from Owens Valley to supply Los Angeles. 150 years of agricultural use hangs in the balance” in San Juan County.

Kinsey’s concerns are shared by County Council candidate Mindy Kayl, who sees the proposal as a “ very serious water issue in Crow Valley;” and she is asking the public to “please use every resource you have to make timely comment to the DOE” (i.e. The Department of Ecology).

The Friends of The San Juans also plan to wade in on the issue. Executive Director Stephanie Buffum Field sent an email out stating "We will be submitting comment on the DOE application."

SJ County Councilman Gene Knapp represents Orcas -and of course the County- and he has been expressing general concerns as to the extent the County should allow parties to use the right-of-way to install utilities.

The Council recently received, and approved, a franchise agreement (in layman terms a “contract”) to install a water line on Lopez in the right-of-way, but the Orcas request has generated some new concerns.

County Prosecutor Randy Gaylord -also of Orcas- has cautioned the Council to keep the issue narrow, as required by law. Gaylord informed the Council that case law demands the Council may only determine if “this incidental use of the county road right-of-way to convey water is in the public interest.”

A legal definition of public interest was defined for the Council in a memo from Gaylord, who concluded that “because the beneficial use of water is considered a ‘public use’ under Washington law and public interest extends beyond mere public use there is a strong basis for granting franchises for the conveyance of water within public road right of ways.”