East North Bend Water Update

wHAT'S HAPPENING NOW?

The North Bend City Council voted unanimously on June 6, 2023, to approve a resolution authorizing an agreement for the wholesale supply of domestic water to Sallal Water Association and mitigation water to the City of North Bend. This was the second and final reading of the resolution, which came after nearly two decades of work on the part of the City and Sallal.

After City Council’s approval, Mayor McFarland and Sallal Board President Denise Smutny signed the Water Supply Agreement (WSA) in the presence of the Council and the Sallal board members in attendance.

With a fully approved and signed WSA, the City and Sallal will be able to meet the water needs of all residents, while also meeting the City’s mitigation requirements for the Snoqualmie River. By sharing water, the two entities help ensure a more reliable water system with guaranteed availability and support future community planning requirements under Washington State’s Growth Management Act.

Under this WSA, Sallal’s Rattlesnake Wells will serve as an additional mitigation water source for the City, and the City will sell domestic water to Sallal from the Centennial Well or Mt. Si Springs to increase the availability to Sallal’s members and vacant properties.

Next steps include the engineering design phase to build a domestic intertie and a mitigation intertie. These will serve as the means to share water, allowing the City to sell domestic water to Sallal, and allowing Sallal to sell mitigation water to the City.

key benefits of a water supply agreement

A water supply agreement benefits City and Sallal customers for the following reasons:

Better for the environment: The addition of a Department of Ecology-approved mitigation water source at Rattlesnake Wells helps the City better meet its environmental and legal commitment to the health of the Snoqualmie River, particularly as temperatures fluctuate due to climate change.
A more reliable system with guaranteed availability: Combining systems ensures that any business, school, or home throughout both the City and Sallal’s water service area will have safe and accessible water when they need it.
Planning for the future: In 1990, the State adopted the Growth Management Act (GMA)*. All cities in King County, including North Bend, are required to comply with the GMA. Without new water supply, potential new businesses (restaurants, grocery stores, and other amenities) and multi-family residences will not have the water supply they need, and the requirements of the GMA will not be met.

* The Growth Management Act (GMA) is a series of state statutes, first adopted in 1990, that requires cities and counties to develop a comprehensive plan every 10 years to manage their population growth. The comprehensive plan creates growth management areas within a City for concentrated urban growth.