Do You Drink Water and Live in Sudden Valley?

Nancy Grayum has resided in Sudden Valley for eight years, often participating in efforts to protect the Lake Whatcom drinking water reservoir. She is an educator and classroom technology administrator at Western Washington University. Nancy can be contacted at 671-7268.

If you drink water and live in Sudden Valley, you might want to consider running for one of the two Whatcom County Water District No. 10 commissioner positions that are up for election this year.

Water District No. 10 is the local agency responsible for providing safe drinking water and efficient sewage service to Sudden Valley and other neighborhoods surrounding Lake Whatcom. The first priority (drinking water) is dependent upon how well the second priority (sewage) is handled, among other things. This responsibility affects not only Water District No. 10 customers, but also the entire city of Bellingham, whose designated Lake Whatcom drinking water reservoir supplies water to more than 85,000 residents.

Last year’s redrawing of sub-districts, based on 2000 census data, resulted in the creation of five distinct sub-districts, each represented by one commissioner.

Positions 1 and 4 are up for election this year, for six-year terms. Vince d’Onofrio and Tom Hadd might run for re-election, and would most likely welcome a contest.

Candidates must reside in the district they represent, so check with the Water District No. 10 office for specific boundaries of each sub-district. All residents of Water District No. 10 vote on all commissioner positions.

Some of the issues commissioners have taken responsibility for in recent months include the construction of the Lake Louise Road sewer interceptor; creation of ULID 18 in order to assess property owners for the interceptor; lifting of the building moratorium in Sudden Valley; re-definition of how Sudden Valley sewage overflows into the Lake Whatcom watershed are to be prevented; hiring of a new general manager; re-calculation of rates and fees for all customers, and unifying the rate structure, plus a myriad of other financial and operational policy decisions.

The district must coordinate and prioritize its operations based on federal and state laws, the Whatcom County Comprehensive Plan, county health department regulations, and other regulatory agencies, including the Department of Ecology, Department of Natural Resources, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and Labor and Industries.

On an ongoing basis, Water District No. 10 commissioners face issues related to providing services to citizens who reside in the Lake Whatcom watershed outside of Bellingham city limits. If permits are issued by the Whatcom County Planning department for new construction in these areas, Water District No. 10 commissioners have, in recent years, taken the stance that they are obligated to provide services to those new homes.

However, individual commissioners, particularly Hadd and Kingsley, have questioned the county repeatedly on this issue, because state law dictates that water districts shall not provide urban services to rural areas.

Both Hadd and Kingsley have also taken the lead on calling for plans to at least mitigate the problem of sewage overflows in Sudden Valley that occur when storm water enters the aging sewer lines during heavy rains.

Capital maintenance of this critical infrastructure is not currently funded, and long-range plans for Water District No. 10 make no mention of repairing or replacing the faulty system.

The commissioners who understand that urban development creates pollution in our drinking water reservoir do their best to balance their responsibilities, but their mission is rife with contradictions. If they were to refuse to provide sewer services in order to protect the reservoir from urban runoff pollution, then in some areas developers could simply construct septic tanks and build anyway, threatening the drinking water reservoir in still another manner.

We need strong candidates to throw their hats in the ring to represent Sudden Valley residents in Water District No. 10 commissioner positions. Candidates need to be willing to research issues so that they are well prepared for decision-making that ultimately affects all Whatcom County residents, both now and in the future. It is a substantial time commitment, collaborating with their constituents, staff members and fellow commissioners about the best ways to provide safe drinking water now and for generations to come.

Commissioner positions are not strictly volunteer; they receive $70 per meeting or per day when attending to district business, whether that be operational or public meetings. The annual cap on this income is $6720 for each position, thus commissioners sometimes end up working without pay at the end of a year.

To become familiar with the workings of the board, you can attend some of their meetings, contact individual commissioners, or stop by the Water District No. 10 office at 1010 Lakeview Street. Their phone number is 734-9224.

The filing period for candidates is July 28–August 1. To learn more about how to file as a candidate for election, call the Whatcom County Auditor’s election office at 676-6742. §