Natural Resources Division

Skagit County, the Washington State Department of Ecology, and the City of Anacortes are working together to conduct a study of rural residential water use in the Skagit River Basin. The Skagit River is the heart of Skagit County, providing residents with water for homes, farms, industries, and recreational opportunities, as well as providing habitat for fish and other environmental and aesthetic values. Its protection is of great importance to the County, state, and the City of Anacortes and other local water purveyors, as well as all people of Skagit County. Protecting the Skagit River requires an understanding of how our actions impact the river system. One action that is important to understand is how our use of water impacts flows in the Skagit River and its tributaries. Understanding these impacts begins with good science, and good science begins with accurate data.

Proceed directly to the water use survey or to find out more about the metering study and how the data will be used, read on....

Major water users - large municipal suppliers and many delta farmers - rely on the diversion of surface water from the main stem of the Skagit River for their water needs. The degree of impact on flows in the Skagit River from these types of withdrawals can be readily determined by simply measuring the flow from these diversions. On the other hand, most rural homeowners use groundwater withdrawn from domestic wells for their water supply. Impacts on flows in the Skagit River and its tributaries from these types of groundwater withdrawals are much harder to determine. Much is known about water use by customers of municipal systems, but there exists surprisingly little data on rural residential well users. Although some inferences can be made, the applicability of municipal use data to individual well users has its limits. Some factors that may cause differences in water use characteristics include:

• Unit Pricing - Customers of municipal water systems must pay based on the amount of water they use, whereas private well users are not charged for use but do have electrical and operation and maintenance costs.
• Responsibility - Private well users are solely responsible for their own water systems, whereas customers of municipal water systems can rely on the provider to take care of any problems that arise.
• Lifestyle Differences - Municipal water system users tend to be concentrated in urban areas that typically have smaller lot sizes, but are more likely to have irrigated landscaping, whereas private well users tend to be located in rural areas with bigger lots, more vegetable gardening and are more likely to have stock animals.
  

Water planners have speculated on questions like these, but until actual data is collected, they will remain nothing more than speculations. Knowing how much water is actually being used by well users in the Skagit River basin will help water resource agencies better manage this precious resource.

This water use study is VOLUNTARY. The study will be focused on residences located in the Carpenter, Fisher, and Nookachamps Creek basins (Big Lake, Lake McMurray, south Mount Vernon, and Conway areas) as these are areas with the highest numbers of well users. You can become a volunteer by completing the survey questionnaire located here. This questionnaire is intended to gather data on residential characteristics that may indicate how much water is used. The final study report will summarize water usage characteristics for different categories of water users. We do NOT intend to provide information regarding water use by any particular home or individual. Each well used in the study will be assigned a well identification code. Any references to individual wells in the study will refer to this code. No personal information such as name, address, or parcel number will be used in the report.

Well metering volunteers will be selected based on the questionnaire results with the goal of getting enough volunteers with different water use characteristics to draw statistically valid study conclusions. Remote-read meters will be installed on volunteer's wells. Data will be collected by study personnel during periodic drive-bys for one year, at which time the meters will be removed. The only time study personnel will need to enter a volunteer's property is during installation and removal. Meters will be installed by a commercial well driller/pump installer. There will be no charge to volunteers for the meter or for the installation or removal. Volunteers can elect to keep their meter, at no cost, after the study is completed to aid in the management of their own well. (A meter such as this typically costs approximately $200.) Copies of the final study report will also be provided to all volunteers.

Skagit County, the Washington State Department of Ecology, and the City of Anacortes greatly appreciate your help in conducting this study. If you have any questions at all, please do not hesitate to contact the study project manager, Gary Stoyka with Skagit County at (360) 416-1400 or gstoyka@co.skagit.wa.us , Jacque Klug with the Department of Ecology at (425) 649-7000 or jklu461@ecy.gov , or Fred Buckenmeyer with the City of Anacortes at (360) 293-1919 or fred@cityofanacortes.org .

Thank you for your time.

PARTICIPATE IN THE STUDY HERE

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