Attend Open House on June 3rd and Comment through June 20th The Department of Ecology invites you to review the documents describing the cleanup of the Whidbey Marine & Auto Supply site in Freeland. The principal issue is contamination of … Continue reading Toxic Cleanup Site In Freeland
The Office of Drinking Water kicks off Drinking Water Week with the announcement of the Drinking Water Week Award winners, which includes Whidbey Island Water Systems Association’s board member Jeff Tasoff. Congratulations Jeff, and the rest of the award winners. … Continue reading Congratulations 2025 Drinking Water Week Award Winners!
Department of Health has issued their March newsletter with news on the Consumer Confidence Rule (CCR) changes, the online Water Quality Monitoring Schedule (WQMS), Lead Service Line FAQs and more news. Read it at the ODW Newsletter webpage or download the printable PDF. Continue reading ODW Now — March 2025
DOH/ODW provides a deep library of documents, along with online tools and technical support to help you manage your water system. Check it out, especially if you’re new to this world of water: Where to Find Drinking Water Information to … Continue reading Where to Find Drinking Water Info
PFAS Statewide Funding Strategy: Four-Year Plan for Prevention, Reduction, and Mitigation in Washington State The legislature asked Dept of Ecology, in consultation with Dept of Health, to develop a funding strategy. The current state budget forecast shows a shortfall, so this big budget need arrives in a belt-tightening moment. It doesn’t mean it won’t get funded. The legislature will need to hear from impacted communities about whether they support these strategies, what is most important to do first, and if you think they should do something else instead. Continue reading Ecology releases four-year statewide funding strategy for PFAS
This news update is part of a series on PFAS (per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances, “Forever Chemicals”) in drinking water. You can read all the previous posts here. Continue reading Stone, meet water
A one-day class from Whidbey Environmental Action Network From now through December 2025, Island County is going through a comprehensive planning process that will shape the local code and policy for the next twenty years. We need your voice in the room — especially if public speaking doesn’t come naturally to you. We recognize that it is a cultivated skill and are offering community members an opportunity to build that skill at our first Finding Your Civic Voice Workshop. When: December 8 from 9 am to 4 pm (with a break for lunch) Where: Bayview Cash Store Front Room, Second … Continue reading Finding your Civic Voice
Climate Resiliency Sub Element – call for comments Over the last two weeks, Island County Planning Department held a series on three Stakeholder Workshops to discuss the Climate Resiliency Sub Element for the Comprehensive Plan. Stakeholders from a variety of … Continue reading Island County Comprehensive Plan
This month, I found myself on a stakeholder panel for a series of three workshops on the Climate Resiliency Sub Element of the Comprehensive Plan, required by the State Department of Commerce as part of the county’s comprehensive plan update. The first workshop was on sea level rise. For a primer on the sea level rise issues our island is facing, you can read An Imperfect Storm. Continue reading A Gray Tsunami
At the end of the last update, we were left with three open issues: the Military’s response to the EPA’s new National Drinking Water Standard for PFAS; lawsuits challenging that standard; and testing of private wells with non-military sources of PFAS contamination. The last few months have brought us positive developments on two of these, and negative on the other. I’ll slide the bad news in between two slices of good. Continue reading A PFAS Sandwich
The county issued a request to all water systems to check the Island County Hydrogeology Dashboard for your water system’s seawater intrusion risk. When a water system is connected to more than 2 homes and the well is in an … Continue reading Drinking Water: Seawater Intrusion Monitoring
The Department of Health and the Department of Ecology have updated their Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and Joint Review Procedures for coordinating and reviewing water system planning and engineering documents. The MOU and Joint Review Procedures outline the roles and … Continue reading MOU and Joint Review Process Update
Last week, the WA Department of Health released the latest isntallement of PFAS Basics Videos on YouTube. From their email release: Some news to share…we launched our next three PFAS Basics Videos on YouTube today! These three videos cover steps you … Continue reading PFAS Basics Videos from DOH
A new issue of DOH’s ODW Now newsletter is available for September 2024 LINK Continue reading ODW Now — September 2024 Edition
Adventures in Water System Consolidation Last week, I gave a talk at the Evergreen Rural Water of Washington (ERWoW) Fall Conference in Yakima, Washington, on water system consolidation. I spent some time on the nuts and bolts, but more on … Continue reading “You might want to move your wells”