Events

Whidbey Island Water Systems Association hosts quarterly Member Meetings which are open to the public. Typically the Member Meetings are held in March, June, September and December, with the December meeting designated as the Annual Meeting for budget approval, director elections and other formal business. Only WIWSA members are able to vote on motions at the quarterly and annual meetings.

Other upcoming events will be included here, both those sponsored by WIWSA or our partners, or other community events that might be of interest to WIWSA members.

Upcoming Events

Island County Comp Plan—Public Meetings; IN-PERSON

The draft 2045 Comprehensive Plan documents are now available for public review. Visit the county’s Comprehensive Plan page for access to the documents and links to comment on the draft. The individual elements are scheduled for discussion at the Planning Board starting in December through the early months of 2026, see this page for agenda details as they become available.

Public meetings on the draft comp plan materials are planned for the following dates:

  • Oak Harbor, at The Center: January 15 from 5 to 6:30 PM 
  • South Whidbey, at the Clinton Community Hall: January 20 from 5 to 6:30 PM
  • Camano, at the County Annex Building: January 24 from 10 to 11:30 AM

Evergreen Rural Water of Washington—ERWOW 2026 Annual Conference February 10-12, 2026; Register here.

The 2026 Annual Conference and Tradeshow will be February 10-12, 2026 at the ilani Resort and Casino located at 1 Cowlitz Way in Ridgefield WA. The agenda will be out before the end of the year. Registration is open now.

ERWoW encourages Operators, Utility Board Members, Mayors, Council Members, Public Works Directors, and other leaders to attend our conference. We have specific classes scheduled to help officials in their responsibilities as managers of their community’s most important assets. It is imperative that today’s leaders have a firm understanding of their role in their water and wastewater utility systems. Please plan on attending!

1.6 CEUs Water pending
1.6 CEUs Wastewater approved

Recent Events

Reports from meetings or events that have been held recently. For less recent events, look further down under Meeting & Event Archives.

RECAP: 2025 Annual Member’s Meeting—January 15, 2026; 5 pm to 7 pm IN-PERSON and ZOOM

The rescheduled Annual Member’s Meeting for December was finally held in person on Thursday, January 15, 2026 at the Coupeville Library and online over Zoom. There was a quorum present at the library with over 30 people attending and close to the same number attending on Zoom.

We had a full agenda with our annual director elections and budget review, along with the proposed bylaws amendments including support online meetings and to clarify WIWSA voting procedures. Our featured topic was a presentation from Jill Lipoti on Scatchet Head Water District’s infrastructure project that was very well received by the group. There is a bit more on that below along with a link to her presentation at the bottom of this recap post.

After reviewing the 2025 financials, both the financial report and 2026 budget were approved. We had votes on four Directors. Meade Brown, who had been appointed by the Board of Directors to an open position in July, was formally elected by the membership to serve through 2027. Joe Grogan, Jeff Tasoff and Mitch Allen were each re-elected by the membership to serve new terms through 2028.

Here is a brief recap of our main topics followed by links to the video recording, agenda, presentation materials and useful links that were mentioned at the meeting. The meeting minutes will be posted as soon as they are available.

WIWSA Bylaws Amendment—Meade Brown summarized the proposed bylaws changes and the board’s reasoning for making the recommendation for these changes. The membership voted unanimously to approve the amendment. There are links below to both the redline of the amended bylaws and the board’s reasoning for the changes. The website has been updated with the approved bylaws.

Let’s address our crumbling infrastructure—Jill Lipoti presented a recap of the multi-year project at Scatchet Head Water District to improve their mainline and water system infrastructure. In an entertaining and informative session, she covered the project from the beginning to the present day. We encourage you to view the meeting recording to get the full benefit of her terrific presentation. A big thank you to Jill for putting this together to share with the community.

Franchise Regulation Changes—Randi Perry read a letter that the WIWSA board has sent to Island County staff and the Board of Island County Commissioners requesting reconsideration of recent changes made by the county that affect all new franchise applications and renewals. This will be discussed further as the featured topic at the Q1/2026 Member’s Meeting in March.

RECAP: Drinking Water Advisory Group Meeting—December 1, 2025, 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. ONLINE (TEAMS) ONLY

The Quarterly Drinking Water Advisory Group (DWAG) meeting was held on December 1, 2025 from 9 am to 12 pm. Here is the December 1 agenda (including Teams meeting links) and is also available on the DWAG meeting webpage. Attendees heard about the value of Small Water System Plans (presentation: Challenges of Establishing Adequate Water System Rates Presentation (PDF)), Challenges in setting Water Rates, the updates on LCR and PFAS rules, a recap of DWSRF applications received in the cycling closing November 30th (61 applications received) and a presentation on customer service feedback (Feedback on ODW Customer Service Presentation (PDF)). You can find the detailed meeting notes here.

The general DWAG page can be found here with meeting agendas and notes from previous meetings along with some presentation materials. At any time you can sign up for email notifications for all DWAG notices here.

RECAP: Small Water System Management Program (SWSMP) Workshop—October 25, 2025  IN-PERSON only

October 25, 2025 from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm at Pacific Rim Institute for Environmental Stewardship, 180 Parker Road, Coupeville, Washington 98239

Whidbey Island Water Systems Association sponsored an all-day workshop on the Small Water Systems Management Program (SWSMP) in Coupeville on October 25, 2025 as announced at the Q3 Member Meeting. The workshop was led by Samuel Rodriguez of Rural Community Assistance Corporation (RCAC) supported by the RCAC team and the Washington Department of Health staff members Sarah Spotts and Jocelyne Gray. Over 35 Group A and B water systems were represented with 45 participants. The workshop was well received by all and we are grateful to the RCAC and DOH staff for taking their Saturday to lead the workshop for us.

Sam’s presentation along with supporting materials can be found at the links below through the end of December. If you need them at a later date please contact Sam by email:

Meeting & Event Archives

Browse the meeting archives which include all meeting agendas, minutes and reports along with some presentations that were included in those meetings.

All Member Meetings (2015-present) — All quarterly, special and annual member meetings since 2015.

Group B Meetups (2024-present) — New meetings with Group B water system board members and residential water users.

Community Events (2015-present) — Other events or meetings hosted by WIWSA, our partners or other community members.