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Locke backs drinking water option
>LAKE TAPPS: Governor's plan would avoid taxing property
owners millions
Rob Tucker; The
News Tribune
Gov. Gary Locke announced Monday night that his office will push a single
solution to save Lake Tapps without assessing property owners millions of
dollars.
Locke said the state will initiate a preliminary permit process that
eventually could give Puget Sound Energy, the lake's owner, the right to
withdraw and sell Lake Tapps water for drinking.
While there is still no certain outcome to the permit process, Locke told
more than 450 people at a meeting at Dieringer Heights Elementary School at Lake
Tapps that the plan "serves the needs of the region.
"I believe a real solution is in sight," he said.
The governor thinks the water plan:
* Helps save the lake without forcing homeowners to pay.
* Puts additional water in the White and Puyallup rivers to help salmon
recovery.
* Provides more drinking water to the growing but water-short Puget Sound
region.
However, he said, it's up to Puget Sound Energy to submit the necessary
information and financial analysis to show the state that the water plan will
work in all proposed ways and address all concerns.
For instance, Locke said, Indian tribes have raised concerns about treaty
rights. Two tribes have fishing and other treaty rights in the area: the
Muckleshoots and Puyallups.
The utility will have three years to show that the plan is environmentally
sound and that there is a need for the water. PSE was optimistic Monday night.
"This could be the foundation for a durable solution," said Bill
Gaines, PSE's vice president for energy supply.
"You should be very optimistic," he told the crowd that included
many Lake Tapps homeowners.
People attending the meeting were excited and hopeful. Many of them stood up
to applaud the governor before he spoke. Afterward, some said they were
relieved.
"It's the first real positive news we've had in 18 months of worrying
whether the lake will exist," said Bob Scott, a 23-year resident of Deer
Island on the lake. "It looks like we have a commitment from the
state."
"I think the lake will be saved," added Larry Schmick, another Lake
Tapps resident. "I can see a light at the end of the tunnel."
Starting the preliminary permit process launches procedures that could take
years. A final permit from the state Department of Ecology likely would allow
PSE to sell water to make up its estimated $60 million deficit on the White
River Hydroelectric Project that includes Lake Tapps.
The losses, projected over the next 20 years, caused the company to talk last
year about abandoning the project and allowing the 89-year-old lake to dry up.
If successful, the water plan means that 7,000 property owners living on or
near Lake Tapps won't have to pay PSE to keep the lake.
PSE talked about retiring the project because federal permitting conditions,
along with increased river water flow requirements to save endangered fish,
threaten to cost more money than the hydroelectric project makes annually.
A task force including PSE, government agencies and homeowners formed in
April 1999 to attempt to save the lake. The task force came up with the idea of
selling drinking water from the lake.
PSE already has a large water claim on the White River, 2,000 cubic feet per
second, but the claim isn't for drinking water. The claim allows PSE's White
River Hydroelectric Project to divert river water into the lake and then through
its power plant in Sumner to generate electricity. The utility built the
project, including the lake, in 1911.
PSE applied to the state Department of Ecology in June for permits to
withdraw some of the diverted water for human consumption.
The company wants to sell lake water to water companies, public or private,
with the understanding the companies would spend $50 million to build a
treatment plant and the pipes needed to connect to the regional water system.
PSE has applied for permission to withdraw 100 cubic feet per second from the
lake, as large as Tacoma's withdrawal from the Green River, which serves most of
that city's water needs.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which licenses power projects, has
agreed to delay PSE's licensing requirements until July to see if the lake can
be saved.
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* Reach staff writer Rob Tucker
253-597-8374 or rob.tucker@mail.tribnet.com.
© The News Tribune
10/03/2000
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