Sumner to look at Fleischmann land for water source

Published 3:59 pm Monday, December 14, 2009

By Daniel Nash

The Courier-Herald

Sumner City Council members purchased the right to look for water on the Fleischmann’s Vinegar plant property Dec. 7.

The city has determined that the projected growth of Sumner could outpace the city’s water supply years in the future, City Administrator John Doan said. As a result, the council had begun considering alternative sources of water to supplement the existing primary supply from the springs of the east hill.

One possible lead may be the Fleischmann’s Vinegar property on Zehnder Street, owned by Robert Code. The property has been used for wells for 100 years, so there is probably little risk of not finding enough water, Doan said.

In executive session, the council decided to purchase an easement on the Fleischmann property, valued at more than $52,000. The easement gives the city the right to test for the amount of water, quality and effects a well might have on the local ecology, without immediately obligating ownership by the city.

The city will test the property for a year and if everything comes up positive, the easement will clear the way for the council and Code to negotiate a purchase of the property. The estimated cost to build a production would be $250,000, Doan said.

“Of course, that’s if everything goes well, because establishing water rights is a difficult thing to do,” he said. “Even in the best of times, it is a completely complex process.”

Sumner is not at risk of running out of water in the near future, Doan said. Because of the complexity and length of the process to securing water rights, the city is examining alternatives as early as possible.

The city will need to make sure of three things before it can proceed with using the property as a water source.

First, it must determine there is water. The odds of the presence of water are increased by the fact that the land has been used for small-scale wells in the past.

Second, the cleanliness of any existing water supply must be ensured. The Fleischmann property is in an industrial zone of the city, leaving the possibility of contaminant seepage into the ground water, Doan said.

Third, if cleanliness is ensured, the city must secure the water rights. An opportunity to mitigate water rights to drill a well has been opened by the agreement between Lake Tapps property owners and the Cascade Water Alliance to use the lake as a municipal water resource.

The Department of Ecology licenses the ability to obtain water for municipal use. The department will need to determine whether the supply will be subject to drought in the summer months and whether consuming water will affect the population of fish in nearby rivers.