By James Robinson

On August 14, a crack in a coupling was discovered in the city’s water supply line, leaking more than half a million gallons per day, reducing the water level of the City Lake reservoir and highlighting the many challenges associated with maintaining a city’s water supply: aging infrastructure in remote and difficult-to-access terrain, ongoing maintenance costs, millions needed to invest in improvements, and environmental changes.

The city government issued a mandatory water conservation ordinance that same day, and by the time repairs were completed, an estimated 40 million gallons had been withdrawn from the City Lake Reservoir. As part of the water conservation ordinance, the city advised customers to take certain actions, including “reducing outdoor water use for irrigation, taking shorter showers, running dishwashers and washing machines only when they are full, and repairing leaky faucets and/or toilets.”

The city said soil erosion has occurred near the power line in Snow Creek and that it is notifying property owners in the affected area as well as regional and state authorities.

“The line was in a difficult-to-access location,” said Steve King, director of the city’s public works department, which made it difficult to detect and contain.

Now that the repair is complete and the water main is operational again, additional assessments of soil and pipe stability near the leak will be undertaken to ensure the long-term stability of the system.

The culprit was a broken connection in the upper waterworks in a steep area. “We estimate that at the time the leak was discovered, it might have been flowing about 400 gallons per minute,” or 576,000 gallons per day. “There was no way to measure that, so it’s a visual assessment and estimate,” King said.

Unless there are emergencies, the city uses about 7.6 million liters per day in the summer; the mill uses about 37.7 million liters per day.

The reservoir can provide water for at least five days under normal operation. The 40 million gallon estimate is based on an average use of 12 million gallons per day for just over three days, King said.

To address the leak, both the city and the Port Townsend Paper Mill implemented precautionary water conservation plans to extend the period of time the reservoir can supply water.

Long story

The waterworks, officially known as the Olympic Gravity Water System (OGWS), dates back to the early 20th century.

The Snow Creek OGWS began operations in 1905, but by the mid-1920s the infrastructure was deteriorating and could barely meet Port Townsend’s water needs. Recognizing that the town’s future depended on both a secure water supply and industry, community leaders of the time pushed to bring the Crown Zellerbach paper mill to town. Records show that they viewed the mill’s arrival as an opportunity to revitalize the town’s economy and revamp the ailing water system.

In 1927, the paper mill built the mill. In 1928, the city and mill built a 29-mile pipeline from the Big Quilcene River drainage basin to Port Townsend. This water system replaced the failing Snow Creek system. Together, and over decades, the city and mill replaced the original wooden stave pipeline, installed the Little Quilcene Diversion, built the Lords Lake Reservoir, rehabilitated the Big Quilcene Diversion, and improved the City Lake drainage system.

Today, the OGWS supplies raw water to the mill for industrial purposes and to the city’s water treatment plant for domestic use. The OGWS supplies an average daily flow of 12 million gallons. The maximum daily flow is about 16 million gallons.

Since the pipeline was built, the City of Port Townsend has owned the OGWS facilities and water rights, but has leased the operation and maintenance of the spring water collection and transmission system to the mill, a relationship that continues to this day.

In addition to lease payments, the plant and its various owners – currently Atlas Holdings, LLC – are responsible for operating the OGWS. Since 1928, the city and the plant have been engaged in a public-private partnership. The most recent operating agreement was signed in December 2021.

“Pipeline failures are inevitable, but rarely predictable – that’s why it’s critical to everyone in our community and to our future that we negotiated this agreement to provide the appropriate funding,” said City Manager John Mauro, noting that the 2021 agreement “marks the first time since 1956 that there has been a significant change in the way we work with the mill to operate and repair the water main.”

According to the agreement, “an estimated $161 million worth of infrastructure and other capital assets must be rehabilitated or replaced over the next 40 years. This includes setting aside funds beginning in 2037 to serve as a reserve for a 125-year replacement plan for the transmission pipeline installed between 1952 and 1972. This capital improvement program calls for an estimated $64 million investment over the next 20 years.” In the short term, the capital improvement plan calls for improvements to the Lords Lake Dam in 2025 and replacement of the 1928 pipeline in 2028.

The city plan uses a sinking fund approach to minimize public and private debt. A sinking fund is a fund that holds money set aside or saved to pay off a debt or bond. A company that takes on debt must pay back that debt in the future, and the sinking fund helps minimize a large revenue expense. A sinking fund is set up so the company can pay into the fund in the years before the debt matures.

“The biggest challenge for the water pipeline over the next 20 years is probably the level of investment and the uncertainty of a pipeline failure,” Mauro said, adding that the value of replacing the pipeline would be about $120 million “or more.”

Mauro noted that the 2021 agreement also “means the city’s team is done with the repairs,” whereas previously it was the mill. “The recent pipe break was a good and successful test of how we deploy resources and coordinate as a leader,” he said. “In fact, there are other unknowns and challenges like climate impacts and geological/earthquake hazards to think about, but that can all be done now under this agreement.”

Climate change

According to city documents, average spring snowpack across the state is expected to decline 38% to 46% by 2050 and 56% to 70% by 2080 under low or moderate greenhouse gas emissions. Reductions of up to 80% are expected under the high emissions scenario. Warmer winters, less snow, and more winter precipitation falling as rain are expected to shift the timing of peak spring water volumes earlier in the year, increasing the risk of winter flooding and reducing summer water volumes. Lower water volumes in late summer and early fall will increase reliance on stored water and other conservation measures to meet industry needs.

The greatest risk related to climate change is a decline in summer and fall flow volumes from the Big and Little Quilcene rivers. In 2015, low snowpack forced some paper mill operations to be curtailed, and water levels in Lords Lake were so high that the required flow rate could not be maintained. Because of climate change, environmental managers expect years like 2015 to become more common, so the most effective strategy, according to the city, is to increase storage capacity to capture water during times of high flow and store it until needed during dry periods of the year. The city’s capital plan includes a plan to increase the storage capacity of Lords Lake Reservoir by raising the east and north dams.

While challenges remain, environmental managers describe the Quilcene Rivers’ water quality as “exceptional,” and until 2017 it was one of the few permitted unfiltered surface water supplies.

Mauro said the 2021 agreement sets the framework for various things that could happen. For example, if the region experiences a severe drought, the agreement requires both municipal water customers and the mill to conserve water, “giving priority to human consumption.”

Mauro said that with these protective measures in place, he is less concerned about inadequate water supplies than about possible breakages or emergency repairs, “especially in remote areas like the one we just repaired.”

Operation of the OGWS requires a special permit from the U.S. Forest Service for the diversion facilities on the Big Quilcene River, Little Quilcene River, and portions of the transmission line located on Forest Service lands.

The permit requires the city to maintain certain levels of water in the waterways. The three special use permits from the U.S. Forest Service expire in 2029. The 2009 renewal process cost about $400,000 for various studies and reviews.