East North Bend Water Update

UPDATE

On Tuesday, August 16, Mayor Rob McFarland attended a meeting of the Board of Directors of the Sallal Water Association and offered on behalf of the City of North Bend to purchase Sallal for its full fair market value to be determined by a certified appraiser.

This purchase will combine the Sallal water system with the City’s water system. The City provides safe, clean drinking water to the majority of the City and to areas outside of the City within what’s known as the “urban growth area.” Sallal, a private entity, provides drinking water to the southeastern part of the City and a larger area outside of the City. The consolidated water system will ensure that all current and future water customers are able to get the water they need when they need it.

North Bend and Sallal Water Association Water System Options

The illustrations below show the City of North Bend and Sallal Water Association's current water supply systems, as well as two different options for a future system:

A water supply agreement: If a water supply agreement were executed, the City would sell Sallal water for their homes and businesses and Sallal would sell the City mitigation water.
System consolidation: If consolidation were to occur, the City would purchase Sallal and own and operate both water systems.

North Bend can increase water supply to Sallal as soon as the Sallal Board of Directors approves the offer to purchase. While Sallal is a privately-owned water system, it has legal responsibilities to provide water within its service area, which includes areas within North Bend’s city limits and within North Bend’s urban growth area. Sallal’s unwillingness to meet these legal responsibilities impacts citizens and businesses across our community.

For a message directly from Mayor Rob McFarland, please see the August Quarterly Message from the Mayor.

key reasons to consolidate the two water systems

The City recommends consolidation of the two water systems for the following reasons:

Better for the environment: The addition of a Department of Ecology-approved mitigation water source at Rattlesnake Lake helps the City better meet our environmental and legal commitment to the health of the Snoqualmie River, particularly as temperatures fluctuate due to climate change.
More reliable system: The City’s water system has shown itself to be more reliable than Sallal’s system, ensuring that customers have safe and accessible water when they need it.
Guaranteed availability: Property owners, inside and outside City limits, who want to develop their properties will have water available to develop.
Planning for the future: In 1990, the State adopted the Growth Management Act (GMA)*. All cities in King County, including North Bend, are required to comply with the GMA. Without new water supply, potential new businesses (restaurants, grocery stores, and other amenities) and multi-family residences will not have the water supply they need, and the requirements of the GMA will not be met.

* The Growth Management Act (GMA) is a series of state statutes, first adopted in 1990, that requires fast-growing cities and counties to develop a comprehensive plan every 10 years to manage their population growth. The comprehensive plan creates growth management areas within a City for concentrated urban growth.