Council to pursue emergency water right and design for Well No. 9 at Shaw Park amid creek-impact concerns

City staff described a multi-year process to address water-system redundancy in Gig Harbor North and said they will apply to the Washington State Department of Ecology for an emergency water-right change for Well Number 9 at Shaw Park, proceed with design and drilling, and continue updates to groundwater modeling with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

Staff said the city reengaged the Well Number 9 water-right application in February 2022 after the 2018 water system plan identified the need for redundancy in the Gig Harbor North (450) pressure zone. After reviewing three candidate well sites, staff and consultants selected Shaw Park and submitted a new water-right application. Groundwater modeling based on an earlier USGS aquifer model indicated that operating a deep well at the Shaw Park site (modeled at roughly 1,000 gallons per minute) would cause measurable drawdown in several creeks; Ecology and tribal reviewers accepted the model results and asked for mitigation in the form of creek augmentation if the city operated the well under permanent rights.

Staff said Ecology indicated it would be more receptive to supporting a temporary or emergency water-right change that could be used to supply the 450 zone — including Saint Anthony Hospital — during outages or emergencies, rather than granting a permanent right immediately. Ecology told staff it would consider an emergency source and advised that a temporary right could be more readily approved; Ecology also suggested that temporarily serving the whole 450 zone rather than limiting the change to the hospital would be acceptable if the city submits the application.

Because the existing groundwater model contains uncertainties about how water transfers between aquifers, the city plans to work with USGS to update the aquifer model; that work could take multiple years and is not currently fully budgeted. Staff said the model’s current results show significant far-field impacts that would require mitigation (for example, drilling augmentation wells to maintain creek baseflow), and that the mitigation costs and logistics are the core issue Ecology and the tribes are scrutinizing.

Staff recommended, and council agreed by consensus during the study session, to pursue the emergency-right approach, proceed with design, drilling, well-house and treatment facilities at Shaw Park (built to full standards but operated only as an emergency source), and continue the USGS aquifer work. Staff said the city expects to use a point of withdrawal tied to the city’s existing Well No. 11 water rights by a change application; operating Well No. 9 would require switching off Well No. 11 (they could not run simultaneously under current rights). Staff indicated there is capital budget capacity in the current water program for construction in 2027 and said they would seek to move available funds into 2026 if council directs earlier construction.

Councilors asked about the emergency trigger, the potential need for routine testing runs, and the cost and timing of the USGS model update. Staff said the emergency designation would cover system failures, major outages and other unplanned interruptions in the 450 pressure zone and that routine test pumping would be part of operations. Several council members expressed support for moving ahead with the emergency-right application and advancing design work to ensure redundancy for the hospital and the 450 zone.