Sequim officials outline water system assets, planned projects and funding gaps at April 28 work session

Public Works Director Paul Busich told the Sequim City Council during an April 28 work session that the city’s water system is “one of the two most important features or functions that the government performs,” and stressed the need to fund and maintain aging infrastructure.

The discussion included a technical overview of supply and distribution, condition-assessment methods, the city’s automated meter initiative and near-term capital projects. Staff outlined available funding for 2025 projects and noted a multi‑million‑dollar gap in longer‑term needs.

The water system overview: Public Works Director Paul Busich, Utilities Manager John Christiansen, City Engineer Nick Dosti and Administrative Services Division Manager Amy Doherty described the system’s components and condition. “Without healthy water, the community such as we have or any community really could not exist in the form that we have,” Busich said.

John Christiansen summarized supply and distribution: “The City of Sequim operates 2 groundwater well sites and 1 rainy well site. We have 7 traditional groundwater wells spread across these 2 sites,” he said, and added that combined reservoir storage is about 3 million gallons, enabling six pressure zones served by roughly 77 miles of transmission and distribution mains. Staff reported about 3,100 potable meters in the system and roughly 2,000 isolation…