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Residents urge saving 1,000,000‑gallon tank; neighbors, county engineers say it must be replaced
Summary
Property owners and residents at the Sudden Valley board meeting debated whether to preserve a 1,000,000‑gallon reservoir as an emergency water source for fire protection. Water district engineers and nearby neighbors said the tank is seismically unsafe and is being replaced with two new ferro‑cement tanks.
Joe O’Keefe, a longtime Sudden Valley resident, urged the board to pressure the regional water utility to preserve an old 1,000,000‑gallon tank as an emergency firefighting resource.
"Save the tank," O’Keefe said, arguing the existing structure could be cleaned and used to provide high‑altitude water in a wildfire or other emergency.
Neighbors and representatives of the water utility pushed back. Robin, a resident who lives two houses from the tank, said the structure is not seismically safe and that engineers and Whatcom Water and Sewer (the regional water utility referenced in public comments) are replacing it for safety reasons.
"The tank itself is not seismically safe," Robin said. She told the board the tank…
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