Redmond Rain #12 - Drink It Again
-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(small)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
Redmond Rain . . . is great to drink!
This container should be unique. Something fitting the theme that looks like it does (and doesn't) belong. Parking is available at Marymoor Park for a fee, or on some city streets near Marymoor Park for free. Take care when crossing streets.
FTF = froggerhop
Fifteen Fun facts about Redmond’s drinking water supply.
Drinking water can be supplied by streams, lakes, man-made impoundments, or can be pumped out of the ground. About 1/3 of Redmond's drinking water supply comes from a shallow groundwater aquifer located in the heart of our downtown and extending east towards Novelty and Union Hill. That is kind of a funny place for a city to keep its drinking water supply. Of course, when the City was founded, the City fathers didn’t really envision the kind of development that we have today, and we can’t really move the location of the City or of the drinking water aquifer.
Therefore, we must try to protect Redmond's aquifer even though it is right in the heart of town. In some places, even far from the river, you only have to drill 5 feet below the ground surface before reaching groundwater. With that in mind, you should think twice about spilling your gas can on the ground, because those contaminants will quickly sink into the groundwater.
Also for Redmond, an important thing to know is that we don’t really have a full understanding of how fast the groundwater moves from a part of the City to another. Computer models have been used to define wellhead protection areas. More sophisticated models can be used to better define the most susceptible areas of the aquifer. With reevaluation of those areas, it may be possible to narrow the areas where we focus our protection.
Protection is necessary largely because our aquifer does not have a confining layer (a layer of material that impedes or prevents infiltration) to prevent potential contaminants from the surface from infiltrating. Adding such a layer would be phenomenally expensive, so it isn’t even on the table. Building projects to better protect the drinking water is expensive, and those costs would be passed on to consumers. At the same time, Redmond needs an inexpensive source of water to serve those customers.
To meet that need, Redmond operates 5 shallow municipal wells that pump between 3 and 4 million gallons of our clean groundwater from the aquifer each day.
Because of this valuable resource, Redmond’s water rates are among the lowest of all the Eastside cities. That could change if the City’s measures to protect the groundwater from contamination are not successful. It has been suggested that the City should stop using the groundwater so we didn't have to worry so much about it, but it might be considered asinine to give up this relatively cheap supply.
The City’s drinking water wells are very prolific, but the City is growing rapidly, so while it is important to protect that resource, it isn’t enough to meet all the needs of our City.
Because the groundwater supply isn’t enough for this growing city, and we must be able to depend upon enough water to get us through the year, Redmond has a second source of water, provided by the Cascade Water Alliance.
Using water supplied from Seattle’s Tolt, workers from Seattle Public Utilities are able to provide more than 65% of the water required by Redmond’s residents and businesses.
As our magnificent region continues to grow, so do the demands for clean, safe reliable drinking water, making the network of water supplies provided by CWA vital to our region.
Although there have been pushes to privatize rotund agencies like the CWA, it remains strong. The CWA mission is to provide water supply to meet current and future needs of its members in a cost-effective and environmentally responsible manner through partnerships, conservation, acquiring, constructing and managing water supply infrastructure and fostering regional water planning. The agency is able to do this efficiently and thus keep the water rates down.
Cascade is a municipal corporation comprised of 7 municipalities in the Puget Sound region that form a close venture to provide safe, clean, reliable water supply to its almost 400,000 residences and more than 22,000 businesses.
The South Fork Tolt River is the smaller and lesser known (than the Cedar River) but still essential second supply watershed in SPU’s freshwater supply system. Located in the foothills of the Cascades in east King County, it supplies about 30% of the drinking water for 1.3 million people in and around Seattle, little more than a stone's throw away.
We are lucky that the supply is owned by CWA an agency with wifi very suitable for our needs. The South Fork Tolt River supply first came on-line in 1964, and since 1989 has also supported a small Seattle City Light hydroelectric facility.
In 1997, during a nadir of our water storage, the City of Seattle successfully exchanged lands within the South Fork Tolt watershed with Weyerhaeuser Company, giving Seattle 70% ownership (approx. 8400 acres) of the land that supplies the water. The eastern 30% lies in the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. Seattle faces water quality protection demands for their reservoir, much as Redmond works to protect its underground aquifer, so consolidation reduces the effort needed to provide that protection. Without spelling it out for you, this water supply challenge is a regional challenge that will not get easier with time. If you think you have the number of the solution, you may find a new wrinkle around the corner.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Ab cerffher urer. Lrf, gung vf gur pnpur. Gur 3-vapu qvnzrgre obaarg vf guernqrq.