By Anna V. Smith

Journal reporter

How much water do we use in San Juan County? What do our habitats need to thrive? What are the current water regulations? What are our current water conservation efforts? These were just a few of the questions asked at a water information panel at Brickworks Nov. 16.

Hosted by Islands Climate Resilience, the information session brought together six local professionals to explain what they know about water and to take questions from the audience. Islands Climate Resilience members Kari Koski and Doug McCutchen opened the meeting and facilitated questions.

San Juan County recharges its aquifers through local rainfall, the only fresh water source on the islands. Fifty-seven percent of the county is on Group A water systems, which generally services 25 or more people, such as water systems in Friday Harbor, Eastsound and Lopez Village. 22 percent are on single user systems, and 19 percent are on Group B water systems, which services less than 25 people per day.

According to Vicki Heater, San Juan County Water Resource Management committee member, more extensive analysis of seawater intrusion of wells is needed to know how it impacts water quality.

Heater showed a series of graphs illuminating the saltwater intrusion issue on the North end of Lopez, as well as graphs of San Juan Island and Orcas Island to show the areas of aquifer recharge, the highest in glacial deposits. As far as water issues go, each island has their own unique hydrology.

USGS maps show that the aquifer recharge rate of San Juan Island is just 6 percent of annual rainfall.

Paul Kamin, committee member on San Juan County Water Resource Management, spoke about water usage in the county and what sort of conservation efforts are underway, or should be implemented.

“We as Americans are water pigs,” Kamin said, showing a graph of America’s water consumption. Nation-wide, Americans use an average of 150 gallons of water per day. In Seattle, that number is down to 130 a day, in Friday Harbor it’s 110 per person per day, and in Eastsound, it’s under 90 gallons a day. U.S. statistics show 29 percent of water is used for outdoors, 19 percent goes down the toilet, and 15 percent is used for clothes washing machines.

Such specific statistics aren’t available for San Juan County, but they give an idea of how water is used. Kamin said that this year was unique, as he started getting phone calls of dry wells in June instead of August. He recommended, as a county, that seawater intrusions be well monitored, especially on Lopez, to adopt water efficiency goals for water group B systems, start recording how much water is used as irrigation for agriculture, and fund a hydrogeologist. Kamin also said that the county should start advocating for adopting direct potable reuse as a water recycling tactic,

To citizens, he recommended using water meters and hose attachments to monitor how much water a household is using, especially if drawing from a private well. He also recommended fixing leaks, which make up 10 percent of water usage.

A presentation on freshwater habitats was given by Kimbal Sundberg, as well as projects around the island to restore creeks and streams for juvenile salmon, cutthroat and rainbow trout.

“Freshwater habitats are vital to maintaining our island biodiversity and natural resources,” Sundberg said, pointing out that protecting them is much less expensive and time-consuming than restoring them after they are damaged.

Tom Schultz, former Washington State University Extension Director, gave his two cents on what he had gathered the agricultural needs are in the community, discussing what different crops use and noting that hard numbers on irrigation and water use in agriculture are difficult to come by.

As for what the future looks like?

“Challenging,” Schultz said. “But there is a level of resiliency in agriculture.”

Kyle Dodd, Peter Kilpatrick and Paul Kamin discussed current water use and systems regulations, followed by a question and answer period from the full audience.

A video of the meeting is available at www.madrona2.com/climate-series, as well as past lectures such as the recent talk by Dr. Dan Kammen, co-director of the Berkeley Institute of the Environment, and Director of the Transportation Sustainability Research Center.

Islands Climate Resilience will be holding a series of discussions throughout December and January at San Juan Island Grange focused on the book “What We Think About When We Try Not to Think About Global Warming.” For info, visit sanjuanislandscd.org.