The Wildcat Creek Aquifer is the sole source of drinking water in the McCleary, Washington, area North of State Route 8, as explained in a 1994 hydrogeologic study (referred to as the "Aquifer Study") compiled by Hart Crowser, Inc. (Hydrogeology is the study of groundwater and geology.) At that time, there was little development over critical areas of the aquifer, and much of the land was covered by trees. In the past eight years there has been an increasing flurry of development over the aquifer, decimating the forests and increasing the risk and likelihood of contamination. In a 1/15/2003 letter to McCleary’s City Administrator, Hart Crowser, Inc., stated: "The Wildcat [Creek] Aquifer is a shallow glacial outwash aquifer that should be considered highly susceptible to contamination." Further, " . . . steps may be taken to . . . educate landowners and tenants regarding the sensitive nature of the aquifer and appropriate methods for chemical handling and disposal; educate homeowners regarding appropriate maintenance of septic systems and avoidance or minimal use of lawn chemicals (Einberger)."
Water from the Wildcat Creek Aquifer supports wildlife, freshwater fish and aquatic life, farm animals, vegetation, businesses and people. Approximately 2,000 residents rely on water from this aquifer, including more than 1,475 in the City Limits ("Statistical Profile"). Water from Wildcat Creek and its tributary streams flow into the Cloquallum River, and eventually into the Chehalis River and the Pacific Ocean. It is imperative that we do whatever we can to protect the quality of water and take action to insure there will be an adequate supply of water now and into the future, both for the McCleary community and the communities down river from McCleary.
There is some confusion about the amount of potable (from Latin potare, to drink) or drinking water available in Grays Harbor County and other areas. People think, because of our high rainfall and numerous streams and rivers, that we must have water in abundance. However, in the hydrogeologic cycle, there is a significant difference between "surface water" and "ground water". Surface water includes rivers, streams and lakes. Ground water is under the surface, and may be contained in an aquifer. This means, while there may be lots of water visible above ground, it doesn’t necessarily indicate the quantity of ground water available for wells.
An aquifer is often referred to as an underground lake. However, this is actually a misnomer because it gives the impression there’s a body of water under the ground. Actually, an aquifer is just water-laden soil, and the water may be contained by a confining layer (Herman). The Wildcat Creek Aquifer has a large recharge area North of the City of McCleary, in the zoning control of Grays Harbor County. A recharge area is where the surface water filters into the aquifer. The Aquifer Study also identified the aquifer’s time-related "capture zones", areas where the water drains into wellfields. One-, five- and ten-year capture zones were portrayed on one of the many maps and diagrams included with the Aquifer Study. At the time of the Aquifer Study the capture zones were also located outside the City Limits; however, the Summit Place development, located over the five-year capture zone, was annexed into the City several years ago.
The process where water evaporates from the ocean and fresh water bodies, then forms rain which falls to the ground (surface water), and where water penetrates the ground and gets used, is called the hydrogeologic cycle. Many people don’t realize that trees play a part in the hydrogeologic cycle, not only from water runoff from needles and leaves, but from the root systems which draw water deep into the earth. The water drawn from an aquifer will include minerals from the ground, as well as chemicals (contaminants) and bacteria that are added by activities conducted on the surface. For example, if someone lives over the one-year capture zone and uses chemicals, such as pesticides or fertilizers, the chemicals filter through the capture zone into the aquifer within one year. Other contaminating activities include bacteria-laden feces from farm animals and household pets and petroleum-based chemicals from automobiles and asphalt roads. High rainfall may dilute the contaminants; high water usage will increase the concentration. Surface water, water not drawn from the aquifer and water from McCleary’s wastewater treatment plant will all flow down river and ultimately into the ocean, carrying whatever minerals and chemicals it contains.
Water quality, both coming out of the earth and substances added to the ground water, are controlled by a complex organization of laws and agencies, from the federal government to local counties and cities. Federal laws regulating the quality of water originated in 1972, and in 1977 were revised as the "Clean Water Act". Since that time, states, counties and cities have added laws of their own. In 1971, the State of Washington implemented the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA), which is intended to protect the environment (both natural and "built") during and after development, including housing, industry and roads ("Frequently Asked"). The Washington State Department of Health regulates the number of connections the City of McCleary can make to its three wells, based on the City’s storage capacity (not on the actual quantity of water in the aquifer). The Washington State Department of Ecology regulates the water rights. The Washington State Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development is responsible for implementing the Growth Management Act, and for "Critical Areas" pertaining to salmon habitat.
On a more local level of governmental control, Grays Harbor County has county ordinances pertaining to water, as well as at least two divisions under the Public Services Department: the Environmental Health Division and the Public Works Department. The City of McCleary has a whole section of its Municipal Code devoted to "the Environment". Some of the subsections of McCleary’s Municipal Code include "Wetland delineation and protection", "Aquifer recharge areas delineation and protection" and "Fish and wildlife habitat conservation areas: delineation and protection". The City of McCleary even required one housing development to create "Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions" (CCRs) which includes a Pest Management and Aquifer Protection Plan (PMAPP). The PMAPP informs owners of the need to protect the aquifer, chemicals to use or avoid, and best practices. The relationship (or lack thereof) between the City of McCleary and Grays Harbor County is important to note because each entity has control over a different portion of the Wildcat Creek Aquifer. Although "Communication between agencies is mandated by Washington Administrative Code 197-11, which governs the environmental review process for land use decisions", no interlocal agreement exists between them explicitly to protect the aquifer (Shea).
When the Aquifer Study was completed, the engineering company wrote a host of recommendations to protect our aquifer. One recommendation was to petition the EPA to designate the aquifer as a sole-source aquifer. These recommendations were intended to insure a lasting supply of safe, quality drinking water. However, the City of McCleary has only performed some of the recommendations in the Aquifer Study (Shay). In compliance with State SEPA requirements, engineers preparing reports usually describe a development’s impact on the environment and how the developer will mitigate the impact. Mitigation efforts frequently fall short of the mark. For example, despite complying with Federal, State and local laws, a development North of McCleary has experienced severe water problems, such as flooding.
Since the Aquifer Study was completed, many changes have been made to the surface over the aquifer’s recharge area and capture zones, changing the characteristics of the aquifer. Large expanses of second-growth trees have been removed by developers, eliminating their contribution to aquifer water. Many houses have been built, necessitating roads and driveways (known as impervious or impermeable surfaces). This has affected the quantity of water which can be drawn into the aquifer. Instead, in the case of the Summit Place housing development, it runs off into wastewater drainage lines, despite the admonishment from Hart Crowser: "Also, if significant areas of the aquifer are to be paved as part of future development (including areas outside the WHPA), water quantity may be adversely affected. Future development should be encouraged to infiltrate stormwater back into the subsurface following appropriate treatment (Einberger)."
Increased development means more people to drink the water, and more wells being drilled to provide that water. There have been numerous reports of wells running dry in the area North of McCleary’s City Limits. One county resident reported an increase in chemicals in his well water (Pumphrey). Unfortunately such reports are undocumented and anecdotal rather than scientific, and therefore easily dismissed by people who insist there’s no problem. Also, without knowing the depth and location in the aquifer of the problematic wells, we can’t be sure the wells were the correct depth to tap into the aquifer, or too shallow, therefore capturing surface water rather than true ground water.
The Aquifer Study included a map and a list of point contaminant sources. Point source pollution is where the source of the contamination can be identified, such as industrial sites, gas stations and even the cemetery. Nonpoint sources of pollution are more difficult to identify. They include feces from animals and residential uses of chemicals. They also include runoff from asphalt roads and driveways which leaches petroleum-based toxins into the soil.
Increased residential development outside the City Limits, means more septic tanks and drain fields. Contamination can also occur from faulty septic systems and failing drainfields of residences outside the City Limits. Drainfields and septic systems must receive regular maintenance to remain healthy; however, many people don’t realize this, thinking a drainfield lasts forever. Unfortunately, people don’t usually become aware of the problem until it’s become quite severe, and reparations have become costly to make.
Numerous residents complain of a rotten egg smell in their water. This has been attributed to the iron and manganese in the water, which is a natural geologic occurrence in our region (Moore). However, some complain that the odor problem has gotten worse, and attribute the change to the higher consumption of water, reducing the dilution of iron and manganese.
One of the remarkable attributes of water is its tendency to combine with other chemicals, creating new substances. However, once combined, it is difficult to remove the chemicals and leave pure water. A former City Administrator said it’s easy to get grants to clean up fouled water, but there are no grants to keep water clean in the first place. This appears to be a dilemma since it would appear, if water is more difficult to clean up, the financial emphasis should be on keeping the water clean in the first place.
The need for water to support life is unquestionable. How much water we have in our aquifer is debatable. Although the Washington State Department of Health closely monitors the number of connections, and the Washington State Department of Ecology regulates the water rights, there have been no recent studies relative to the quantity of water in the aquifer more than 10 years since the Aquifer Study was completed.
How much water we use is a lifestyle issue. In the video series Cadillac Desert, it was explained that many residents of Mexico City, Mexico, receive a daily allotment of one gallon of water per person per day. People in outlying areas line up with their buckets to receive water delivered by tanker trucks (Gaynor). Compare this to United States statistics of 19.3 gallons of water per day in a single-family home – just for toilet flushes (Heaton). The United States is an international leader in water consumption, using 425 Liters per person per day, compared with France’s 150 liters and rural Madagascar’s 10 (Gaolach, Mod. 4, p. 5). There are many ways we can reduce our use of precious, life-giving water, from installing low-flush toilets and similar devices to choosing low-water-use plants in our landscape. Surprisingly, water leaks are often cited as a large factor in water usage, possibly half as much as toilet flushes (ibid, Mod. 3, p. 12). Rapid-delivery water heaters and systems which process and utilize grey water – any water that has been used in the home, except from toilets – can greatly reduce water usage.
As with the quantity of water we use, we also have choices about the chemicals we use, and the activities which may contaminate our drinking water. As awareness has grown, we have discontinued many destructive practices of old. For example, when I was a child, it was common for people to change their automotive oil and dump the used oil into the storm drains. An Internet search reveals that this continues to be a problem, although now, at least, public awareness of the danger of this practice has been raised.
However, other changes have happened for the worst. For example, in the old days we had far fewer toxic chemicals to use for landscaping and household "needs". Fertilizers were natural organic substances like manure rather than manmade chemicals. The Summit Place CCRs include six pages of "Common Leachable Compounds Found in Homeowner Formulations" (Insight Geologic). Leaching is when substances filter into the ground water. It’s a little-known fact that there is more contamination from residential than other uses. It is estimated that "home owners use 2-6 times the amount of pesticide per acre (versus agriculture) (Gaolach, Mod. 4, p. 17)." Commercial users tend to use chemicals as instructed, in the smallest quantities recommended to save costs, where residential users often have the attitude "if a little is good, a lot is better". Unfortunately, the excessive amounts of chemicals used don’t serve the desired purpose, and merely run off to leach into the ground water. Also residents often don’t apply chemicals at the proper time. For example, the Summit Place Pest Management and Aquifer Protection Plan cautions: "Fertilizer applications should be strictly limited during the high rainfall winter season (Insight Geologic)." The PMAPP also mandates the homeowner association to hire an educated professional landscaper. This implies that best practices may not be known or understood by the average resident.
Among the choices we have pertaining to using contaminating chemicals is to use nothing. Many people use bleach in their wash when none is really needed. The Summit Place PMAPP recommends "mechanical" means for weeding, which means pulling them by hand. For those not "mechanically" inclined, there are many "green alternatives", methods or means which are far less destructive to our water quality and the environment. For example, white vinegar or lemon juice can be used instead of bleach. A dilute solution of Dr. Bronner’s peppermint-scented soap can be used as a bug spray (Logan, p. 182). Numerous such alternatives are included on web sites and in books available from libraries.
Increased development over our aquifer has put our water at risk. More residents using polluting chemicals, more roads and more vehicles undoubtedly have increased the quantity of contaminants which leach into the aquifer, and into people’s wells. In an article focusing on protecting children from environmental hazards, the following potential health risks are listed: "If pesticides aren’t used right, they can cause birth defects, and make your child’s allergies or asthma worse, cause nerve damage, or cause cancer. Toxic (poisonous) household chemicals include bleach, lighter fluid, oven cleaner, batteries, mercury thermometers, toilet and drain cleaners, shoe and furniture polishes, and gasoline. These chemicals can burn your child’s skin or eyes, make him feel sick to his stomach or dizzy, or cause him to itch. They can slow his growth, damage his lungs, or cause cancer. Bacteria and viruses in water can cause your child to have an upset stomach, diarrhea, or worse. Too much nitrate in the water can cause ‘blue baby’ syndrome. If your child is exposed to certain kinds of water pollution before she is born or in the first few months of life, it can harm her nervous system. Eating certain kinds of fresh fish from polluted waters can also cause problems (Hoffman)." Although the focus here is on children, it is easy to understand that the similar problems may be experienced by adults and other life forms as well.
Higher quantities of household chemicals washed down the drain in the City Limits require additional costly treatment in the City’s wastewater treatment plant. These factors, along with potentially failing drainfields and septic systems, will inevitably lead to contamination of our aquifer.
More impervious surfaces and fewer trees contribute to less water filtering into the aquifer. The increase in residents has also increased the quantity of water taken from the aquifer. And more housing developments are waiting approval by the City of McCleary, as well as Grays Harbor County. Although the number of connections to the water system within the City of McCleary are regulated, the number of wells drilled outside the City is not controlled.
The supply of safe, quality drinking water available from the Wildcat Creek Aquifer is threatened. Although the Washington State Department of Health controls the number of connections within the City of McCleary, and the Washington State Department of Ecology controls the water rights, neither agency can guarantee there will be sufficient potable water to support this growing community. Despite laws on every level and engineering recommendations galore, mitigation efforts sometimes fail, estimates of growth can go awry, and laws can be circumvented. Enforcement is an issue. The State Department of Ecology (ECY), according to Barbara Ritchie, SEPA/ORA Unit Manager, "receives between 8,000 and 9,000 SEPA documents a year (Ritchie)." That’s only the ones that are required to be filed with ECY. The rest must be monitored by the "lead agencies" – the cities and counties. McCleary has one Building Examiner to handle this task.
We really don’t know long-term effects of many of the chemical substances we’ve created. For example, it took decades after asbestos became widely used that the health hazards were realized, and it took even longer before laws were passed controlling its manufacture and use. Chemicals like DDT have a similar story. Disorders like "Multiple chemical sensitivity" and problems like "Sick Building Syndrome" are creations of the 20th Century. While the six-page list of leachable compounds from Summit Place’s PMAPP is useful in theory, it’s hard to imagine someone taking that list to Home Depot to make sure the fertilizers or pesticides they purchase don’t contain 2-isopropoxyphenyl-n-methylcarbamat or Dimethyl dichlorovinyl phosphate (Insight Geologic).
The Wildcat Creek Aquifer is the sole source of drinking water for our community. If the aquifer were to become contaminated, it would become a community-wide emergency. Water would have to be trucked into the community until such time as pipes could be laid to a neighboring aquifer, at a great expense to residents and taxpayers. Residents outside the City Limits wouldn’t have water, and likely wouldn’t have the financial resources to connect to the City’s system. Since the whole McCleary community relies on water from the Wildcat Creek Aquifer, and government agencies are unable to fully protect the aquifer, the responsibility falls on individuals living and working in the area to understand the complicated and vital issues involved, and take strong proactive measures to limit the pollutants they use and the quantity of water they consume.