Resort Improvement District Water Policy

By Willard R. "Roger" Boedecker

The Resort Improvment District (RID) has a water problem. The problem is an inadequate supply of water to meet the requirements of a growing Shelter Cove. The RID Board should prepare a solution to this problem.

In the short-term, for the next two to five years, the problem has to do with the amount of water available for diversion from Telegraph Creek. Although the RID has a permit to divert water from the Creek to serve, theoretically, almost 1000 residential connections, the permit includes a requirement that a specified minimum amount of water be allowed to pass the diversion point. It has been noted that during the dry season, even with only 600-700 residential connections, the required minimum flow is barely being met. Demands associated with additional diversion to serve new customers would very likely result in a violation of the required minimum.

To address this short-term problem the RID Board has attempted to encourage or coerce conservation on the part of existing customers through the imposition of progressive user fees. The new fees have been in place for such a short period of time that it is unclear as to whether customers are, in fact, reducing water useage. If the increased fees fail to achieve the desired result, I would support the imposition of additional penalties for excessive use or abuse during the critical dry season. I would also urge the RID find ways for the District to use water more efficiently.

The long term problem, to be confronted over the next five to twenty years, is related to the fact that even with the most optimistic estimates of potential water sources, including Telegraph Creek, Dead Man's Gulch, Humboldt Creek, and some yet to be identified (and possibly non-existant) aquifers, these would not provide enough water to serve the requirements of future customers. Assuming, pessimistically, there are 2500 lots in the District that are potentially developable and there are 700 current customers there simply is not enough water to serve the additional 1800 customers. Even if there was enough water in Telegraph Creek for 100 residential connections, and 100 from Rick Spring, and 200 from Dead Man's Gulch, and 200 from Humboldt Creek, and 200 more from some unknown aquifer, the total still falls short of what would be required for that build-out.

Traditionally the RID has not looked beyond Dead Man's Gulch as the primary augmentation resource. More recently consideration has been given to desalination or impounding (damming) Telegraph creek and/or Humboldt Creek. I would support the preparation of a study of possible alternatives for the solution to the long-term problem. The alternatives to be considered should be comprehensive, ranging from doing nothing, with the expectation that some external agency, county or state, would force a maratorium on additional connections, to the development of a major desalination project capable of providing sufficient water for a maximum build-out of the community. Intermediate alternatives should include the various diversion and impoundment proposals, the feasibility of exploration for unknown aquifers, and the recycling of wastewater.

Following the review of such a study, the RID Board could then select a preferred alternative, or combinations of portions of alternatives, which would then be incorporated into a plan for implementation. This plan would include permitting requirements, phasing based on specific benchmarks, and funding