Ecology to let artesian well use continue

TEMPORARY: Diamond Parking has 90 days to install an on-off switch and avert contamination.

By John Dodge, The Olympian

OLYMPIA — The popular artesian well in downtown Olympia will remain open to the public under an agreement reached Tuesday between state regulators and well supporters.

The future of the well in Diamond Parking's Fourth Avenue lot has been in jeopardy since the state Department of Ecology last month ordered Diamond to either repair or decommission the well by next week.

But Ecology officials meeting in Lacey on Tuesday said they are willing to give Diamond another 90 days to better protect the well from possible contamination and install an automatic shutoff valve so water doesn't flow constantly into a city storm and sewer line.

"We're not going to stop the use of the water," said J. Michael Harris, Ecology's regional water resources supervisor.

The well is a watery attraction to hundreds, if not thousands of South Sound residents, who flock to the Olympia parking lot to fill their water bottles and jugs with cool, chlorine-free water.

The water flows under natural pressure from a well drilled in 1915 to supply water to steam locomotives at a former Olympia train depot.

Over the years, the well has developed a devoted following.

Since 1996, a nonprofit group known as Friends of Artesians has raised $5,500 to maintain the well, monitor water quality and create a small urban park around it.

Those plans suffered a blow last month when Ecology ruled the well did not meet standards for artesian well construction.

They said the free-flowing water was a waste and violated state water laws.

At a summit meeting attended by state regulators, Friends of Artesians and officials from Diamond Parking and the city of Olympia, a short-term plan was developed to keep the well operating.

Arcadia Drilling Co. of Shelton will upgrade the well and install an automatic shutoff valve that meets Ecology requirements, the company's Bill Neal said. Diamond Parking will cooperate in the effort, but it wants Friends of Artesians to maintain the well, parking lot manager Dan Preisler said.

In the long run, the goal is to design a park that allows a certain amount of water to flow freely, perhaps through some sort of recycling system, Neal said.

But in the meantime, water users will need to let the water run for a while to flush out small particles of sand that are pushed jup from the bottom of the well when the valve is turned on, he said.

"Metaphorically, free-flowing is important to a lot of people," Friends of Artesians member Karen Lohmann said. "A lot of people don't like turning it off and on."

However, Ecology insists that the water flow be controlled.

Not all questions were resolved Tuesday.

Friends of Artesians and Diamond Parking must still reach accord on a well maintenance and operation plan.

And Ecology will require the responsible party to apply for a change of water use under the existing state water right for the well.

But the consensus was that none of the problems is insurmountable, the parties agreed.

John Dodge covers the environment for The Olympian. He can be reached at 754-5444.