Drafter
Clerk 03/12/2009
Title
AN ORDINANCE approving the 2007 King County Water District No. 111 Water Comprehensive Plan.
Body
STATEMENT OF FACTS:
1. King County has adopted King County Code ("K.C.C.") chapter 13.24, which requires approval of comprehensive plans for water and sewer utilities that distribute or obtain water, or provide sewer collection or treatment, in unincorporated King County as a prerequisite for operating in unincorporated King County, receiving approval for annexation proposals, being granted right-of-way franchises and being given approval for right-of-way construction permits. K.C.C. 13.24.060 prescribes the requirements for approval of such plans, including consistency with state and local planning requirements.
2. Revised Code of Washington ("RCW") 43.20.260 requires that water system plans for any new industrial, commercial, or residential use be consistent with the requirements of any comprehensive plans or development regulations adopted under chapter 36.70A RCW or any other applicable comprehensive plan, land use plan, or development regulation adopted by a city, town or county for the service area. King County has adopted a comprehensive plan that includes water supply and wastewater policies in its provisions for facilities and services (policies F-226 through F-254) that call for consistency with other adopted plans, support for regional water supply planning, pursuit of reclaimed water and water conservation and protection of water resources.
3. King County last approved King County Water District No. 111's Water System Comprehensive Plan ("the plan") in 1997, with amendments to that plan being approved in 2002. Both Washington state Department of Health ("DOH") and King County regulations require water system plans to be updated every six years; the district has been pursuing an update of the plan for the past several years.
4. King County water district no. 111 ("the district") operates in the southern part of King County and includes parts of the cities of Auburn, Covington and Kent as well as unincorporated areas of King County. The district provides service to a population of twenty thousand four hundred eighty-two, including employment, or six thousand nine hundred twenty-nine total equivalent residential units, in its retail water service area. The annual average day demand, which is water consumed, was approximately one million four hundred forty thousand gallons per day in 2006, with peak day consumption, which is generally during the hottest summer/fall period, during the same time being slightly more than twice the average day demand.
5. The district's water system plan describes its intention to assure that water service is provided throughout its retail water service area as identified in the 1989 South King County Coordinated Water System Plan ("CWSP"). The purpose of the CWSP, which includes individual water system plans, is to identify present and future water service needs and to set forth the means for meeting those needs. While the plan does not directly discuss the district's duty to provide service within its "retail water service area," it provides sufficient information to conclude that the district has both the intention and capacity to do so by various means, direct service through the existing water system being the preferred method. The district has developed policies whereby it will serve as a satellite system manager for an unconnected system that is beyond the reach of the district's water mains.
6. The district's plan identifies a set of measures that it has implemented to pursue water conservation within its service area, pursuant to DOH 1994 planning guidance. The plan specifically describes the different aspects of the district's conservation program and provides a cost analysis of those measures. The district already complies with most of the requirements of the Water Use Efficiency Rule adopted by the DOH and is implementing plans to fully comply with the rule.
7. Pursuant to King County Comprehensive Plan policies F-208, F-211 and F-212, water and sewer districts that provide service in unincorporated King County must have financing strategies to show the ability to meet projected needs for facilities and services in accordance with the Growth Management Act and the King County Comprehensive Plan. The district's plan describes a six-year capital improvement program ("CIP") costing approximately 5,360,721 in 2007 dollars. The district states that CIP projects will be funded by water revenues, connection charges, various grant and low-interest loan programs, revenue bonds and/or outside funding sources. The district projects that existing reserves, capital facilities charge revenue collections and interest earnings should be sufficient to fund the capital facilities program and repay public works trust fund debt through 2012. Total operating revenues for the district in 2006 were $2,981,666.
8. K.C.C. chapter 13.24 requires review of water system plans by the utilities technical review committee ("UTRC"), and a recommendation made to the King County executive and council on the plan and the requirements under K.C.C. chapter 13.24 and consistency with the King County Comprehensive Plan. The UTRC has reviewed the planning data and district operations and hereby finds:
a. The plan is consistent with population and employment forecasts developed by the Puget Sound Regional Council for the service area, with a customized forecast appropriately used. The plan affirms an ability to meet adopted Growth Management Planning Council population targets for the underlying land use;
b. The plan appropriately uses King County land use classifications;
c. The capital facility plan is adequate to meet anticipated facility and service needs;
d. The plan is consistent with applicable state water quality laws, including the evaluation of reclaimed water use; and
e. The plan is consistent with other pertinent county adopted plans and policies.
9. The DOH has not yet approved the district's water plan, pending approval by King County. Approval from DOH is expected after the King County council acts.
10. The district completed a State environmental Policy Act checklist and issued a determination of nonsignificance for the issuance of the plan on December 13, 2007.
11. The district's operations and facilities meet multiple existing statutory, administrative and planning standards. As the district's operations, facilities and planning meet the requirements of the King County Code and are consistent with the King County Comprehensive Plan, the UTRC recommends approval of the plan.
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF KING COUNTY:
SECTION 1. King County Water District No. 111's 2007 Water Comprehensive Plan, Attachment A to this ordinance, is hereby approved as a comprehensive water system plan.
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