Council approves South Bainbridge water agreement as conservation concerns persist

The Bainbridge Island City Council voted 6–1 on October 27 to authorize a water-sharing agreement with Kitsap Public Utility District, advancing a connection intended to provide supplemental summer water to South Bainbridge customers.

Deputy Mayor Kirsten Hytopoulos cast the dissenting vote. She said she supported the intertie itself but wanted stronger reporting requirements on efforts to address unusually high residential water use.

The action authorizes City Manager John Mauro to execute the agreement. It does not establish that construction is complete or that water is already flowing between the systems.

Councilmember Mike Nelson, who said he had initially opposed the proposal, supported the revised agreement’s seven-year term, seasonal limits, and later reviews of conservation and other conditions. “I don’t believe it’s the long-term solution,” he said.

Nelson described the agreement as a response to a short-term need. Councilmember Lara Lant stressed the shared interests of residents served by different utilities, while Councilmember Leslie Schneider said the city also had a responsibility to address high use among its own customers.

What the agreement provides

As detailed in our earlier report on the proposed agreement, the intertie would connect the city’s Winslow system and KPUD’s South Bainbridge system on Eagle Harbor Drive near the head of Eagle Harbor. It would also allow emergency sharing in either direction, subject to available water.

The agreement presented to council provides up to 40 gallons per minute of seasonal supply in the first year, between May 15 and September 15. Section 5(A) lists that supply as 6,911,309 gallons per year. Starting in the third year, supply could increase by up to nine gallons per minute annually for five years, with each increment listed as 1,554,311 gallons per year, to a maximum of 85 gallons per minute, listed in the agreement as 14,689,382 maximum gallons per year. These annual gallon amounts are those stated in the agreement for the seasonal supply, which remains subject to availability.

Those increases are subject to annual review of growth in connections, conservation efforts and results, and progress toward a new source well. The agreement runs for seven years or until KPUD develops a new source, whichever comes first.

KPUD would lead design, permitting, and construction and pay project costs. Required utility and state approvals would still precede construction.

Conservation remains a separate decision

Hytopoulos argued that the utilities need to address exceptionally high users as well as move water between systems. Her concern included continued pressure on the Fletcher Bay aquifer.

Later in the meeting, council supported her proposal for an analysis of high residential consumption within the city’s own utility. That work is intended to identify high-volume use, like golf courses, assess its effect on system capacity, and evaluate possible responses.

The study direction imposes no new household limit or surcharge. Its scope is the city utility; KPUD’s customers are served by a separate public utility district.

KPUD maintains South Bainbridge customer updates. Those notices will be important for tracking the next steps beyond the council’s authorization.