Important Illahee/Aquifer Meeting on Tuesday, June 30th. Hydrologist and ground water consultant, Dr. Joel Massmann, will be presenting a briefing on GROUNDWATER, AQUIFERS & INFILTRATION REQUIREMENTS - A Briefing of the Manette Peninsula Aquifer and the Illahee Watershed aquifer Protection Plan from 6:30 - 8 pm at the Norm Dicks Center on Tuesday, June 30, 2009.
Who is Dr. Massmann? When the Illahee Community was concerned about the low flow in Illahee Creek a number of years ago they went looking for the best independent hydrologist they could find and hired Dr. Massmann to conduct that study. He is a groundwater consultant with over 25 years experience. He is the founder of Keta Waters and was previously a faculty member in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Washington.
Also Part of the DOE Grant Team Studying the Illahee Watershed. Dr. Massmann was also a member of team Parametrix assembled to develop the Illahee Creek Watershed Surface Water Management Plan for the Port of Illahee and as part of a Department of Ecology grant. Dr. Massmann wrote the Aquifer Protection Plan for the final report which he will likely be including as part of his presentation.
Presentation Items. Dr. Massmann will discuss the underlying aquifers and groundwater recharge on the Manette Peninsula and within the Illahee Creek watershed. The presentation will address questions regarding how much fresh water is in these aquifers, where does this fresh water come from, and where does it go. These questions will be described in the context of relationships between groundwater for municipal supply and groundwater to support stream flow and wetlands.
Questions & Answer Session. There will be an opportunity to ask questions of Dr. Massmann. Additionally, Dave Tucker, from the Kitsap County Publlic Works Department is planning on attending and will also be available to answer questions.
Why Attend? The Manette Peninsula aquifer is the primary source of the stream flows in Illahee Creek. Illahee Creek is fed entirely by the aquifer when there is no rain and already has low baseflows during these non-rainy periods. It is those low baseflows that jeopardize the ability of the stream to support salmon, not to mention that the creek is also affected by the stormwater surges that produce the storm surges that tend to flush out the salmon. Some feel the stream is already approaching marginal baseflows and it will be unable to withstand the added pressures of developments like Timbers Edge. That is why the Illahee Community Club has appealed the Hearing Examiner's decision to approve the Timbers Edge development. This is an opportunity to get some answers from a recognized expert who is familiar with the aquifers and the Illahee Watershed area.
Infiltration Needed. One of the messages we think we will hear from Dr. Massmann is the need to infiltrate the rains we receive, rather than trying to pipe the water to Illahee Creek or Puget Sound. We have heard that infiltration should be as close as possible to surfaces like roofs, driveways, and roadways, and thus the emphasis on bioretention features like raingardens, bioswales, infiltration pits, pervious surfaces, and the like.
Rain Garden Class. We had an Illahee resident who attended a Sea Grant and Kitsap County rain garden class this past Saturday and thought this might be a good class of the Illahee community, since our soils are generally very permeable (note that there were a number a gravel pits in the area in the recent past) and we need to replenish the aquifer that supplies Illahee Creek. We will provide more information on this in a following update.
Questions? The meeting is on Tuesday at the Norm Dicks Center on 6th Street in downtown Bremerton. Evening parking is readily available. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at 479-1049,
Jim Aho
