Water & Wells

Everything you need to know about Water & Wells on Whidbey.

DRINKING WATER ON WHIDBEY

The City of Oak Harbor, gets all its drinking water piped in from the Skagit River.
The rest of the island depends on tapping into our skinny island's network of underground aquifers.

WHAT IS AN AQUIFER?

Most people think of an aquifer as a kind of "pocket" of water underground. According to National Geographic, an aquifer is a body of porous rock or sediment saturated with groundwater. See the image to the right for a better understanding.

THE CONCERN HERE ON WHIDBEY

We are not on bedrock, we do not have a lot of large lakes, and we are surrounded by saltwater. This is a recipe for saltwater intrusion. The intrusion occurs when too much water is pulled from the aquifer, too fast. The reduction in pressure pulls in saltwater from the surrounding shoreline, ultimately contaminating the freshwater.

PREVENTING DAMAGE TO WHIDBEY WELLS

To prevent saltwater intrusion, you slowly and steadily remove freshwater from the aquifer and store it for when demand spikes, like during summer.
Wells are monitored regularly across the island. The goal is to collect enough data to detect early signals of saltwater intrusion and take steps to prevent irreversible damage from happening. Public access to well reports help indicate the well health on four key elements: arsinic, chloride, nitrate, and water level.

If you want more information, call us directly 360.675.5953.