We all need water. None of us can deny that. Fresh water is a limited resource on this Earth, and its value is well known by the greedy who would like to control it. knowing this and protecting everyone’s right to free access to water is an important ecological move. Laws in many states require restaurants to provide free water to patrons.

But that fresh water comes from vital landscape features such as rivers, lakes, rainfall, and underground aquifers. Those features in Washington state are managed by both the Department of Ecology and the Department of Natural Resources. They are also regulated by the local health departments in cities and counties.

Washington State has 188 principal USGS mapped aquifers. (United State Geological Survey, part of the U.S. Department of the Interior)

Dupont gravel mine expansion article from the News Tribune.

T0 assist you, here are the definitions of an aquifer and a watershed.

• Aquifer: An aquifer is a geological formation that can store and transmit groundwater. It consists of permeable rock or sediment that allows water to flow through it. Aquifers are crucial for supplying water to wells and springs and are often recharged by precipitation that filters through the soil and rock layers above
• Watershed: A watershed, also known as a drainage basin, is an area of land where all the water that falls as precipitation drains into a common outlet, such as a river, lake, or ocean. It encompasses all the land that contributes to the flow of water into that outlet, including surface water and groundwater

Here is a map of the watershed most of us live in, called the Chambers Clover Creek Watershed, Water Resource Inventory Area 12. (WRIA12)

Within our watershed, there are issues with water flow. The US Geological Survey maps the water streamflow data. Note that Clover Creek in Parkland has unavailable data because the stream simply is not flowing there. It is dry, as is Muck Creek in the Lacamas prairie area.

Underneath the ground in these watersheds are layers of water in aquifers, aquitards, and aquicludes. The names vary according to how these areas bind water or let it flow. This link explains the differences for further reference.

This is a local map with a brown and maroon overlay showing water in the aquifer. The darker the maroon, the more water. You can see why the water bottling companies are located where they are. The dots are wells.

This Pierce County map has aquifer recharge areas, the places groundwater gets back into the system. The graphic below shows the wide areas that rainfall refill this groundwater.

We drive around. We see large puddles. Surface Water management lays pipes to provide drainage. But in the bigger picture, that rainwater should be reentering the aquifer, lakes, streams, and where all the wells supply our homes and businesses with potable water.

This is not something simply for our generation, but all the generations to come after us. We are currently the stewards of this system, keeping it clean and safe is not a passing fad. It is a necessity.

New developments come in and strip trees, move earth, and put ancient underground collection patterns at risk. Along 22nd Avenue in Spanaway, flow changes created quite a different feeder system at Stony Lake. Gravel mines that help build our roads, also dig into the earth and impact these shallow aquifers. The proposed Vashon Aquifer breach and dewatering in DuPont will affect a number of marshes, lakes and streams in the area. No one seems to know how much for certain. This is a very current, active controversy and in the court system at present.

In Thurston County, the sewage treatment plant at Budd Inlet was creating ecological issues and the Lacey, Olympia, Tumwater, Thurston (LOTT) organization began placing purple pie to bring treated water from the plant back uphill to filter back into the aquifer. Along the way, they also sprinklered flowers in the highway median. As long as it returns to the ground, the locations can be used for beautification also.

It is time for Pierce County to consider sewage treatment in South Hill that does the same. Putting gray water (dishwashing, showers & laundry) to different treatment and reuse, sending only the brown water to treatment, and then taking the purple post treatment fresh water and reinfiltrating to the ground. We could be treading more lightly on our environment if we expand these systems more thoughtfully.

Learn about your aquifer. Join a stewardship organization, there are many. (I will list a few at the end of the article.) Promote better use of freshwater, freshwater preservation, and water recycling. The orcas, seals, and salmon, and oysters do not want our sewage. We need the aquifers to stay recharged. If this puts your thinking cap on, good. We need you to be on the team called our future.

Clover Creek Restoration Alliance, Chambers Clover Watershed Council, Puyallup River Watershed Council, Tahoma Bird Alliance, Pierce Conservation District, Tacoma Tree Foundation, South Puget Sound Salmon Enhancement Group, Forevergreen Council, Rainier Audubon Society, and so many more…