Letter: Water provisions under estimated

The Columbian praised the Clark County councilors’ adoption of the updated Comprehensive Plan. I appreciated that the council recognized fallacies of Alternative 4 and the benefits of local, sustainable agriculture.

However, as a 50-year rural resident, the plan’s failure to recognize the severe lack of ground water in rural Clark County could lead to disastrous consequences for current residents.

The adopted plan allows more than 1,000 additional lots on Resource Lands. The Department of Ecology confirms that the current water supply is over allocated –meaning there is not enough water allocated to sustain the additional development. The plan contains no provisions for the lack of available water supply and funding to supply infrastructure to handle the increased population.

The plan harms current rural residents because it fails to protect the water supply for the existing homeowners.

Estimates of a Clark Public Utilities water supply exceed $2.5 million per mile, and allowing the utility to provide such services would violate the Washington Growth Management laws because rural areas are inherently not served by public water and sewer.

All current residents with a well need to speak up to protect their water supplies.