Jacob Dimond / jake@yelmonline.com
The City of Yelm is preparing for an uptick in population as Blue Fern Development continues to make progress on its master-planned community, and has entered a professional services agreement with RH2 for a new source well, reservoir, water treatment plant and water rights transfer.
The professional services agreement for the water-related work is not to exceed the value of $288,100.
Brad Chatwood, City of Yelm projects and programs manager, told Yelm City Council during a meeting on Tuesday, July 14, that this work will be phased out over a period of time as Blue Fern Development continues to build out its master-planned community.
“There will be many years of phasing this out,” Chatwood said. “There is a lot of work — a new well, a treatment plant, reservoir, piping, booster pumps — we just want to get an idea of what that looks like to begin with. We’ll go from there.”
Councilor Terry Kaminski asked Chatwood if he could clarify the water rights aspect of the contract, and where the water itself would be coming from.
According to Chatwood, the water rights transfer would be coming from the City of Yelm’s southwest well — which is the newest well and treatment plant in the city.
“We have 942 acre-feet per year for that well, so we would want to transfer,” Chatwood said. “We would have to figure out what number we would want to transfer and transfer it to our new well site so we can actually draw them.”
Councilor Brian Hess reiterated that the work being done related to water is for the Blue Fern Development master-planned community. He noted the development is occurring at a higher elevation, which means the City of Yelm will have to use pumps and a variety of tools to keep the water pressure up.
During a study session meeting on Tuesday, July 7, Chatwood told Yelm City Councilors that there’s “a lot to this project.” He said one of the big topics of discussion with water in Blue Fern Development’s plot is groundwater exploration — which will begin immediately, according to Chatwood.
“We had RH2 put together a tech memo earlier this year, just kind of putting together where we are going to put this well, reservoir, treatment plan, and determining where our pressure zones are going to be,” Chatwood said. “Historically, Yelm has always been in one single pressure zone. We’re going to change. As we start going up in elevation, we’re going to have to change our pressure zones. It could involve some booster pump stations along the way.”
Additionally, Chatwood said a bid package will be put together for a well driller to come out and drill a two-inch well that is capable of descending 800-feet deep. This process will determine both the quality and the quantity of the water in the region.
You can read the full previous reporting by the Nisqually Valley News at https://tinyurl.
