Water district hopes for grant funds

The Point Roberts water district is asking to be considered a high priority when the county decides how to hand out federal infrastructure dollars.

In a January 18 letter to county executive Satpal Sidhu and council member Ben Elenbaas, Point Roberts water district commissioners said the funds were needed to replace “most of its water supply infrastructure.”

“Most of our infrastructure was put in 60 years or more ago,” the letter states. “This aging infrastructure has been failing at an alarming rate. Based on recent data from the American Society of Civil Engineers, we estimate the cost of replacement to be approximately $34 million. This is well beyond our means to remedy.”

District manager Dan Bourks said while the water district has for the last 10 years been factoring the cost of main replacement into regular rate reviews it has been insufficient to keep up with rising construction costs. “We keep chipping away at it but costs have gone up so much in the last few years,” he said.

In all, the district has almost 30 miles of 6-inch and under concrete pipe that is becoming more and more susceptible to breaks and requires replacement. Breaks have been incurring with increasing frequency while an earthquake could cause a widespread failure of the water distribution system.

“It is imperative we be proactive in replacing these pipes or face a potential calamity,” commissioners wrote to the county. “The funds available from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act give us hope we can act sooner rather than later.”