Anyone applying for a building permit in Eastsound will have to wait.

Washington State Department of Health is holding all building permits for new construction in Eastsound because Eastsound Water Users Association is out of compliance with the water system planning requirements for a public water system.

Building permits, which are issued by the county, will be held until DOH verifies that EWUA has the capacity to serve. The moratorium was prompted because EWUA has been behind in getting their water system up to date.

According to manager of San Juan County Health and Community Services Mark Tompkins, the first application for a water system put on hold was received at the end of July and held in August.

“They are behind so far that my department is unsure when they will be able to be in compliance,” DOH regional engineer Steve Deem said. “There are problems that they are aware of.”

“I really think that we are at the tail end of this,” general manager of EWUA Paul Kamin said. “This is a temporary setback that fortunately in the current building climate has not impaired a significant number of members.”

A plan prepared in-house by EWUA was first rejected in 2006.

“That plan was rejected, and Steve said, ‘You know what? You guys are too big and complicated to do this yourself. Hire a firm in Seattle,'” Kamin said.

According to Kamin, the firm took 18 months to prepare the plan, instead of the projected eight months.

“I would also add that the last plan that we had approved in 1996 was 47 pages. The current plan that was submitted is over 800 pages, and we’re into it for well over $100,000 for engineering work. There has been a significant evolution in the oversight requirements associated with DOH compliance,” Kamin said.

DOH is looking at the capacity of EWUA.

“When I use the term capacity, it is the ability for the water system to meet all the demands placed on it,” Deem said.

Deem reiterated what DOH is concerned with covers a myriad of factors, not solely the amount of water there is available in Purdue Lake. There are other requirements including pressure and reliability.

“There has been nothing to suggest we have lost our water source,” Kamin said. “We are using 38 percent less water on an annual basis than we were in 2001. So I don’t believe the system is in any way near its capacity. It comes to being a paperwork issue. Fortunately that’s easier to remedy than a system capacity issue.”

Before permits will be issued again, EWUA has to have a water system plan that is approved by DOH. Deem describes this plan as similar to a business plan and is a self-evaluation by EWUA of the current status of the water system as well as its ability to handle anticipated growth. This document is required by the state every six years. It includes how many homes are expected, the age and condition of the infrastructure to bring water, and any needed replacements to aging systems.

“These plans are quite complex. Multiple things play off each other – storage, treatment, rights, expectations of the community, et cetera,” Deem said.

DOH received a plan from EWUA on Aug. 8 and prepared initial comments. They then met with EWUA to discuss their findings. EWUA submitted a draft response to those initial comments to the DOH on Monday, Sept. 28.

Currently, the DOH has asked the Department of Ecology to review Eastsound Water Users Association water rights issues and send a letter back to DOH. They must prepare their review by Oct. 9.

DOE hydrogeologist Jay Cook will be doing the review of EWUA. He says the review has to do with rights, not quality of water.

“We just look at their water rights issues,” Cook said. “They complete a self-assessment and we compare what they think and what we think in terms of quantities and place of use.”

Deem acknowledges the inability to obtain a building permit has community-wide implications.

“We’re aware that it is a big deal for Eastsound to not be able to meet their requirements for new construction,” Deem said.

Kamin said that building permits which were on hold were able to move forward with a foundation only, after Deem had reviewed the most recent plan.

“I expect any day that we’ll get this resolved,” Kamin said. “We submitted a new plan in August. I met with Steve in Seattle at the end of August, he gave us a list of 10 items he wanted additional info on, and we responded in 10 days. So we’re sitting on his decision at this point,” Kamin said.