Introduction
The 2009 Regional Municipal Water Supply Outlook (2009 Outlook) presents a regional overview of municipal water demands, provides an inventory of existing water supplies, and identifies and summarizes potential future water supply and conservation projects for King, Pierce, and Snohomish Counties. The 2009 Outlook was prepared by the Water Supply Forum (Forum) over a three-year period, with significant involvement from the region's water utilities, county governments, state agencies, and environmental and tribal interests.   |
Water Supply Forum
The Water Supply Forum, created in July 1998 as the central Puget Sound Water Supply Forum, is a voluntary organization comprised of representatives from public water systems and local governments from King, Pierce, and Snohomish Counties. The water utilities represented by the Forum provide municipal water to most of the three-county population. The Forum developed the firstregional municipal water supply planning document — the 2001 Regional Water Supply Outlook (2001 Outlook), which presented information on regional public water supplies, regional municipal water needs, potential stream flow issues, and future supply options for the entire three-county area. After completing the 2001 Outlook, the Forum committed to continue collaborative planning for municipal water supply and coordinate with others on regional water resource issues. Membership of the Water Supply Forum:
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Purpose of 2009 Outlook
Water Supply Forum initiated the process to produce the 2009 Outlook in response to requests for updated information on municipal water demand and supply by local governments. In addition, the update process provided the Forum an opportunity to allow a better understanding of the ongoing work of water utilities to address the current and future water supply needs and address issues raised since the publication of the 2001 Outlook.
The key steps to update the Outlook began with recent regional demographics, primarily from the Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC). Current water use information was obtained by an extensive survey of local water providers. Information collected also included utility experience with water conservation and water curtailments implemented to address unique supply or system challenges. All of this information was used to prepare a regional demand forecast model that would forecast municipal water needs by decade, from 2010 through 2060. In addition, the water demand forecast for the region as a whole was extrapolated to the year 2110.
In developing the Outlook, the Forum had speci |