Is this really the end of the Artesian Well?

author : Janet Blanding topic : Friends of the Artesians

by Janet Blanding

On November 5, Jim Ingersoll of the Friends of the Artesians (FOA) wrote a letter to Olympia Mayor Doug Mah and the City Council, announcing that the group would be disbanding, abandoning its dream of creating a park where a permanent, publicly owned well would be available for community use. After years of frustration, with repeated failed attempts to broker an agreement between the FOA, the Port of Olympia, and the City of Olympia, it seems unlikely that such a dream will ever be realized. Worse yet, the well in the Diamond Parking lot on 4th Avenue (near the former Manium) will most likely be closed very soon. According to the letter [reprinted on page ___], “The Department of Health has continued to issue an annual permit for the operation of that well only on the condition that we were making such progress [toward establishing a publicly owned well] and on the condition that Friends of Artesians pay for monthly testing of the water from the 4th Avenue well.” With the FOA disbanding, it is unlikely that the Department of Health will allow the 4th Avenue well to remain accessible to the public, once monthly testing is discontinued in February, 2009. According to Ingersoll, “The implications are catastrophic for the well.”

There are many Artesian wells in the Olympia area, but most of them are capped, with the water being redirected into the sewer instead of flowing freely above the ground. The only well which is easily accessible to the public is the one in the Diamond Parking lot (although there is a smaller, slower flowing well in a parking lot at the corner of Olympia Avenue and Washington street which can currently be used by the public, and one in an alley near Orca Books). Well users have reacted to the news of the well’s imminent demise with grief and anger. Quite a few Olympians had not heard about the problems with keeping the well open and found it hard to believe that the continued existence of this much-loved local institution was threatened. Many people reacted with shock when confronted with the likely demise of the Artesian well. “What!!?? Demise?” reacted Brooks Martin in response to the news. “Is this true?” asked Gautum Dutta. “Please say no!” One well user said “I don't know how you’d turn off an Artesian well.” Sadly, it is easy to cap an artesian well, and the city has done it many times; in 1940, there were 96 artesian wells in Olympia. Now, only a few of them remain free-flowing.

On a recent Sunday afternoon at the well, ten people used the well within ten minutes. Drew Freeman, after bending over to drink directly from the stream of water splashing out of the pipe, said “The well seems like the center point of the whole town. It brings people together because everybody meets out here.” Robert Larson filled up a five gallon jug, and remarked “It’s a shame that the Department of Health will have to close a place where people can get water from a natural source. People want to feel that they’re part of the natural environment. Closing it down pushes all those people that much further away from the natural world.” Ida Severson and her son Abel were making their first visit ever to the Artesian well. “We were told we wouldn’t leave Oly if we drank the water,” said Ida. “So we waited until we were sure we wanted to stay. We’re here for our ritual drink from the well.” Meesh Miller and Jim Hill were at the well to fill jugs, and were unhappy to hear that the well would most likely be capped in the near future. “It would be really great if the city could find a permanent place for an Artesian well,” said Hill.

In a phone interview, Jim Ingersoll explained that the Friends of the Artesians (FOA) had tried for fifteen years to reach a solution with the city to ensure public access to the pure, delicious water which constitutes an important aspect of Olympia’s civic identity. Unfortunately, the FOA have found that the city’s fears of liability have stymied all their plans. “It would take an ounce of courage on the city’s part,” says Ingersoll. “But they won’t talk about it. They’ve closed off the conversation.” As he explained in his letter [reprinted on page ___], “We face a catch-22: We are required to have an agreement between the Port and the City in order to get a permit to drill a test well on the Port site. But the City has told us that you will not sign any agreement until the well has been drilled, tested, approved, and paid for.”

The FOA has taken responsibility for monthly testing of the water, at a cost of $55-60 a month, for many years. It is possible that if some community members formed a limited liability corporation and continued to test the well, the Department of Health might allow the well in the Diamond parking lot to remain open. According to Ingersoll, “The Department of Health is aware of how important this is to people.” It is the City of Olympia that is retreating, refusing to acknowledge the importance of access to the aquifer and the pristine water which gives Olympia its unofficial city motto, “It’s the water.” Ingersoll predicts that if the well is closed and the public loses access to it, “We lose all access to our natural heritage. People will be more depressed, more cynical, less welling to participate in government, and more isolated.” He also anticipates a continuing loss of faith in civic government. “Government will have more of a bunker mentality,” says Ingersoll. “They will have more trouble building a legacy of trusting.”

The well is an important part of Olympia’s natural and cultural heritage. It is deeply meaningful to the citizens of our city. What does it say about our city officials’ sense of accountability that they willfully stifle the attempts of hard-working citizens to keep the well accessible to all, just shrug, and let it die?