In 1965, a group of residents in this area petitioned the King County Commissioners to form a water district. The proposal precipitated a protest. The opposition’s main argument was that the population in the area did not warrant a water district and that water should be furnished from a source other than wells.
A spokesman for the proponents, L. B. Scribner, who was the president of the Ames Lake Community Club, said “People cannot build out here without building wells. If we want to encourage property owners to build in this area, we must provide local water for them.”
The formal protest was worded as follows: “The practicality and feasibility of such a system is questioned due to the extensive mileage involved in the proposed area, against the population of this district at the present time.”
But the ability of two existing wells to meet supply and demand was seriously questioned.
We’ve got to look ahead
“We’ve got to look ahead,” emphasized Scribner.” We’re too close to the main arteries to ignore growth and development.
“We are trying to avoid a crisis,” he explained. “If people would just stop and think about it, there are many reasons why we should form the water district NOW.”
In 1969, Ames Lake Water Association, a cooperative water utility, was incorporated by 87 members. It distributed drinking and domestic water to landowners in the vicinity of Ames Lake. Today, ALWA produces about 90,000,000 gallons of water per year from deep, groundwater production wells.
