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City of Tukwila
W: \PW Eng \OTHER\Pat Brodin \Info Memo Cascade Retreat 6 -9 -10 bg doe
INFORMATIONAL MEMORANDUM
Mayor Haggerton
UTILITIES COMMITTEE
FROM: Public Works Director-
DATE: June 9, 2010
SUBJECT: Cascade Water Alliance Update Recent Board Retreat
Jim Haggerton, Mayor
The City of Tukwila receives water contractually through the Cascade Water Alliance (CWA) to
distribute to its residential and commercial customers. Staff will provide a summary of a recent
CWA board retreat.
The City of Tukwila has been receiving its wholesale water supply as a member of the Cascade
Water Alliance since January of 2004. At that time, Tukwila chose to join with Bellevue,
Kirkland, Redmond, Issaquah, Sammamish Plateau, Covington Water, and Skyway rather than
doing a direct contract with Seattle. All of Tukwila's water supply is fed from the Cedar River
Watershed through large supply mains and taps operated by Seattle Public Utilities. As an
entity, the 8 members of CWA have the authority to bond for improvements and condemn
property. Since signing the interlocal agreement, Cascade now owns Lake Tapps through
lengthy negotiations with Puget Sound Energy including the water right issued by the DOE for
future supply.
Goals as set forth are demand forecasting and future direction not 10 or 25 years, but a vision
that goes 50 years and beyond. The organization's guiding principles are:
Run "lean and mean"
Encourage active board participation
Utilize member staff to extend core team capabilities
Outsource temporary duties where appropriate
Operate in a business -like manner
Encourage behaviors based upon openness and transparency
Require strong ownership /accountability