By Clinton Wright
December 14, 2025
Link to My Edmonds News article
An urgent warning to the good people of Edmonds, my adopted home town and former residence of over 40 years.
It is quite likely that your City Council is going to approve (i.e. rubber stamp) an updated CAO (Critical Areas Ordinance required by Washington state environmental and growth management law) that will allow home building developers to infuse stormwater runoff (from roofs and driveways) directly into your currently pristine Deer Creek CARA (Critical Aquifer Recharge Area) — used by Olympic View Water District to supply many of you with some of your drinking water.
You read this correctly. Your City Council is about to approve something that could possibly make you or your family very sick sometime in the future. And you know the worst part of this is that your City Council didn’t even commission this legislation based on public input, open hearings, best available science and collaborative discussion.
The original ordinance revision was written by City Senior Planner Brad Shipley with the help of Edmonds Environmental Council (EEC) President Joe Scordino and fellow EEC board member John Brock and that version included protection of the Deer Creek Aquifer. That version was presented to the Council on Nov. 25 (packet page 135) with action to be taken later. Now the version they are actually going to take action on (packet page 15) doesn’t protect the aquifer on the advice of your City Attorney because he is supposedly proactively protecting the city against potential lawsuits by potential developers.
The bottom line is that if you don’t want your City Attorney and City staff writing your laws for you, you need to protest this in writing and/or in person to your Mayor and City Council ASAP.
Contacts are:
In Person: Special Council Meeting, Tuesday, Dec. 16. Council Chambers 250 Fifth Ave. N.
Remote: Zoom meeting link
Written public comments: www.edmondswa.gov/.government/city council/.online public comment
Clinton Wright is a board member of the Edmonds Environmental Council.