Seattle Wellfield Modeling & Analysis ( 26 - 026 - S )

2026-11-03

Seattle Public Utilities ( SPU ) is seeking a consultant to support groundwater modeling and technical analysis for waterright permitting of the Seattle Wellfield , as well as the design of required mitigation project . Since 1985 , SPU and the former Seattle Water Department have worked towards completing the Riverton and Boulevard Park Wellfields , now collectively called the Seattle Wellfield , located north of SeaTac International Airport . SPU has operated the wellfield intermittently since the late 1990s under temporary permits , mostly recently in 2015 . The wells were originally pursued to provide peaking supply to meet high summer demands . The wells are also useful in other situations and times of the year : supplementing the surface supplies during drought conditions which helps ensure instream flows and maintaining supply to the southwest part of the SPU regional distribution system in the event of a transmission emergency . The Seattle Wellfield pumps water from an aquifer that is a known source of water for Miller Creek and potentially also a source for Des Moines Creek and the Green River . Under current Washington State case law , Seattle must mitigate for impacts to local water bodies . SPU pumped the wells for three months during a water shortage in 2015 and collected groundwater level data during and after that pumping . This data along with subsurface information published by U . S . Geological Survey was used to build a groundwater model intended to simulate the effect of pumping the wells on the aquifer , Miller Creek , Des Moines Creek , and the Green Rivers .

Washington

2026-05-14