People rely on the health of their water. In the era of bottled soda and bottled water that idea can be overlooked by some.

Without the luxury of choice, salmon and other fish and organisms that live in it are more quickly effected by changes in the quality of their liquid surroundings. The KGI Watershed Council exists to safeguard both human and salmon throughout western Pierce County and South Kitsap.

“[Our] purpose is to identify, attempt to correct, and prevent non-point source water pollution and protect beneficial uses of water,” the group states in it’s action plan.

The watershed it monitors and protects contains approximately 101,000 acres or 158 square miles of land and 144 miles of shoreline. Just over 22,000 acres is in Kitsap County.

A watershed is a large area in which all surface water drains to a common water body or a common outlet. The concept is familiar to builders, farmers and recreational fisherman alike.

Though based in government and seeking approval from local government entities the people at the heart of the drive for water quality improvement come from all walks of live. The council’s current volunteer president Liz Lathrop is a retired woman who is anything but retiring. She is informed and willing to get involved in the minutiae of soil samples and seaweed health.

She leads an enthusiastic bunch of experts and non-experts alike.

That microscopic attention also requires a simultaneous grasp of the big picture; the 144 miles of shoreline, the developers who must follow regulations, and the thousands of people and fish that are meant to benefit from them.

Barbara Ann Smolko, who works at Pierce County Water Programs, has stayed with the task ever since she was assigned it five years ago. Her vision of the council is an entity that works to gather information and distribute it.

“We want to be the conduit between the public and the government agencies,” she says.

That has meant a lot of work to develop a common lexicon and a common goal from Kitsap and Pierce Counties, from the City of Gig Harbor and cities in Kitsap that can have a major impact on the watershed, positive or negative.

Information provided by Pierce County Water Programs, which oversees the Key Peninsula-Gig Harbor-Islands council shows the breadth of the task.

“The KGI Watershed is drained by about 54 small streams, most of which are one mile or less in length,” the water program’s Web site states. “Only three streams have drainage areas greater than 10 square miles. The watershed typically receives between 42 and 51 inches of precipitation per year, mostly in the form of rain. One-half to two-thirds of the precipitation that falls on the watershed is discharged to surface waters or [evaporates]. The remaining 33 to 50 percent recharges ground water.”

(Editor’s Note: Temple A. Stark is a free-lance writer living in Port Orchard. Reach him at writer@harbornet.com)

   The Key Peninsula — Gig Harbor Islands Watershed Committee meets at 4 p.m. the third Thursday of every month at the Peninsula Light Company, 13315 Goodnough Drive in Gig Harbor. For more information call Barbara Ann Smolko, at Pierce County Water Programs, 798-6156.