There is plenty of water physically available to serve city of Gig Harbor’s water customers but by May the ability to give actual water rights to new development had dried up. At the end of May, the city imposed a six-month moratorium on all permits requiring new or extended water from its system. The moratorium does not apply to areas serviced by other water purveyors such as Washington Water Services.

Although a public hearing on the moratorium was set for June 28, city Community Development Director John Vodopich said the hearing will likely not change anything because there is simply no more allowed capacity to offer.

The state Department of Ecology had a backlog of more than 6,500 applications for new water-rights or changes pending as of April 1 of this year and was processing them at the rate of a few hundred per year.

The state Legislature authorized in 2000 to allow for alternative ways and new measures to cut a waiting period that often stretched for a dozen years. As a result, the agency processed about 1,000 applications in 2001-03, saying it was a record.

Still, with the city’s development applications on hold, its two applications for more rights being close to No. 20 spot, and the top application on the list more than a decade old, the city seemed in a pinch. To fix the problem, the city council in June approved paying more than $53,000 to a consultant who would help process data for the backlog of applications for the DOE and speed up the water rights review process.

The ability to hire a consultant was part of the 2000 legislative changes, which authorized cost reimbursement arrangements with contractors.

“It was either pay or wait for an indefinite amount of time,” said Vodopich.

Other water purveyors have followed the same road: In 2003, 32 applications were processed under the cost-reimbursement rule, 15 from actual jurisdiction and the other 17 benefiting because they were ahead on the list. Washington Water Service, another major Gig Harbor area provider, in fact will benefit from the city’s expenditure because it has several applications ahead of Gig Harbor.

Spending the money is not a guarantee that the city will have its two applications approved, but city officials expect a decision by September. New developments that had water already reserved are not affected by the moratorium.