Ballard Asked Seattle for a Drink—and Hinted at Annexation
In 1895 Ballard was running on wells and springs. Seattle had Lake Washington to spare, and officials began talking rates, mains, and a merged city.
A movement is on foot to have Seattle furnish Ballard with its water supply, and at the meeting of the council next Monday evening the mayor and other city officials of Ballard will present a proposition to Seattle officials asking what rates will be charged to furnish 300,000 gallons daily.
Ballard is practically without a water supply, nearly all water used for domestic purposes being secured from wells and springs. The West Coast Improvement Company has a small water system in use, but the supply is meager and unsatisfactory. The Ballard people know that Seattle has an abundant supply of fresh water from Lake Washington, and that while the pumping station on the lake has a capacity of 11,000,000 gallons daily, only 5,000,000 are consumed.
An important conference was held in Mayor Phelps's office yesterday afternoon. Present were Mayor Dow and Councilman Morris, of Ballard; Mayor Phelps; H. R. Clise, chairman of the board of aldermen's fire and water committee; F. H. Hurd, chairman of the house of delegates' fire and water committee; and Andrew Jackson, superintendent of the water department. It was agreed that the matter should be submitted to the council next Monday evening and rates ascertained.
Ballard's representatives said they were willing to connect with the Queen Anne hill auto-pumping station, or to take water from the end of the system at Fremont and construct a line of their own. They said Ballard now needs from 200,000 to 300,000 gallons daily, but a main of 1,000,000 gallons' capacity could be laid. The lake station has capacity for 11,000,000 gallons daily; the Broadway substation 2,000,000, though only 700,000 are pumped; the Queen Anne hill station 1,350,000, though only 100,000 are needed for its district.
It is understood that the scheme has been discussed in Ballard for some time. As an inducement to Seattle to quote an easy rate, it is said the argument will be made that when Ballard is annexed to Seattle there will be no cost for mains and incidentals; the only question will be water rates, perhaps the same as elsewhere in the consolidated city.
“Ballard is practically without a water supply, nearly all of the water used for domestic purposes being secured from wells and springs.”
Ballard's 1895 water crisis and Seattle's offer of Lake Washington water anticipated the regional utility politics that still govern Seattle: annexation, rate-setting, and who pays for growth.
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