For years, Skagit PUD could only take water from Gilligan Creek when someone drove up a logging road and opened a valve by hand. The rest of the time, water the PUD was entitled to divert ran past.

The intake sits 45 minutes from the treatment plant at Judy Reservoir, and in winter, the last stretch sometimes meant hiking through snow. The plant is staffed around the clock. The creek was not. Between trips, the valve stayed closed.

Data was never the problem. A sensor in the creek had been reporting stream levels every 15 minutes for years.

“The problem wasn’t a lack of data,” said Operations Project Manager Kurt Van Burkleo. “The problem was control.”

Why the Streams Matter

From April to October, stream flows often drop below the minimums the PUD must leave in place for fish, so the district pumps water from the Skagit River to Judy Reservoir. From November to March, four streams in the Cultus Mountain watershed run high enough to divert, and gravity carries that water to the reservoir instead. Every million gallons of water that’s delivered by gravity instead of being pumped saves roughly $275 in electricity costs.

How much comes from the streams varies with the weather. In a wet year, they can supply nearly half the water that Skagit PUD treats. In a dry year, the river carries 70% of it.

The PUD may divert only when stream levels exceed state-set minimums to protect salmon habitat. The Skagit is the only river system in Washington supporting all five Pacific salmon species.

What Changed

The intake now runs on the same control system operators use for the rest of the plant. Every 15 minutes, it compares the creek’s level to the day’s minimum requirement and adjusts the valve to take only what is available above it. Operators can monitor it from the plant and take manual control at any time.

“We were essentially flying blind between field visits,” said Water Treatment Plant Maintenance Foreman Rob Sager.

Capturing what the streams offer, when they offer it, is what the automation is for. The project cost $130,000 and avoids roughly $165,000 a year in pumping costs. PUD crews did the work themselves.

The change took some getting used to. Operators had run the intake by hand for years, and being asked to trust software with a valve they had always turned themselves was a fair cause for concern. What settled it was working with the system day after day, and knowing manual control was always a click away.

“Our team doesn’t miss the remote site visits,” Sager said. “We’re capturing more water. The system is reliable and efficient.”

Time once spent driving up the logging road now goes to maintenance and other work at the plant.

Gilligan is the largest of the four streams. Mundt Creek, the second largest, is next.