MISSION STATEMENT

To protect the health of the public by ensuring safe and reliable drinking water

at the lowest cost possible to the members in a responsible manner.

OFFICE HOURS

Monday - Friday 7:30 am to 2:30 pm

Excluding Federal Holidays

All Association staff perform tasks in the field and the office may not always be open during the listed hours. If you wish to conduct business at the office, please call ahead and schedule an appointment with staff.

If you call the office and reach our voicemail, please leave a detailed message including your name, address, and account information.

Your call will be returned as soon as possible.

ASSOCIATION ALERTS

January 6th, 2026

Please Welcome Steven Butcher, the new General Manager of Three Lakes Water Association.

He comes to us from the Roosevelt Water Association to our south near Monroe where he has worked for the past 7 years. His background also includes working as a Human Resources Manager at several banks, an Operations Manager at a railroad company, and has served in the US Army. He is Water Distribution Manager 2 certified and is experienced in the needs of our community as a water operator and Member. He has been a Member of our Association for 7 years living in our community and experiencing the water services 3LWA offers. You will see him working in our community in our mission to provide safe and reliable water to our community.

He joins Seth Way and Brittany Henning who have continued to work in their roles to provide uninterrupted water service to our community, respond to member concerns, read the meters and bill for services, and respond to water emergencies as they arise. We thank Tyler Eschelman, our interim manager, for his service to the Association over the past several months and for his long service as a former Trustee.

MONTHLY BOARD MEETING

The Three Lakes Water Association's monthly board meetings are held every second Tuesday of each month and are open to the membership to attend. If any members wish to address the Board at the meeting, please email our board president: Steven Lefebure, at president@3LWA.org with any questions, comments or concerns so he can report them to the Board at the meeting. If any member would like to attend the next monthly board meeting, please contact the office at customerservice@3LWA.org for details.

171st Construction Project

September 30, 2025

As of next week, construction activities for the fourth and final segment of the 171st Ave SE capital improvement project to replace water main will commence. This segment’s location is on 62nd St SE off of 181st Ave SE and Storm Lake Rd and has been prone to leakage. The completion of this installation will further provide enhanced reliability and fire flow to the membership from the tank towards the east side of our water system.

We appreciate your patience while these simultaneous projects are ongoing.

September 30th, 2025

3LWA will begin construction on the third segment of the 171st Ave SE Capital Improvement Project. The primary goal of this work is to continue to replace 1965 6” asbestos cement water main with new 8” ductile iron water main. The secondary goal of this work is directly connected to a proposed County, State, and Federal project supported by the tribes which is planned to be constructed in 2027/2028. This multi-entity project will replace two 36” culverts that cross 163rd Ave SE and a small stream that allows Panther Lake’s outflow to connect with the Pilchuck and Snohomish River systems. The proposed new road crossing for Panther Lake’s outflow will be an open bottom box channel design at least 30’ wide in support of efforts to promote, enhance and restore salmon habitat. The Association’s original 6” asbestos cement water main conflicts with this new proposed structure and therefore, we must retire and relocate this segment of our facilities within the County right-of-way.

Staff thanks you for your patience.

3LWA ANNUAL NEWSLETTER

Every spring, Staff includes the Annual Newsletter within April's billing to inform the members on current Association news, as well as future goals, and milestones reached. Please take a moment to look through this newsletter for Association updates and important information.

ASSOCIATION NEWS

LEAD IN YOUR DRINKING WATER

September 17th, 2025

Lead Service Line Inventory

In order to help reduce the public’s potential exposure to lead in drinking water, it was determined by the USEPA that all potable water systems create a lead service line inventory. The inventory is required to include material information on both the water system owned portion and privately owned portion of all service lines served by that water system purveyor and to be publicly available.

We reviewed 50 years of service documentation, as well as performed excavation in the field to confirm the material type at each water system owned portion of the service line.

Even though the Association’s jurisdiction ends at the meter, the USEPA requires material information on the privately owned portion of the member’s service line to be reported as part of this new rule. Therefore, the Association mailed out a survey to those members whose homes were built after the state ban of lead in drinking water, asking for any material information on their private service line on the downstream side of the meter. Many members responded with material information that was added to the inventory which also helped to reduce the overall cost to the membership in order to comply with this regulation.

The Association reports that NO LEAD Service Lines were discovered in the
inventory on the water system owned portion of the service lines.

The Association’s service line inventory was submitted to the Department of Health on September 17th, 2025, prior to the October 16th, 2025, deadline.
We appreciate your cooperation in assisting us with this federal requirement.

Three Lakes Water Association

CLICK HERE to view 3LWA's Lead Service Inventory Page

171ST CONSTRUCTION PROJECT

September 8th, 2025

The Three Lakes Water Association Capital Improvement Project to replace 60-year-old 6” asbestos cement water main continues. We are currently working on the final phase of this 3-million-dollar facilities replacement project, Phase 3, which has been in the works for over 10 years. This phase totals approximately 1 million dollars of work, includes four separate segments of focus, and totals approximately 3,500 feet of main installation.

Staff, under my direction as General Manager, and with the approval of the Board, is once again performing the coordination, supervision, and inspection of the contractor’s activities to excavate, install, and bring the new 8” ductile iron water main facilities and appurtenances on-line. Staff volunteered to take on these additional duties, as opposed to outsourcing the work, which hopefully, should be able to save the Association approximately 40-50 thousand dollars of additional costs for Phase 3 alone.

At least so far, the project remains and is expected to be completed well below budget.

Last week, the new 8” segment between 171st Ave SE and our water storage tank was successfully brought on-line. This week, the second segment of new 8” water main facilities installation was initiated which extends beyond the tank towards E Wishon Rd. This segmented approach has allowed for continuous water distribution to the membership/community and fire flow capabilities to remain active while these pertinent replacement activities are ongoing.

This phase is expected to be fully completed over the next few months.

For those who live and travel upon the roads affected by our activities, thank you. We really do appreciate your patience, understanding, and extra caution to help us keep the workforce safe as many of us work in the street each day. We will post additional updates as the work continues.

Respectfully,

Don Kemmis, General Manager

September 23rd, 2025

171st Phase 3

Staff wants to thank our members for their continued support along 58th St SE. The second segment of Phase 3, 171st capital improvement project is now complete with the support of the contractors and staff. So far, 15 members have been transferred to the new facilities as part of Phase 3. This includes approximately 2,300 linear feet of 8” DI main and four new hydrants to serve the community. The most recent installation ties ductile iron main from the tank to the east side of the water system to enhance reliability to the membership.

October 29th, 2024

In 2024, both 171st Ave SE Capital Improvement Project segments known as Phase I and II have been completed and put into service. This project targeted the failing 1965 era 6” Asbestos Concrete water main, replacing it with 8” Ductile Iron main, meters, and appurtenances. This 2.5-mile-long project replaced some of the most critical sections of our water system, hardening the primary pathway that delivers our source water to our tank and to the distribution system, feeding all Association member's properties.

Today’s paving activities, along 171s Ave SE to properly restore the roadways, should signify the closing out of the traffic interruptions and the final steps involved to wrap up the project.

This project has been in the planning stages for well over 12 years and is the largest project in the history of this Association. We can already see the reductions in water loss, and the cost to move water will also reduce with this effort. It’s been a pleasure to be directly involved with the design, approval process and to oversee the actual 10-month long construction activities for such a significant, overall improvement to this water system. Thank you, the membership and the general public, for your patience in helping to ensure the safety of the full work force involved.