Chelan advances airport waterline project

CHELAN — Plans to extend municipal water service to the Lake Chelan Airport are moving forward, with construction expected to begin in spring 2027 if the remaining approvals fall into place.

City of Chelan Engineer Travis Denham updated the Chelan-Douglas Regional Port Authority this week on the airport waterline project, a roughly 2.8-mile pipeline designed to connect the airport to the city’s water system and provide fire-flow capacity to the facility.

The Lake Chelan Airport is jointly owned by the city and the Chelan-Douglas Regional Port Authority, though Chelan has been taking on day-to-day operations of the facility.

The project calls for installing a 16-inch waterline from the eastern portion of Chelan’s existing system to the airport property.

“The project accomplishes the goal of bringing fire flow to the airport,” Denham said during the presentation. Fire flow is the rate of water supply available for firefighting to control a major fire.

The work is currently about 60% through the design phase, Denham said. Survey work, environmental review and cultural resource work have already been completed, and the project team has identified a preferred alignment for the pipe.

If the schedule holds, the city expects to bid the project this fall, award a construction contract in winter and begin installation in spring 2027.

The project’s estimated cost is about $8.8 million, funded through contributions from the City of Chelan, the Chelan-Douglas Regional Port Authority, Chelan County and the Washington State capital budget.

A more recent construction estimate places the actual construction phase at a little over $7 million, with the remaining funds covering contingency, design and construction management.

Denham said the project is currently considered fully funded under those estimates.

However, the project still requires coordination with the Washington State Department of Transportation because the pipeline would run within state highway right-of-way outside city limits.

The city submitted a variance request to WSDOT this week seeking approval for several design elements, including open-trench installation methods and a shallower burial depth than typically required under the state’s utilities manual.

City standards typically allow waterlines to be buried four feet below the surface, while WSDOT guidelines call for five feet of cover under roadways.

The city is also requesting permission to install the pipe without a protective casing, arguing that the pipe material and pressure rating provide sufficient protection.

If WSDOT requires the line to be encased inside a secondary pipe — a method sometimes required for pressurized utilities — Denham warned it could dramatically increase costs.

“I think right now we view that kind of as a project killer,” Denham said, explaining that casing the pipe would significantly increase material costs and require deeper excavation.

Despite that concern, Denham said the city expects the variance request to move forward through discussions with WSDOT staff.

“We fully expect that variance to be granted,” he said.

The project also carries a timeline tied to state funding.

Capital budget dollars supporting the project must be spent by mid-2027, though an extension into the following biennium could be requested if necessary.

Denham said the current construction schedule should allow the project to meet that timeline.

The city is maintaining a public project page on its website where residents can track updates on the waterline and other capital projects.

Andrew Simpson: 509-433-7626 or andrew@ward.media