That’s what she said May 6 to media and on Social Media.

““We all drink from the same glass, the citizens of Issaquah and Sammamish,” Issaquah Mayor Ava Frisinger said.” Press release dated May 6, 2013, on Issaquah City website.

What if that glass of water looks like this?

Issaquah’s plan to inject stormwater runoff without adequate pre-treatment proposed by the Sammamish Plateau Water and Sewer District–threatening our drinking water aquifer that is immediately below the so-called LRIG into which the Mayor wants to inject stormwater–may not look this bad but it’s what you don’t see that will hurt you.

Fecal coliform (from bird and other animal poop), metal particles and contaminants contained in stormwater runoff from Issaquah Highlands are all in stormwater. Issaquah contends filtering it through the ground and the LRIG will be adequate. The Water District says more pre-treatment is needed. This is the crux of the battle going on between the city, the District and the Washington Department of Ecology right now. Ecology, inexplicably, is nearing approval of a Draft Permit to allow Issaquah to inject stormwater into the ground only nine feet from the District’s aquifer that serves 54,000 people mostly in Sammamish and Klahanie and including other portions of unincorporated King County and parts of Issaquah.

The Water District offered three times to co-fund a pre-treatment facility and Issaquah rejected each offer.

Frisinger says Issaquah is committed to protecting the aquifer. If this is true, you have to ask: why won’t the city work together with the Water District, which offers to co-fund a proper pre-treatment stormwater facility?