We’re not sure what possessed the city of Issaquah to “hijack” two web domains owned by the Sammamish Plateau Water and Sewer District. It was an underhanded ploy and unworthy of what we expect of city leaders.

The district created the sites to argue the case against Issaquah wanting to pump storm water runoff into the ground near a well used by the district for water for its customers.

Issaquah started its own sites, with web addresses so close to the district’s that some people got confused and were sent to the wrong site.

We know the water issue is contentions. The water district worries the Issaquah plan could foul the drinking water it provides families and businesses. Issaquah insists that pumping untreated storm water into the ground for the soil to filter it is a safe procedure. Issaquah officials also say the water district is providing misinformation.

The final verdict on the water issue won’t be won – or shouldn’t be – through dueling websites. It will – or should – come from the analysis of Department of Ecology experts who are trained and paid to keep the public safe.

Issaquah has taken down the confusing websites. That’s good. Next, it should deal with how this wrong-headed decision happened in the first place.

Reporting on Sammamish

Readers will spot a new byline in The Reporter today. Daniel Nash joins our staff to cover Sammamish.

Daniel comes to us from our sister papers, the Bonney Lake Courier-Herald and Enumclaw Courier-Herald, where his work won six awards from the Washington Newspaper Publisher’s Association. While there, he covered a variety of beats, including business, senior living, the arts and personality features, including a profile of costumed Seattle crime fighter Phoenix Jones for the Russian-language newspaper Akzia.

Look for him in and around the community.

– Craig Groshart, Issasquah & Sammamish Reporter