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A large water main break at the Shelter Bay Rainbow Park greenbelt area April 27 forced a temporary boil water advisory in the residential community and emergency repairs to a line apparently threatened by gradual channel bank erosion. Shelter Bay residents were kept informed by multiple phone calls or texts updating them on drinking water conditions.

Crews summoned by Shelter Bay officials worked to fill in a cavity created by the heavy loss of water and to stabilize the terrain following repairs.

The boil water advisory, issued due to loss of pressure, was lifted following completion of repairs and testing that showed no sign of system contamination. That allowed residents to resume regular water use.

Boaters passing by Rainbow Park last Tuesday saw what was described as a water line eruption. The broken line was spewing water into Swinomish Channel along a section of shoreline that had clearly caved in.

While the short-term problem was remedied, an underlying cause of the problem surfaced, according to residents in a series of social media posts.

Several said the channel bank at Rainbow Park is threatened by erosion and if left untended could lead to additional loss of land and further water main issues.

Directly across the channel, at Conner Waterfront Park, the Town of La Conner faced similar erosion concerns and last year contracted with C. Johnson Construction to re-armor the shoreline there.

The Rainbow Park area might require similar maintenance attention, according to residents.

“The need to shore up that area is not just aesthetic,” Monica Hocklander said on Thursday, “it is possibly critical to our water system.”

Coincidentally, Rainbow Park is on the Shelter Bay priority list for upgrades. The community is awaiting approval from its lessor, the Swinomish Tribal Community, for planned landscape renovations at the greenbelt.

In one of several social media posts, Hocklander suggested that Tribal leaders may not have been aware of how much of the Rainbow Park channel bank has washed away in recent years.

“I think it has even gone unnoticed by many Shelter Bay residents,” she said. “It seems like we could make a good case for bank reinforcement since our water main is there.”

Shelter Bay resident Ken Barnes suggested that the community’s board of directors be petitioned to place the matter on the agenda of their next meeting.

“I will be contacting the board of directors regarding this important issue,” Hocklander said. “I hope that others do as well. The more voices heard, the bigger the impact.”