Vashon, WA

Practical resilience for a relocator: food, water, energy, defensibility

Vashon has one community well (at the 400-foot depth in the glacial till) that serves the central Vashon Island Water District; the rest is private bedrock or shallower wells. Groundwater yields average 5-15 gallons/minute at a 150-foot depth—acceptable for a household, but insufficient for irrigation** of any scale beyond a large garden. The island’s surface water is limited to a few streams (including Ellis Creek) but total flow volume is negligible. Rain capture is the most practical backup: the island gets 38 inches of rain annually, meaning a 2,000-square-foot roof yields ~45,000 gallons/year—enough for domestic and crop use. But storage requires filtration and containment; most island homes have basements that could serve as cistern spaces for 2,000-3,000 gallons easily.

Local food production is plentiful but not trade-ready. The island has 7 commercial farms (including two U-pick berry operations and a greenhouse) plus a network of community gardens—enough to feed perhaps 5,000 of its 10,000 year-round residents sustainably, per the Vashon-Maury Island Agriculture Protection District assessment—but processing and preservation infrastructure is nearly absent. There is one community cannery at the Vashon Island Grange, but no commercial milling or cold storage on-island. Game density is moderate—the island has healthy deer and rabbit populations—but hunting pressure is high per square mile. Acquiring a small boat for coastal foraging would significantly increase protein options: the sound is rich in salmon, flounder, and shellfish, though pollution concerns (heavy metals—legacy from Asarco smelter in Tacoma decades ago) are moderate; the WA Department of Health recommends limiting consumption of bottom-feeding fish and clams to 2-3 meals/month from this area. Fuel: the island has one gas station at Vashon Center, with above-ground storage of 10,000 gallons—a bluff supply that drains fast. No natural gas pipeline reaches the island; heating is either propane, wood, or oil. The advantage here is that the most accessible fuel is firewood from island forests: an estimated 110,000 air dry cord potential (US Department of Forestry assessment of private woodlots), enough for ~30% of winter heat for all households if deployed. Defensibility: the 30-minute ferry delay and single road network (SW 25 & SR160) are the two choke points; a determined group could set up roadblocks at either of the two road junctions leading to the central valley, but the island is laced with 20+ miles of unpaved private roads—hard for controlled access but porous for defenders. The terrain is not militarily defensible—no natural elevated firing positions—but the sea is a barrier that would disincentivise random looting compared to mainland neighborhoods.

Overall strategic picture: Vashon is excellent for a defensible retreat scenario with a lifestyle adjustment but fails that test for high-volume self-sufficiency. Its isolation from road-borne collapse is genuine, but its dependence on ferries for full connectivity, small propellant base for fuel, and limited groundwater make it a place that requires serious prepositioning: a six-month food cache, a 100+ gallons of stored water, a wood-heated home, and a rain barrel system are the baseline. The shadow of the Navy yard and the occasional reality of living inside a sound-sized area mean that any wide-area bomb or industrial accident will affect air and water in ways than cannot be ignored. For a prepared individual willing to invest in a septic expansion, a wood boiler, and a small PV array designed for island weather patterns, Vashon is a solid, defensible with trade-offs—much better than a dense suburb but distinctly not an independent, if you need uninterrupted state infrastructure. This is an area for a serious connector, not a catastrophic flake—move here with your team, not your hopes. The ferry schedule, the water table, and the single tank of gas at the central gas station will all be dictates in a real disruption; prepare for them, and you will find no better island off the West Coast.