PORT HADLOCK — Jefferson County Public Utility District No. 1 commissioners made building a Marrowstone Island water system official Wednesday night.

They approved the resolution creating a local taxing district that will fund the system, which will provide fresh water to an area in which many private well have suffered saltwater intrusion.

Wednesday’s action on the official resolution prepared by legal counsel seals the deal approved unanimously by the PUD commissioners April 14.

The idea of installing a public water system on the island has been debated by residents for about two years, and there’s still a chance the project could be halted by opponents.

Ray Harker of Conserve Water First, a group that rallied residents to protest the project, refused to talk about the potential for future legal action.

The next steps in the PUD’s process will be applying for financing and designing the pipeline system.