Stormwater has been a problem Coupeville residents have been talking about for decades.

To resolve that problem, town leaders are working on a way to funnel stormwater outside town limits so it can be used by local farmers to irrigate their crops.

They will find out in the coming months if such a plan is possible.

“This is really a long-term, money-saving beneficial thing,” Coupeville Town Councilman Marshall Bronson said during a recent council meeting.

Officials hope the irrigation plan will provide a better way to use the town’s stormwater.

“The potential for supporting farming is huge,” Coupeville Mayor Nancy Conard said.

Conard said discussions between town officials, developers and farmers about diverting stormwater began more than a year ago. She said there are some developers interested in building in Coupeville and looking at ways to deal with stormwater runoff on South Main Street when new buildings are constructed.

Conard said if the plan becomes a reality, it would be a win for everybody involved.

Local farmer Len Engle agreed. While the plan could provide more water for the local farmers, it could keep more stormwater from being dumped into Penn Cove and Admiralty Inlet. He said the town looked at a similar plan in the 1970s but that project didn’t materialize. Town leadership at the time changed their minds because the project was too expensive, he said.

If the town’s new plans goes forward, Engle said the additional water will change the types of crops he plants and raises on his farm.

He added that more water will help farmers in the area survive. Two to three inches of additional water at the right time of the year, he said, will make a big difference to farmers.

Should the plan become a reality, Central Whidbey wouldn’t be the only place to have such an irrigation system. Councilman Bob Clay said the Whidbey Golf and Country Club uses the same irrigation system.

But before an irrigation system can be implemented on Central Whidbey, the town has a lot of work to do.

The town is trying to obtain a special use permit to allow installation of a water retention pond on National Park Service property. That pond would gather stormwater that would be funneled to surrounding farms.

Conard said the town has to complete a feasibility study to see if the irrigation is possible. The study would outline the stormwater protection area within the town and what farmland in the area would be irrigated.

She said the town would have to see what regulations are involved in creating an irrigation system. The town would also have to develop an organizational structure that would maintain such a system.

It would cost the town between $40,000 and $50,000 to complete the retention pond and feasibility study. Conard said the town wants to partner with the county or the National Park Service to spread out the costs.

As for a timeline of when the work will be complete, Conard said she hopes to have the special use permit in a couple of weeks and the feasibility study done in a month or two.