Palouse Basin Aquifer Committee

["Juliet McKenna" <pbac@uidaho.edu>]

There have been a few comments over the last month or so about the Palouse Basin Aquifer Committee (PBAC) and its potential role in local land use planning issues, presumably through regulation of additional pumping of groundwater from the Moscow-Pullman area aquifers. This is a response to the questions raised and also an opportunity to let the community know some of the recent activities and upcoming challenges facing the PBAC. The Entities that comprise PBAC (Moscow, Pullman, University of Idaho, Washington State University, Latah and Whitman Counties) are aware of the regional growth that is occurring and its potential impact on water use. We are reading your comments and are very much interested in your input. PBAC will update its Groundwater Management Plan in 2000 and input from the public will be an important factor in this revision.

The stated mission of the PBAC is “To plan for continued beneficial use of the Basin groundwater without depleting Basin aquifers, while protecting the quality of the water.” With this goal in mind, PBAC has not taken action on local planning issues thus far because:

It has not been demonstrated that we have a water supply crisis that justifies such action. It is true that the water table of the deep aquifer (the major producer of groundwater locally) has been falling for the past 100 years in response to increased pumping. Although a serious concern, the declining water table in this aquifer does not necessarily indicate a water supply crisis. There are still hundreds of feet of water in local wells. Furthermore, we know that more water falls as precipitation in the basin annually than is pumped from the ground. A top priority of PBAC is to determine more precisely the amount of annual recharge to the various aquifers in order to develop sustainable pumping scenarios. This summer, the Committee agreed to provide funding for a 3-year hydrologic study by a combined UI and WSU team that will address these issues. PBAC is also working closely with the Entities to monitor water levels in their wells and to identify water level changes associated with changes in pumping and specific recharge events. Ultimately, we need to improve our understanding of the basin and how water moves into and out of the different aquifers to permit better water supply management decisions.

PBAC is guided by a Groundwater Management Plan developed in 1992 to address regional growth issues. As part of this Plan, each Entity agreed to attempt to limit their increases in annual pumping volumes to one percent of a moving five year average, and furthermore, to limit accumulated total pumping increases to no more than 125% of the annual average of the base period of 1981-1985. It is up to the individual Entities to determine how to achieve these goals. The intent is to allow maximum flexibility to each Entity in how it adheres to the self-imposed limits. The rationale is that this control on pumping over an extended period of time will show up as a commensurate change in the rate of decline in the deep aquifer water table. It will also provide constraints on the systematics of recharge to this aquifer. Limiting growth to further reduce pumping is the ultimate drastic step when all other options have failed.

So, how are we doing? Since the Plan was signed in 1992, Pullman, WSU, and U of I have all remained below the one percent annual increase and are below the 125 percent cumulative increase. Compared to the annual average of the 1981-1985 base period, in 1998 Pullman pumped 114 percent of its base period amount, WSU pumped 81 percent of its base, and UI pumped 92 percent of its base. Moscow pumped an amount equal to 129 percent of its base in 1998 and was above the 1 percent increase. Data is not available from the counties. As a combined group, the Entities are below the stipulated 1 percent per year pumping growth limit and the 125 percent maximum growth limit. In the six years since the Plan was signed, water levels in wells within the deep aquifer are generally continuing to decline at a rate of 1 to 2 feet per year, similar to the historical rate of decline recorded since 1910. Water levels in wells within the shallower aquifer fluctuate, however have generally increased over the last 20 years since the bulk of pumping is now from the deeper aquifer.

In addition to voluntary limits on pumping, PBAC and the member Entities are actively working to implement other components of the Groundwater Management Plan that will increase the efficiency of water use and stabilize pumping, even with considerable growth. These include:

Encouraging conservation of water through public education on wise use,

Adopting building codes that foster efficient water use by requiring low flow fixtures and high efficiency appliances,

Supporting use of grey water and treated effluent for irrigation in appropriate locations,

Encouraging landscaping with vegetation appropriate to our climate to minimize irrigation needs,

Utilizing new methods to identify and fix leaks in the water distribution systems.

PBAC is also considering options that could supply incremental quantities of water to meet increased Entity demand. For example, more than 60 percent of ground water pumped for municipal use eventually is treated in one of the two waste water treatment plants (WWTPs) and is then dumped into Paradise Creek or the South Fork of the Palouse River. The University of Idaho diverts some of the treated effluent from the Moscow WWTP for irrigating the golf course and some of the campus green space. This significantly reduces the University’s need to pump groundwater. The Cities of Moscow and Pullman and WSU could also reduce their pumping needs significantly by diverting treated effluent for irrigation of green space. However, it will cost more to utilize this treated effluent than it costs to pump more groundwater. This is where public input becomes very important. Is the local public willing to pay a little more for water now to ensure a dependable groundwater supply even with continued growth?
The Palouse Basin aquifer system that supplies water to meet residential, business, campus and other needs is complex. It will take time to understand more precisely how it works and the quantities of water available for pumping. The goal of the Palouse Basin Aquifer Committee is to be proactive in halting or reversing the declining water table of our deep aquifer before a water supply crisis develops and through voluntary, multijurisdictional cooperation, to ensure a dependable water supply for the future.
To learn more:
Copies of the 1998 Palouse Basin Annual Water Use Report and the Groundwater Management Plan are available to the public. Input from the public is a key component to the Groundwater Management Plan update which will be completed in 2000. As part of this process, there will be opportunities for public input and comment. The Committee conducts monthly meetings on the U of I campus which are open to the public. Please contact your PBAC representative or Juliet McKenna, the PBAC’s Executive Secretary/Technical Advisor, with any comments, questions, or suggestions. The names of the current PBAC members are provided at the end of this message.


Signed,
Larry Kirkland, Chair
Juliet McKenna, Executive Secretary/Technical Advisor

{PRIVATE }{PRIVATE }IDAHO MEMBERS {PRIVATE }
Gary Presol
Moscow Director of Public Works
P.O. Box 9203
Moscow, Idaho 83843
Phone (208) 883-7034
FAX: (208) 883-7033

Pam Palmer
Moscow City Council
P.O. Box 8996
Moscow, Idaho 83843
Phone: (208) 883-3741
Office: (208) 885-5586
E-mail: { HYPERLINK mailto:ppalmer@moscow.com }

Larry Kirkland, Committee Chair
University of Idaho
Facilities Management
Moscow, Idaho 83844-1231
Phone: (208) 885-6683
FAX: (208) 885-5748
E-mail: { HYPERLINK mailto:larryk@uidaho.edu }

VACANT
University of Idaho

Loreca J. Stauber
Latah County Commissioner
5th & Van Buren
Moscow, Idaho 83843
Phone: (208) 882-8580
Home: (208) 882-1133

Tom Townsend
447 East 8th Street
Moscow, Idaho 83843
Phone: (208) 882-0061
E-mail: { HYPERLINK mailto:ttownsend@moscow.com }

WASHINGTON MEMBERS
Mark Workman
Pullman City Public Works Director P.O. Box 249
Pullman, Washington 99163
Phone: (509) 334-4555
FAX: (509) 334-2751
Email: { HYPERLINK mailto:mark.workman@ci.pullman.wa.us }

Sue Hinz
Pullman City Council
1445 N.W. Kenny
Pullman, Washington 99163
Phone: (509) 332-1168
Office: (509) 335-3583
Email: { HYPERLINK mailto:hinz@wsu.edu }

Jay Becker
Facilities Operations Department
Washington State University
Pullman, Washington 99164-1150
Phone: (509) 335-9018
FAX: (509) 335-9070
E-mail: { HYPERLINK mailto:jay_becker@wsu.edu }

Craig Benjamin, Vice Chair
Assistant Director, Facilities Operations
Washington State University
P.O. Box 641150
Pullman, Washington 99164-1150
Phone: (509) 335-9017
FAX: (509) 335-9304
E-mail: { HYPERLINK mailto:craig_benjamin@wsu.edu }

Les Wigen
Whitman County Courthouse
N. 404 Main Street
Colfax, Washington 99111
Phone: (509) 397-6200
FAX: (509) 397-6355

Derek Pohle
Whitman County Engineer
Public Service Building North 310 Main
Colfax, Washington 99111
Phone: (509) 397-6206
FAX: (509) 397-6210
email: { HYPERLINK "mailto:derekp@co.whitman.wa.us" }derekp@co.whitman.wa.us


________________________________________________________ Juliet M. McKenna, Executive Secretary/Technical Advisor Palouse Basin Aquifer Committee University of Idaho Phone: 208-885-4569 Fax: 208-885-6431