vision2020
Re: Council candidate questions
> 6. Do you think that the depletion of our aquifer is a problem that needs to
> be addressed now--or can we wait 5 or 10 years to confront it? Moscow
> violates the Palouse Basin Aquifer Committee management plan by excessive
> water usage. Is it important that Moscow be brought into compliance with
> those water use goals?
>
Bill and others-
Thanks for including a question about local aquifers and water use
in your question list to candidates. A point of clarification: water
levels continue to decline in wells located in the deep aquifer; the
jury is still out on whether we are actually "depleting" this aquifer
(taking more out than is coming in). This, and other issues, are
being addressed by a 3-year joint UI/WSU study that is being
funded by the 6 entities that comprise PBAC.
The source of our water and the declining water levels in our wells
is an important issue and one the elected (and administrative)
officials of all entities should be aware of and take seriously.
As we undertake the update of our Groundwater Management Plan
(GWMP) in 2000, each member entity of PBAC will need
to reevaluate how they will meet their water use limits, the costs
associated with the various options, and how these decisions will
affect future growth and development. These sorts of decisions will
require the input of BOTH the technial representatives as well as
the elected officials who serve on PBAC.
For your information, at the PBAC's request, the City of Moscow
has just put together a report documenting some potential sources
of the high water use in Moscow that you refer to. For those who
don't know, as part of the basin GWMP, PBAC members agreed to
limit pumping to a maximum of 125 percent of the annual average
during the base period (1982-1986). Moscow's upper limit is 875 m
gallons. In 1997 Moscow pumped 870 m gallons, and in 1998
Moscow pumped 904 mgallons. The numbers indicate Moscow
also exceeded the upper limit in 1994 and 1996 (914 and 927
mgallons, respectively). In comparison, year after year, other
entities (in particular, UI and WSU) are actually pumping less than
they pumped during the base period.
The report issued by Moscow indicates that several million gallons
can be explained by the need to frequently flush hydrants (in
response to customer complaints about discolored water), and the
need to backwash the filters at the City's treatment plant due to the
high iron and manganese content from some of Moscow's wells.
To Moscow's credit, it pumps a fair amount of water (20 percent in
1997) from the shallow aquifer (the one with the iron and
manganese problems) and has invested substantially to keep its
filtration system up-to-date to enable pumping to continue from
these shallow aquifer wells. Water levels in wells located in the
shallow aquifer do not seem to be declining like those in the deeper
one. The suggestion has been made by the PBAC that water use
accounting should distinguish between pumpage from the shallow
and the deep aquifer, and even to offer credits for pumping from the
shallow aquifer, which seems to be recharged more effectively than
the deep aquifer.
In addition, Moscow has recently had all of their flow meters
recalibrated by the manufacturer and found that several were
reading high. This over-metering accounted for an estimated 5
percent of total pumpage in 1997, and presumably a similar
amount in 1998. Eliminating this 5 percent in both years brings
Moscow below the 125% limit in 1998, and well below the limit in
1997. We have not yet evaluated how this information affects
Moscow's compliance with the other pumping limitation: to not
increase pumping by more than 1 percent over the previous year
(based on a 5-year running average), which Moscow has also
exceeded in the past.
This report was just made available last Friday, and will be
discussed at the next PBAC meeting on October 21 (agenda will
be posted soon on Vision 2020). Our web site should be up and
running soon, which will also post this type of information. If
candidates (or anyone else) would like more information, please
don't hesistate to contact me or your PBAC representative.
Thanks for your interest.
Juliet McKenna, Executive Secretary/Technical Advisor
________________________________________________________
Juliet M. McKenna, Executive Secretary/Technical Advisor
Palouse Basin Aquifer Committee
University of Idaho
Phone: 208-885-4569
Fax: 208-885-6431
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