groundwater declining

[Sherrie Metlen <mssherrie@qwest.net>]

In the Moscow-Pullman Daily News, Ted McDonough mentioned in his article

a need to do a study about using wastewater for irrigation to help
reduce the amount of groundwater used. He said that the Palouse Basin
Aquifer Committee recently warned that water conservation measures
undertaken by area governments have failed to slow the rate of decline
in area underground aquifers. How much of a problem is this in the
Moscow area? Should residents be wary of purchasing homes outside the
city limits whose only source of water is a private well? Is it a "red
flag" if a well has seen a decrease in gallons/minute within the last
ten years? What is the possibility that homes purchased outside the city

limits today will no longer have water within the next ten to twenty
years or sooner?