[Vision2020] So, Is Moscow ready for a reservoir?

[Jerry Weitz]

Mark, a couple of questions: Where do you think the "ideal" location of a 
reservoir would be?  If Proposition 2 succeeds, how would this bode out for 
the reservoir?  Is there a possibility of having a public/private 
partnership where the public owns the reservoir and the shoreline would 
have homes to help mitigate the costs?  Are there grants available and 
would Moscow qualify?  Could Moscow and Pullman be partners?  Can the 
Palouse river or Snake river be used?  Thanks Jerry

At 12:59 PM 10/10/06, Mark Solomon wrote:
> >From today's Daily News. Please note there is a
>significant reporter error in the statement
>attributed to me re the Grande Ronde going dry in
>10-20 years. I specifically referred in my
>presentation to the Wanapum and the time frame I
>forecast was 15-25 years based on historical well
>levels when Moscow relied entirely on the Wanapum
>aquifers. We now pull 30% of total demand from
>the Wanapum, an amount very close to the volume
>pumped in Moscow during the 40's and 50's with
>its then smaller population.
>
>Mark
>
>********
>
>MCA panelists: Moscow reservoir may make sense
>
>Group of five agrees that feasibility study needed before further discussion
>
>By Ryan Bentley, Daily News staff writer
>Tuesday, October 10, 2006 - Page Updated at 12:07:07 PM
>
>Moscow resident Kit Craine believes elected
>officials must push forward and find a secure
>source of water for the area.
>
>She said people won't seriously push for an
>alternative source of water until they wake up
>one morning and don't have any water to take a
>shower.
>
>Mark Solomon, coordinator of the Latah County
>Hydrogeologic Project and an area water advocate,
>said if people in Moscow wake up with dry pipes,
>it's too late.
>
>Solomon was one of five panelists at a Moscow
>Civic Association forum on an alternate community
>water source Monday night at the 1912 Center.
>
>The panelists agreed at the end of the meeting
>that before anyone started digging a reservoir, a
>feasibility study must be completed and reviewed.
>
>Gary Riedner, Moscow city supervisor, said a way
>to pay for a new reservoir has to be identified.
>State and federal grants need to be sought before
>bonds or rate hikes are floated toward residents.
>
>He said Moscow has $50,000 specifically budgeted
>to identify additional water sources, and that
>money could potentially be used to help pay for a
>feasibility study.
>
>None of the panelists had any firm idea of how much a reservoir would cost.
>
>Jerry Fairley, a University of Idaho assistant
>professor of hydrogeology, said a reservoir must
>be looked at as a long-term investment to keep
>the area alive.
>
>Solomon pointed to Troy as an example. Its water
>supply comes from a reservoir and it is looking
>at expanding its existing supply to meet demand
>and plan for future growth. Troy has pursued
>applications and permits over the last four
>years, and it has started to seriously look at
>payment options in the last year.
>
>Solomon said a reservoir that would meet Moscow's
>needs would have to hold about 300 million
>gallons of water, roughly double the size of
>Spring Valley Reservoir.
>
>Solomon said if something is not done within the
>next 10 to 20 years, Moscow could see water
>levels plummet and wells begin to run dry in the
>Grande Ronde aquifer the same way it witnessed
>levels drop in the Wanupum aquifer in the 1950s
>and '60s.
>
>Steve Robischon, executive manager of the Palouse
>Basin Aquifer Committee, said PBAC is an advisory
>committee and does not have an opinion on the
>matter. He said the idea of building a reservoir
>that would retain runoff isn't new.
>
>The only current source of water for Moscow and
>Pullman is the two aquifer systems. The Wanupum
>is a shallow aquifer, while the Grande Ronde is a
>deep aquifer that provides most of the cities'
>municipal water.
>
>Robischon said groundwater levels have continued
>to fall since the first recording in 1897. The
>reservoir idea has popped up several times since,
>but each time the discussion has died down before
>any serious research was done.
>
>Aside from the obvious problem of how to pay for
>a reservoir, there is the question of where it
>would be located.
>
>Fairley said the most logical place would be
>somewhere on the western slopes of Moscow
>Mountain, where engineers could use the
>granitic-rock base as a type of liner.
>
>Moscow would experience an immediate positive
>impact, and Pullman and other well owners in the
>Palouse Basin would benefit from Moscow pulling
>less water from the aquifer systems.
>
>For a potential reservoir to be successful, the
>panelists agreed that Moscow and Latah County
>have to work with the rest of the region.
>
>Dianne French, board member of the Palouse Water
>Conservation Network, said people must conserve
>in the interim. That doesn't necessarily mean
>turning off the faucet.
>
>She said sincere conservation could cause
>stabilization in the aquifers. As an example, she
>pointed to Seattle, where the city uses the same
>amount of water it did in the 1970s despite the
>fact its population has doubled.
>
>French said simple things like faucet aerators
>and more-complicated systems that use effluent
>water for lawns and gardens can save communities
>millions of gallons a year.
>
>"There are no more water sources in the ground,"
>Solomon said. "All that's left is what falls from
>the sky, and we need to figure out a way to keep
>some of that."
>
>Ryan Bentley can be reached at (208) 882-5561,
>ext. 237, or by e-mail at rbentley at dnews.com.
>
>
>
>
>
>This electronic edition of the Daily News is
>protected by copyright. © 2006 Daily News
>
>
>At 7:35 AM -0700 10/10/06, Joe Campbell wrote:
> >It was a wonderful meeting, Nils! I want to
> >thank the panelists: Jerry Fairley, Dianne
> >French, Gary Riedner, Steve Robischon, and Mark
> >Solomon. They all did a wonderful job and I
> >learned a lot!
> >
> >Hopefully Mark or someone else who attended the
> >meeting can note some of the highlights. Water
> >is not exactly my area of specialization!
> >
> >--
> >Joe Campbell
> >
> >---- Nils Peterson <nils_peterson at wsu.edu> wrote:
> >
> >=============
> >I was sorry to miss the meeting last night. Of the major agenda items facing
> >the city, starting to develop a long range plan for water is about the top
> >of my list.
> >
> >I'd like to hear some of the thinking that got presented. I've heard that
> >there might be a candidate location on the Mountain, which was identified a
> >few years ago.
> >
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