Roundtable explores ideas to extend water supply
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in General
Published: Saturday, 27 February 10 - 07:13 AM (GMT -08:00)
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Water pumping on the Palouse has declined despite increase in population
By Sarah Mason, Moscow-Pullman Daily News
City and county leaders and employees, university staff, state department representatives and various committee members from both sides of the Washington-Idaho border met at the inaugural Palouse Basin Leadership Roundtable on Friday.
The roundtable, which is like a smaller version of the Palouse Basin Water Summit held in the fall, served as a forum for leaders to not only learn about water resources, but also to decide on actions to take to conserve local resources.
"We started water summits in 2004 and we really felt good about what we were doing, but at the same time we felt we needed to elevate it with another meeting with our (leaders) and decision-makers," roundtable and water summit co-founder Paul Kimmell said.
L. Michael Bogert, former counsel to Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne, said the forum gave leaders a chance to have "fully-ventilated discussions."
Bogert previously assisted the mitigation of water issues on the Snake River. Based on this experience, Bogert said these discussions, though sometimes tough, are essential to any solution to water issues. Local entities are especially lucky to have time to meet and discuss issues in an environment without severe controversy.
"My guess is all of us here have issues that are near and dear to us," Bogert said. "... The sooner those can be identified, the (better)."
Moscow Mayor Nancy Chaney put the idea on the table of building a contractual relationship which would create a more formal, legal bond than the Palouse Basin Aquifer Committee, which now serves as a voluntary group for Latah County, Whitman County, Moscow, Pullman and the two universities.
"When we start to reach certain population thresholds people will start to step on people's toes," Chaney said. "We must be a collaborative (group). We must pool resources."
The idea met opposition from representatives on both sides of the border. Pullman Public Works Director Mark Workman said he didn't think the formation of another body would bring Idaho or Washington closer to their common goal of preserving the decreasing supply of water in the Grand Ronde Aquifer.
"I think we have good level of collaboration," Workman said. "PBAC is good about finding solutions to problems. I think that just developing another bureaucracy is not good."
Kimmell said though leaders didn't formalize a plan of action Friday, the communication between the bodies was beneficial so leaders could hear each other's aspirations and frustrations.
"I think we have good news here," he said. "I mean look at the pumping, it's gone down."
Latah and Whitman County populations are up 11 percent from 1992 to 2008, but water pumping has decreased by 11 percent, which Kimmell said is promising even though the aquifer's water levels have continued to decrease through the years. Between 1992 and 2008, water levels have gone down 16 feet.
Kimmell hopes the roundtable will be held twice a year and is considering pushing the water summits, which are more informational than conversational, to once every two years. That way, leaders could stay in constant contact with each other regarding water issues, and the research presented during the water summits would have time to progress between summits.
Allyson Beall, University of Idaho professor in the Waters of the West program, said leaders should take the opportunity to come up with lasting solutions to water problems.
"There's no fire in your backside," Beall said. "You have this luxury to become creative and think long-term."
Sarah Mason can be reached at (208) 882-5561, ext. 234, or by e-mail to smason@dnews.com.
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